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OldSpice
Samba Member
Joined: June 10, 2015
Posts: 178
Location: 87 syncro westfalia Subaru ez30
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 Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 9:36 am Post subject: Shorted interior lights now they won't work, what now? |
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| Was putting the map light back in its hole and it somehow found some metal to touch and spark up, now the interior lights won't turn on and the radio won't turn on, everything else I've noticed seems to work fine , checked all the fuses on the box above the clutch pedal and they all seem to be in tact, what am I missing here? Hidden fuse? Other problem? Feeling like a noob not being able to sort this out or find any threads online. Thx for help. |
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JudoJeff
Samba Member
Joined: May 24, 2013
Posts: 1179
Location: Near Springfield, MA
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| Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 10:03 am Post subject: |
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There's a fuse in the line behind the driver's seat on the vanagon campers.
As I recall it's for the ref, but maybe the lights are on it, too. Won't hurt to check it out.
Or you melted a wire. You'll have to follow the line and find out with a VOM.
_________________
________________________________________
1989 Vanagon GL Westfalia Camper, Burned up on 7/31/16.
1987 Vanagon GL Westfalia Camper, Bostig & Rebuilt, sold
1986 Vanagon GL Westfalia Camper, Bostig Sold May 10, 2021
1999 Ford GTRV Westfalia camper (30% bigger Westy layout) |
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crazyvwvanman
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Joined: January 28, 2008
Posts: 9939
Location: Orbiting San Diego
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| Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 10:20 am Post subject: |
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Your van originally used main panel fuse #3 for all that stuff. But someone may have installed an aux battery setup and moved that stuff to a new fuse near the aux battery.
Mark |
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bluebus86
Banned
Joined: September 02, 2010
Posts: 11075
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| Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 10:28 am Post subject: Re: Shorted interior lights now they won't work, what now? |
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| OldSpice wrote: |
| Was putting the map light back in its hole and it somehow found some metal to touch and spark up, now the interior lights won't turn on and the radio won't turn on, everything else I've noticed seems to work fine , checked all the fuses on the box above the clutch pedal and they all seem to be in tact, what am I missing here? Hidden fuse? Other problem? Feeling like a noob not being able to sort this out or find any threads online. Thx for help. |
Check the fuses, Number three fuse (at least per my 1986 vanagon) takes care of interior lights, (not instrument lights however) clock and radio.
when you say the fuses appear intact, does that mean you used a volt meter to confirm it is working or was this only a visual inspection??? If no voltmeter try replacing fuse 3 with a known good fuse. or use a test lamp do determine is fuse is good.
The short is unlikely to have melted a wire if the correct fuse was inline. make sure fuse 3 is a 10 amp fuse, not any bigger else wires could have melted and the fuse not blown.
the above data applies to a 1986 vanagon. others may be similar, others may be signifactly different.
what year is the van ? camper or standard??
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OldSpice
Samba Member
Joined: June 10, 2015
Posts: 178
Location: 87 syncro westfalia Subaru ez30
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| Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 12:01 pm Post subject: |
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| It's a 87 camper, had an aux put in but all the fuses I found back there look new/intact, I tried swapping out the 10amp fuses but nothing.... Does this mean it must be a wire melted? What else ? Thanks for the help |
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bluebus86
Banned
Joined: September 02, 2010
Posts: 11075
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| Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 12:33 pm Post subject: |
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| OldSpice wrote: |
| It's a 87 camper, had an aux put in but all the fuses I found back there look new/intact, I tried swapping out the 10amp fuses but nothing.... Does this mean it must be a wire melted? What else ? Thanks for the help |
No does not mean it is a melted wire.
how long was the short going on? Was it brief, it sparked and you immediately removed the short, or did is simmer for a long time?? Was there smoke, and burned smells from dash??
since it is a camper I'd check for the fuse eluded too in prior post that is behind driver seat. I don't have such a fuse, but my van is a standard not a camper.
does your dash clock work??? in the standard van at least in 1986, the clock was on the same fuse as the lights.
can you remove the map light and inspect the wires as far back as you can?? You might have a good view of its wires if you remove the glove box. (I assume by map light you refer to the lamp just above the glove box door, right??)
