Installing new wiring harness basic fuse box diagram?

[58deadhead]

Hello! I would like to get some individual help if someone has the time; just that a few questions have arose while installing my new harness.

I bought a harness for my 74 beetle and I think it has an external regulator for the alternator because there is a voltage regulator under the back seat. I tried uploading a pic of my alternator with no luck for some reason.

More importantly, I have all the main harness's ran with the lights hooked up and I am at the fuse box now. There is a bunch of wiring diagrams available but they are a little more complicated than it needs to be for my first big electrical project.

**My wiring kit came with a basic hand drawn diagram with color labels for the front and main harness; it was very helpful. I am just curious if someone knows of one floating around the archives that's practically a map for dummies with regard to the fuse box and ignition? I more or less just want to match colors up and not be forced to follow back wires and second guess myself.**

Help in locating something of that nature would be el mucho appreciated.

[toddb_67]

Here is your picture:

If you simply copy the text in "forum code" and paste it here it will magically show up. And yes, that is a Motorola external regulator.
I'm assuming you have visited the technical section of this site and looked at the various versions of the wiring diagrams? I have heard of some people having the wiring diagrams blown up to poster size to make them easier to trace and connect to the right places, would that be helpful?
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/wiring/bug_73_fuses.jpg
_________________
1970 Pastel White Westfalia
1971 Super Beetle Convertible (sold) http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=582365&highlight=
1970 Squareback "Savanna" (sold)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=714683
1974 Karmann Ghia- current project, 1967cc engine. https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=775207
“I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me.” - Dudley Field Malone

[peteandvanessa]

I recently re-wired my 1974 Standard Bug.

Details are located here:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5...;start=340
_________________
My 1974 Standard Build Thread:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=568220&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

My Son's 1971 Bay Window Westie Build Thread:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7295189#7295189

[58deadhead]

Yeah, I tried uploading that and few others last night, thanks! I've checked the gallery and yeah if I could blow it up that would be ideal. A friend of mine just brought his 60in tv into his garage but I'd get into a whole heap of trouble if I did that..

If I knew exactly where to plug them all in my bug would be running in ten minutes. I had to strip all the old ones because it was a mess of spliced and melted wires following them as a guideline wouldn't have helped.

lol I just want someone to be like " this color here, that color there" but that's probably not gonna happen is it..?

[58deadhead]

Hey Pete, I just saw your post and I am reading through it now. You're awesome man. I am gonna read it a couple more times and ask you any questions here if you don't mind. One thing that stood out to me right away was that you had a control plug for your alternator or generator and I have a post labeled B+ with a large red cable and a thin black one with ring terminals connected and a small green wire that clips on to a male terminal labeled D+ on my alternator or generator(I don't know). I'm gonna keep reading through a few times but so far everything looks pretty familiar.

[peteandvanessa]

[58deadhead]

I'm posting a picture of my current dilemma just give me a minute to do it

[58deadhead]

[58deadhead]

The top picture shows the wires coming from the end closest to the fuse box which one goes where

The middle shows wires coming from the engine bay and is a large red wire with a loop and the other is a brown wire that I believe I need to ground into the regulator plug

the last shows the regulator plug with a blue and green wire matched to it.

[58deadhead]

[58deadhead]

Hey Pete, can you post a couple up close photos of your fuse box and your relay wires if they are accessible?

[ashman40]

Your wiring harness is for an early '74 Beetle that came with a generator. '74 was a transition year where some cars came with generators and later ones came with alternators. Some were externally regulated, others were internally regulated.
It is okay as you can still make use of it. Think of it like you are upgrading the wiring for a car that came with a generator and switching to a alternator.

Your alternator is an internally regulated alternator. The external regulator under your rear seat is not needed since you have an internally regulated alternator and is causing you confusion. Unplug the regulator and remove it from under the rear seat. Throw it into the spare parts bin.

The blue and green wires that you had plugged into the external regulator... these should be spliced together to form one long wire that starts as a blue wire from the Gen light in the speedo and ends as a green wire at the D+ terminal on your alternator. This is part of converting generator wiring to alternator wiring.

