Another electric issue

[STLCAR]

I have search for 3 days and read hundreds of threads but still am lost.
Here are some of my issues

1. S1 Fuse keeps blowing
a. Replaced blinker relay
b. Flashers work
c. Blinker indicator lights stopped working- went on with wiper switch for a
little.
d. When I bought the car it was damaged on the front left side so possibly bad ground up front ???
2. Speedometer lights not working
a. replaced a bulb and worked for a day now nothing.
b. High beam indicator says on (all the time with or without headlights on)

I plan disconnecting everything this weekend and cleaning with contact cleaner and looking at all connections. Should I take the steering wheel off to examine the blinker switch.

I have the diagram and have been looking it over for days but wanted to see if anyone has any input.

[kubelmann]

I would start with inspecting/cleaning/creating clean shiny contact on both connection sides of all the brown(ground) wires. Electrical diagnosis is done most effectively when it is done systematically starting from the power source (battery) to the load(electrical devise like a light) through the fuse box. I start with battery (ensure full charge) clean battery connections and tighten. I then follow the wire path all the way to the load of the item that does not work. If you use the wiring diagram and go slowly, it can be point and click. Take your time, be systematic and you will usually find the issue(s) On a Thing wiring issue are most often caused by a combination of bad ground and a foul/worn/dirty switch or bulb socket... Most Things have spent much of their lives parked in storage with a battery connected. The battery will slowly drop amperage which will slowly and deliberately corrode the wiring empire of the car... Hence the reason why all VWs should have a battery cut off switch.. For electrical health, if the car is parked for more than month, then out comes the battery and onto the slow trickle/solar charger it goes.

[STLCAR]

I cleaned all connections and got some things to work, dash lights,. The blinkers worked when I was parked but the second I started driving and use the blinker it blew s1 fuse. Any ideas why it would blow only when I'm driving and not stopped at lights.

[kubelmann]

I had the same issue and a new turn switch fixed multiple issues. Sometimes they can be cleaned or tweaked to work. But if you have turn signal short out issues and your switch is 40+ years old , new OE German $110, after market around $40....

[STLCAR]

Now I blew s1, s3 and s7 last night which leads me to believe it's the switch. Does someone have the part number

[kubelmann]

New switch time? VW part number 111 953 513F

[STLCAR]

Now drivers headlight was very dim almost non existent. Took it all apart and looked over diagram and couldn't find anything out if place. The emergency flasher relay seems a little loose when removing wires, could this be thet culprit? Also when I turn the wipers on the dash light for the blinker goes on. It does not go on when i turn the blinkers on though.... any thoughts

[bald_dude43]

Holy Cow! You have some serious electrical Gremlins going on. Have you tried Kubelmann's sequence. I use the same techniques. Hate to say it but with all the common connections with the dash switches one short with battery amperage running through one switch can cause a wire insulation melt thus causing another short to ground <dominoe effect> in another switch. You might just have to go in and replace all your switches and check wiring for melted or nicked wires. But I would start as Kubelmann suggests. Good luck, I know it's frustrating!

[kubelmann]

You are facing the VW Thing wring demons... I have had this happen on more than one Thing. As was just said. The Thing has a bizarre route for the wiring that laces through switch such as the 4 way flash and the turn signal switch. Power pass through those switches asn once a positive short to ground occurs in one of the switches.. You get random odd electrical events until the bad switch is cleaned or repaired.

All that said. more than a few times, I have had to take my own personal Thing to a different VW guy (than me) to get to the bottom of these various wiring nightmares,,, Remember I have been rebuilding Thing wiper motors for years and I get stumped by electrical issues and I ask somebody else what I am missing... If you can focus and start at the battery follow the wiring while checking each separate system, you will find your bad switch... I would guess that you have either a bad 4 way flasher or turn signal switch. Both of these switches pass power through them to other systems . So a bad switch will cause a list of other issues down the electrical system path. Diagnosing these issues is simple if you follow the wires one connection at a time..

