None of my electrical system is working.

Justin Qutami

Hey all,
It's been a while since I've had a problem with my bus so here I am again. My problem is that none of my electronics are working. None. No lights, no wipers, no hazards, no radio, no ignition, nothing. It's as if my battery died but it's not, its at 12.45 V.

Let's back up now to what happened to cause this. Last week I rear ended my bus into a Honda. As much as I want to blame the other driver for stopping in the middle lane for pedestrians when they were still on the sidewalk, I have to take responsibility. My brakes havent been at their best for a while now and I was meaning to look over them and fix them but with college, life has been busy. Only after the crash I realized I was almost out of brake fluid! Stupid I know, but it could have been a lot worse and no one was hurt.
Since the crash nothing electrical has worked and I thought something might have got disconnected. I check around and only the horn wire under the pan by the steering column was disconnected but that didnt help and the horn still doesnt even work. I am getting power at the starter but no where forward of that.

So I need help. Suggestions, advice, and even scorning for not checking my brake fluid are all welcome.
Thanks,
Justin
_________________
1967 Bug aka "Junior" (SOLD)
1970 Campmobile aka "Penelope the BEAST"
Student at The Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
http://qutamiart.blogspot.com/

snapped · Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 12:32 am Post subject:

My guess is that the main wire loom in the nose of the bus might have got cut in the accident. It comes thru the passenger side frame rail up into the nose behind the washer bottle. If your bus had a hit near that area it may have cut the harness.

Desertbusman · Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 1:09 am Post subject:

Go thru your entire brake system and get it wonderful.
Then and only then we might be interested in helping you get your bus up and running. A bus without good brakes shouldn't be driven. Wink

_________________
The best thing that anyone can do for their Bay is get the Volkswagen of America Official Service Manual published by Robert Bentley. Without it the bus is pretty much doomed.

Wildthings · Samba Member Joined: March 13, 2005 Posts: 19992

You have a fat wire (red/white) that takes power from the starter to the fuse box. By pricking the insulation near the starter you can determine if it has power there and if it does move forward and check it near the fuse box.

Find where you brake system is leaking fluid and fix the leak. Not cool to be running out of fluid and using other vehicles and people as backup braking systems.

ccpalmer · Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 4:14 am Post subject:

And check your local laws.. in Ann Arbor and Washington DC you have to stop if there is a pedestrian in the sidewalk wanting to cross.
_________________
'71 Westy

'77 Bay/rusty shed on wheels
--
Chris Palmer
Cocobolo Co., LLC
ccpalmer.com

secretsubmariner · Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 5:09 am Post subject:

Justin Qutami · Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 5:04 pm Post subject:

snapped- That is what I thought too. After removing some of the styrofoam I found that it was just pinched on the inside of the cabin and not cut. Still no luck tho.

DBM- I understand what you're trying to say but I have gone thru the system and everything looks fine and in working order. After just topping off my brake fluid I already got most of my pedal back. I just need to bleed the system next.

Wildthings- I checked that fat red/white wire at the fuse box and I'm getting no voltage there or at any other terminal. I have full power at the starter where it main lines to the battery. The other 2 wires that connect to the starter (mine are brown and red) do not have any power to them. Should they? I was surprised when I realized I had no brake fluid because there was never a leak in the system and still isnt'. Could it just be burning off?

secretsub- It's probably the same here in CA but the guy practically emergency stopped and I had no chance in the situation. The damage isn't too bad. The bumper almost flattened in the middle and one of the brackets cracked and bent. The nose got pushed in a good bit under the VW symbol but no chassis damage or steering damge. I was going about 25 on a downhill when I frantically applied foot and hand brakes. I have some pics that Ill probably upload in a bit. I drive my bus daily and it was something I was also worried about but the hit wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It was like getting hit in a bumper car ride. The other car only received a couple scratches on the bumper and one on the trunk and a bent license plate. I managed to get his plate #s transferred to my bumper haha.
_________________
1967 Bug aka "Junior" (SOLD)
1970 Campmobile aka "Penelope the BEAST"
Student at The Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
http://qutamiart.blogspot.com/

old DKP driver · Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 6:43 pm Post subject: fuse panel

Before I bitch at you too Rolling Eyes

Did you look closely at your fuse panel to see if it cracked
end to end? as the 1970 year had the Yellow panel that was
notorious for that happening.

And please Don't Tailgate Shame on you

_________________
V.W.owner since 1967

Wildthings · Samba Member Joined: March 13, 2005 Posts: 19992

Sounds like you might just have a bad connection between the wires on the 12+ lug on the starter. Remove the negative cable from the battery and then remove the nut from the big lug on the starter. Clean each wire well and then goop with dielectric grease and reinstall.