At the alternator, the heavy gauge red wire is attached to the B+ terminal at the alternator. The other end of this wire turns up under the rear seat. For an alternator setup, it should terminate with a push-on terminal similar to the one on the red wire coming from the front of the car. That eye terminal under the rear seat was meant for an early style generator voltage regulator and will not work with an alternator because the wire is meant to connect to the white rectangular junction like the one at the top of this pic:

Do you have one of these? If so, you will need a new crimp on terminal similar to the one coming from the front. It is larger than the normal 0.25" push on.
If you don't have one of these 4-way junctions you might be better off buying something like this from your local stereo installation shop:

You can cut off all the wire ends and just strip them; insert them into the holes in the distribution block and tighten down the screws to hold them in.

The small black wire running to the alternator is for ground. It is not needed with an internally regulated alternator.


Of the wire coming from the front of the car...
Red wire with large push on connects to the white rectangular junction pictured above. This wire take positive current from the junction to the front of the car. At the front end, it ends at the fuse box (fuses #8 & #9).
The black wire appear to be the rear window defroster relay wire. At the front, it should be connected to the rear defroster switch near the fuse box. Under the rear seat the black wire connects to the defroster relay. You can see this in the pic above.
The second heavy gauge red wire with the small terminal... is this the starter solenoid wire? If so, the front end of this wire will end at the ignition switch. It should connect to the red/black #50 wire from the ignition switch. Under the rear seat, it should connect to a yellowish junction. This junction connects it to another red wire that exits at the rear of the pan next to the center tunnel. In the above pic this red wire is inside a grey sleeve that exits at the bottom left of the pic next to the brake line. This goes to the #50 terminal on the starter solenoid.
_________________
AshMan40
---------------------------
'67 Beetle #1 {project car that never made it to the road }
'75 Beetle 1200LS (RHD Japan model) {junked due to frame rot}
'67 Beetle #2 {2019 project car - Wish me luck!}

[58deadhead]

Alright that makes sense. It has been pouring all day, I'll get back at it first thing in the morning and let you know how I progress.

[Greezy Joe]

Where are you in Florida? I may be able to help.
_________________
Current:74 Ghia Coupe w/ 2276
71 Ghia Vert w/ 1835
07 GMC Truck
12 Jeep Wrangler
73 Harley FLH 93 cid
89 Harley 883 Sportster (1200)


Owned before: 58, 69 Ghia Coupes, 64 Canvas Sunroof, 68, 72, 73, & 74 Bugs, 63 Single Cab, 65 Bus, 66 & 70 Camper
" Duct tape can't fix stupid, but it'll muffle the sound".

[peteandvanessa]

[58deadhead]

That's gonna help out a lot. All I have to do is hook up the fuse box and I'm feeling confident about it. I gotta figure out the relays but otherwise it should go well.

[58deadhead]

[ashman40]

For your fuse box, it probably looks something like this:

First thing you should notice... there are pairs of fuses that are connected together along the bottom terminals. This is the INPUT side and allows one incoming wire the ability to power two fuses. Which ever side has these "bridged fuses" is the INPUT side. In some earlier years it may have been the top edge or the bottom edge.
Anything connected to the INPUT side is either providing power to the fuses or powered from the same source but not protected by a fuse. Only those items connected to the output side of the fuse box are protected by the fuses.

Second thing you should notice... since the fuses are numbered 1~12 (left to right) when sitting in the driver's seat... they are 12~1 left to right when seen from this side of the fuse box. Once installed the fuse on the right side (from this view) is fuse #1 (closest to the left door).

So how will you know if you have the fuse box oriented correctly??
Fuses #3 & #4 are for the low beam headlights. Fuses #5 & #6 are for the high beams. Each pair will be powered by one source wire, so you want 3-4 to be bridged and 5-6 to be bridged.
If you look at the fuse box above, the 3rd fuse from the left is a standalone fuse. It is not bridged with its neighbor. This could be fuse #3 if you rotated the fuse box 180-deg, but it would not be bridged with it's neighbor so would not work well as one of the headlight fuses.
If you look at the 3rd fuse from the right. It is bridged with the 4th fuse from the right. And next to it the 5th and 6th from the right are bridged together. These two pairs of fuses would be perfect for the headlight fuses. This means the fuse box is oriented correctly and the right side (as seen from this pic) is fuse #1.