Also note that the melted wires usually means the insulation melted, and that can cause a short to ground and/or other wires. That take a time, a brief short wont do that if protected by a 10 amp fuse, it will take some time usually to heat the wire up enough to melt the insulation.
do you have a volt meter you can use to test the fuse panel and other circuits?? if not you really need to get one to proceed much further than a visual inspection of the wires, which is not a trivial task with all the stuff in the way under the dash.
good luck
_________________
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OldSpice
Samba Member
Joined: June 10, 2015
Posts: 178
Location: 87 syncro westfalia Subaru ez30
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| Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 12:36 pm Post subject: |
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Was only short spark. Lights and radio won't turn on but clock works (clock is always on Apparently ) and fuses in little black box behind seat are working . Urgh  |
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bluebus86
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Joined: September 02, 2010
Posts: 11075
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| Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 12:46 pm Post subject: |
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| OldSpice wrote: |
| Was only short spark. Lights and radio won't turn on but clock works (clock is always on Apparently ) and fuses in little black box behind seat are working . Urgh |
Ok the stock fuses are good, anything could have been added over the years, a redundant fuse maybe??? best bet now is to trace the wire, see if there is a fuse or a bad splice someplace, drop the fuse /relay panel and look for wire modifications. if you don't have a volt meter to test if the fuse panel is delivering voltage, then make a testlight, get a 12 volt light bulb (steal one from the dome light or tail light. solder a pair of wires to the bulb or put it in a socket with pigtail wires. alligator clamps are nice to have on the ends. Now you have a crude volt meter, it will glow bright when 12 volts is present across it, dim if a up to a few volts less than 12, and nothing for anything less.
good luck
_________________
Help Prevent VW Engine Fires, see this link.....Engine safety wire information
Stop introducing dirt into your oil when adjusting valves ... https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=683022 |
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OldSpice
Samba Member
Joined: June 10, 2015
Posts: 178
Location: 87 syncro westfalia Subaru ez30
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| Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 1:07 pm Post subject: |
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| Awesome cheer leader you are, I dropped the fuse cluster and sure enough there was a hidden 15amp blown fuse, that I could not see from the sides... Replaced and It works now! however I think I have another issue that may or may not be related... Power windows and headlights won't turn on, last nite I had the same issue but unplugged my headlight switch and plugged it back in and it all worked... Will try a new switch but this switch is only a month or two old >_> any ideas what that could be? |
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OldSpice
Samba Member
Joined: June 10, 2015
Posts: 178
Location: 87 syncro westfalia Subaru ez30
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| Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 1:07 pm Post subject: |
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| Awesome cheer leader you are, I dropped the fuse cluster and sure enough there was a hidden 15amp blown fuse, that I could not see from the sides... Replaced and It works now! however I think I have another issue that may or may not be related... Power windows and headlights won't turn on, last nite I had the same issue but unplugged my headlight switch and plugged it back in and it all worked... Will try a new switch but this switch is only a month or two old >_> any ideas what that could be? |
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bluebus86
Banned
Joined: September 02, 2010
Posts: 11075
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| Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 1:15 pm Post subject: |
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| OldSpice wrote: |
| Awesome cheer leader you are, I dropped the fuse cluster and sure enough there was a hidden 15amp blown fuse, that I could not see from the sides... Replaced and It works now! however I think I have another issue that may or may not be related... Power windows and headlights won't turn on, last nite I had the same issue but unplugged my headlight switch and plugged it back in and it all worked... Will try a new switch but this switch is only a month or two old >_> any ideas what that could be? |
lets see, figure out why the 15 amp fuse is protecting your lights, that is NOT right . VW used a 10 amp fuse to protect the small wires going tot eh lights (I am talking interior lights now, not headlights). the 15 amp fuse may allow damage to happen, you need to protect this circuit with a 10 amp fuse. if more loads was added to this circuit, necessitating a 15 amp fuse, then you need to divide the circuit so that the original light wires are protected by a 10 amp fuse. the fuse is too large and may fail to prevent a wire melt down.
try a 10 amp fuse there. 15 amp is foolish it is over sized.
for the headlights, the switch can fail, the headlight current for low beam goes thru the switch, no relay, only high beam has a relay, hence the switch does not last long. If prior owner put in high watt lights, a relay IS NEEDED for sure, but even stock lights can benefit from a relay. maybe the work on the fuse panel pulled a wire and it came off the switch??
anyway you need to fix that fuse, 15 amps is not going to protect that circuit, it was designed for a 10 amp fuse. don't run like that, risk of meltdown.
now why was that fuse added??? faulty fuse panel??? figure out why it was done is next step in a correct repair (after a 10 amp fuse is installed.)
_________________
Help Prevent VW Engine Fires, see this link.....Engine safety wire information
Stop introducing dirt into your oil when adjusting valves ... https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=683022 |
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