Here is the first step:

Get your voltmeter firmly attached (you may need a longer lead to test the entire car...) to the batteries ground terminal and check the positive connection from battery all the way through the wiring to the right turn signal bulb... Check each connection with the car turned off and the turn switch off, with the car switched on with the turn switch off, then with the car running and the switch off then on. Continue this process for every electrical sub system in the car. Then start over with volt meter firmly attached to the positive connection and check the ground connections from battery to the bulb and all connection in between. After you finish with both right asn left turn signal circuits, go the the 4 way flasher circuit one light at a time.. I suspect long before you finish diagnosing both turn signal circuits you will start to find your demon. The 4 way flasher switch on the Thing is the heavier 68-71 bus switch and once the terminal block get loose from the switch bad odd random wiring issue emerge that are tough to locate because they are not constant. Since the switch is “wiggling” around, the wiring phantoms change as you pull the switch on and off each time... I had this trauma on a 73 and replace the 4 way switch which tested bad. The problem remained the same. turned out to be a (sometimes only) dead short in the right side of the turn signal switch. Since it only shorted out “sometimes” it was tough to find... You have to turn the switch on and off a few time (sort of roughly) to find a variable electrical short... That 73 that I repaired a few years ago (that I spoke of) still has a weak flasher unit. So, the turn signal light on the speedo only flashes one time as the switch is applied for a turn signal light to flash. The Thing’s beastly dual circuit flasher is a whole other bag of worms... We are with you in this frustrating wiring trauma... Be regimented and consistent in your test procedure and you WILL find the problem(s) If you have just one short or bad switch, I will be surprised.. The headlight fade is sometimes a symptom of an inconsistently shorted wire somewhere in the system...

[rrankin]

This happened to me a while back... I agree with Kubelmann. Grab a wire brush and go to town on every contact you can.

I took out all the fuses and cleaned the fuse box, put in new fuses, cleaned all the contacts in the headlight buckets etc...

I got back my headlights working - my highbeams which had not worked in years and it solved my popping fuse problem.
_________________
'74 Thing [Fritz]
Austin, TX

[74 Thing]

Kubelmann,

Can you expand more on the Thing problems with sending power through the headlight switch and the emergency flasher switch and the trouble and repairs you have encountered?

[kubelmann]

OK.... To explain/understand this try looking at the Thing’s wiring diagram as I list the positive power's route...

1. Positive battery terminal
2. Positive starter terminal/volt reg +generator/alternator
3. Positive power from starter through the headlight switch to ignition and horn switch and 4 way flasher switch Both switches have switched and direct current coming to the both switches
5. Both switches route though more than one fuse.

To diagnose fuse pop issues, try checking one system at a time.. battery to bulbs, battery to horn and so on. One system at a time. Only one problem can be solved at a time, so it is best for each problem to be found one at a time. I have had all of these switches develop intermittent failures meaning one day they work, then the next day they blow fuses or do not work at all.. When I have multiple issue that have no apparent cause (as have been described in this thread) I take a known good spare switch and swap it out to see if the problem is solved. Three things tend to occur: bad/dirty ground (brown) brass connectors on brown insulated wire, shorted/broken/worn switch or positive wire shorting (bare wire touching) the ground.. The Thing has a good number of jumper wires leading to the battery ground terminal. A good practice is to clean each of these from the front of the car to the back.. Most of the car’s lights and/or electrical devises have a brown (or flat braided bare wire) jumper wire to ground... Clean em all...

[Al Capulco]

Positive power to the horn switch....... RW, you must have a different horn button than I do.

[mondshine]

Here's a link to an interesting video about finding shorts (not finding your shorts in a strange hotel):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZrCrBx4uFY

It has nothing to do with VW's specifically, but I do own one of these tools (I can't have too many tools) and it has worked very well for me.

Good luck, Mondshine