So how does this help you wire your fuse box? We just explained that fuses #3 & #4 are the low beam headlight fuses. This is the single yellow wire (#56b) coming from the headlight dimmer relay. Plug it into the single male (INPUT) spade on the bridge connecting these two fuses. Find the two yellow output wires that run to the head lights. The striped yellow wire runs to the right headlamp. It connects to fuse #4. The solid yellow is for the left headlight and connects to fuse #3.

Do the same thing with the white high beam wire (#56a) connected to the bridge for fuses #5 & #6. And the two white high beam output wires to the opposite side of the fuse (black stripe goes to right headlamp). There is one more male terminal on either #5 or #6 fuse. This is for the blue/white wire that runs to the high beam indicator lamp.
You can see this wire in Pete's pic above:

One thing you should notice in Pete's pic... Fuses #1 & #2 are each standalone but there is a (grey wire) loop that connects fuse #1 and #2 together on the INPUT side. This functions the same as a brass bridge allowing one wire to power two fuses. This grey loop wire should come from the headlight switch #58 terminal. This is the parking light output from the headlight switch. Follow the example in Pete's pic above. On the output side of fuse #1 you should have two grey wires which power both front parking lights and one grey/red wire which powers the right rear parking light and the license plate light.
Fuse #2 output has just the single grey/black wire for the left rear parking light.

<That's six of your 12 fuses... DONE!>

Fuse #7 is spare. It may be looped to one of the other fuses for power. This one is sometimes used for a radio from the dealer.

Fuses #8 & #9 will be bridged together. On some years the bridge will also extend to fuse #7.
Fuse #8 output is connected to the #30 (red wire) terminal on the E-Flasher switch.
On the INPUT side of this fuse a red wire runs to the ignition switch #30 terminal where it will power the ignition switch.

Fuse #9 output goes to the door buzzer and interior light.
On the INPUT side of this fuse a red (or red/white) wire runs all the way back to the rear seat where it connects to a source of 12v+ power. This is either the large white 4-way alternator junction (where the battery, alternator and this power wire come together).. or the B+ terminal on the generator VR.
This one red (or red/white) wire coming from the rear of the car powers pretty much EVERYTHING!
Also from the INPUT (unprotected) side of fuse #9 there should be a smaller red wire running to the headlight switch #30 terminal. This powers the parking lights and dash illumination. The parking lights are fused later in the circuit (fuses #1 & #2) but the dash illumination circuit is NOT protected by a fuse.

<Almost there....>

Fuse #10 is standalone (not bridged) and supports the "X" circuit. The black/yellow wire from the ignition switch connects to the INPUT side of the fuse. This wire is powered ONLY when the ignition switch is ON. It is not powered when in the OFF or START positions. The output side of the fuse powers the wipers. Think of this as an accessories circuit.
There is a second (black/yellow) wire running from the INPUT side to the X terminal on the headlight switch where it will power the headlights. This should tell you that the headlights are only powered when the ignition switch is ON and the power for the headlights is removed when the engine is cranking (giving more power to the starter).

Fuse #11 and #12 are the ignition switch powered fuses (black or green wire). So you should expect one of the black wires on the INPUT side (fuse #11) to come from the #15 terminal on the ignition switch.
The output from fuse #11 runs to the brake switches and to the horn.
The other black wire on the INPUT side runs (from fuse #12) to the ignition coil #15 terminal on the engine. Since this is coming from the INPUT side of the fuse box the ignition wire is NOT protected by a fuse. A good upgrade is to add an inline fuse (16A or 20A) here at the fuse box end to protect everything powered in the engine compartment.
The outputs from fuse #12 goes to:

(black wire) : fuel gauge vibrator; trio of indicator lights at the bottom of the speedo
(green wire) : E-Flasher switch #15 terminal; Brake Warning lamp #15 terminal
(black wire) : Seat belt warning system

_________________
AshMan40
---------------------------
'67 Beetle #1 {project car that never made it to the road }
'75 Beetle 1200LS (RHD Japan model) {junked due to frame rot}
'67 Beetle #2 {2019 project car - Wish me luck!}

[58deadhead]

Ashman you'll have to put that on my tab. Thanks for helping my out all the time..

[peteandvanessa]

Ashman - Thanks for writing that down, I had to try and figure that out from the diagrams when I did it, wish I had your description when I started my re-wiring
_________________
My 1974 Standard Build Thread:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=568220&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

My Son's 1971 Bay Window Westie Build Thread:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7295189#7295189