Do I need a new fuse box?

[richtrek]

Just had an alarm installed, which opened up a hornet's nest of problems. I will be going back for my fifth visit this Tuesday. The guy said that I should get my fuse box replaced because wires are falling off to easily.

Is the alarm guy correct, that installing a new box would be a safer, and reliable, alternative to the old box? Also, can us "Thing folks" even buy a new Thing Fuse box?

[Thingggg]

Yes you can get a new one but the wires will be the problem.

Maybe your alarm guy has shaky hands

[kubelmann]

If wires are loose, why not carefully use a pair of needle nose pliers and gently tighten them. The connectors are brass making them easy to tighten with mild pressure. REmove each connector that is loose (one at a time) gnetly compress the conector opening and reinstall. Remember to disconnect the battery prior to working on the fuse box with pliers.. A new fuse box willnot tighten the connectors.

[Shamu63]

After looking behind my dash pods I realized the wiring and the brass "shoes" that VW used 30+ years ago don't do so well with corrosion. I went to the hardware store and grabbed the multiple size box of electrical wire connectors; Included are shoes and crimptubes of all sizes. If the wires are solid, pick up a set of these and trim the ends back a little. Not too much as some wires are tight to begin with.

As long as the shoe "plates" are solid the new shoes will fit fine and you shouldn't have to replace. But if you have a new one... might as well replace it and make sure things are done right.

Long story short- One afternoon with some wire crimpers/cutters, spare spools of wire and the box of connectors, and i rewired 90% of my dash.

Mu

[kubelmann]

On the other hand oxidation can be removed by a number of methods and the orignal ends have a number of advantages electrically over the after market crimp connectors. Although there is a point where corrosion is the enemy and new connectors is the answer. After almost 35 years. the VW Thing tends to be plagued with a number of common electrical phantoms. The design has power going through the 4 way, headlights, turn signals and more. One bad headlight ground can cause other areas to fail. Sometimes one ground is providing the full circuit for multiple locations and when it get hurt through a resto process then multiple areas go down. This creates a difficult troubleshooting scenario. I have taken a VW to "someone else" more than once because I was too close to the problem. But when it is someone else's problem it is easy to troubleshoot and fix. There is apparently an emotional factor in all of this.

[xeno]

[Captain Spalding]

[Shamu63]

yep, contact cleaner I use is called "Blue Wash" cleans up the contacts nicely if things aren't too far gone. Unfortunately these were so bad that one ear of almost all the shoes was cracked and wouldn't seat correctly.

Mu

[bucko]

[Captain Spalding]