Desertbusman · Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 10:33 pm Post subject:

Justin Qutami · Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 2:18 pm Post subject:

Ok so now I am off for the summer I have the time to spend working on my bus. She still sits in the garage with no power seeming to come forward of the starter. I pulled out the dashboard and fuse box to get a better look at what I'm working with and I found a couple things.

First off here is my fuse box. My wiring seems to not correlate completely with the wiring diagram in the Bentley book. And Im not sure if I have the 16amp fuses in the right spots.
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I also found that the #58 wire on the light switch was not connected at the fuse box so I put it on #12 as shown in the diagram. What is this wire for?
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Here is lone wire that i couldn't trace by the fuse box. It is a brown wire that is split in two. Any ideas where it lives or what it does?
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Here is another strangler that I had taped off and don't know where it goes. What kind of fitting is that and where does it go? Before I lost power I believe it was always hot and would spark when touched to a ground.
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This wire caught my attention as it was connected to a thick red and white hot wire and spliced to go to the cigarette lighter. It was shrink wrapped around the splice and had a terminal at the end. This is the only wire that has power now at the front and sparks at a ground. Is this supposed to be hooked up somewhere or is it just for the constant hot source of the accessory lighter?
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Here is my light switch with two prongs with no wires attached. # 57 and # 50A. Should these have anything attached to them? They werent in the book.
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And here is my ignition switch where the problem may lie. The red wire seems to have been sliced by the sharp edge of the casing. I am also not getting any power at that wire.
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And here are some pics of the damage to front of my car.
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Sorry to bombard you guys with all these pics and questions but if know just even one of the answers please chime in and we'll see if we can piece together this puzzle. Thank you!
_________________
1967 Bug aka "Junior" (SOLD)
1970 Campmobile aka "Penelope the BEAST"
Student at The Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
http://qutamiart.blogspot.com/

busdaddy · Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 3:19 pm Post subject:

I'm not sure what you're looking at in the Bentley so here's the Samba version:
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Power comes from #30 on the starter to #30 on the headlight switch, from the second#30 terminal on the switch it goes to the bottom of fuse #2 and to the ignition switch from the third terminal on the HL switch. If everythings dead look at the wire coming up from the rear harness to the HL switch first.
#57 is the park light indicator in the fuel gauge, #50a makes no sense, sure that's the #?
_________________
Rust NEVER sleeps and stock never goes out of style.

Wanted, 68-73 westy OG plaid curtains, singles OK.

Justin Qutami · Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 3:37 pm Post subject:

I'm looking at the same diagram in the book. But like I said my wiring isn't quite the same as what the diagram shows. I don't know if the PO changed things around or what but I don't have #30 wire from the starter to the switch at all. I only have 2 red wires at the switch, one goes to number 12 on the fuse box and the other to the ignition switch. Do you think that red and white wire going to the cig lighter is the wire from the starter as it's always hot?

I'm positive it showed #50a on the switch and #57 you said is for the park light indicator in the fuel gauge but that has always worked and it has never been hooked up.
_________________
1967 Bug aka "Junior" (SOLD)
1970 Campmobile aka "Penelope the BEAST"
Student at The Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
http://qutamiart.blogspot.com/

busdaddy · Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 5:16 pm Post subject:

If it was me I'd remove the fuse box and all the switches and comb out (untangle, de-PO) the harness, then I'd start from scratch and connect everything per the diagram, works every time for me.
_________________
Rust NEVER sleeps and stock never goes out of style.

Wanted, 68-73 westy OG plaid curtains, singles OK.

Tom Powell · Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 6:58 pm Post subject:

It could be that the headlight switch is the only problem. My experience with my '69 camper:
The vehicle would only start and run with the headlight switch in the parking light position. The rheostat coil for the dashboard lights had disintegrated and the pieces were mystifying things inside the switch. A new switch solved the problem.

How often, when the vehicle won't start and everything is dead, do you turn on the parking lights when you trouble shoot?

Aloha
tp

Wildthings · Samba Member Joined: March 13, 2005 Posts: 19992

The big red/white wire should go to the fuse box. Hard to know why someone has messed with things and it now goes somewhere else.

The #58 terminal on the fuse box supplies power to the dash lights and the parking lights.

Brown is always ground. So your brown wire should be grounding something or be connected to ground itself.

I prefer to use the electrical diagrams for the later models, once you get used to them they are much easier to use.

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Justin Qutami · Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 10:35 pm Post subject:

GeorgeO. · Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 4:51 am Post subject: Double Brown

The double brown grounds to the back of instrument panel.

Wildthings · Samba Member Joined: March 13, 2005 Posts: 19992

busdaddy · Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 7:14 am Post subject:

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