TheSamba.com :: View topic

Sat Dec 06, 2008 10:25 am

Hi, I've got my 67 going good since putting it together and been driving for a few weeks with no problems. The other night I pulled home and noticed a slight smell, definately electrical. Everything has been wired per the Bently manuals with mostly original wiring and is pretty stock other than this:

Basic 12volt H4 bulb conversions, don't remember the wattage
CD player with 2 6 X 9's, no amp. Wired from the fuse box at the radio accessory spot
Vintagebus.com relay conversion

Here's what I noticed.... The burning smell is coming from the headlight switch area, not the fuse panel. When I first shut the headlights off, the CD player turned off , then came back on by itself. I could make it do it 4 times in a row consistantly. It acted like it was a switch that controlled the CD player. I admit, I had the stereo cranking pretty good during my drive. No obvious burned wiring, but I will pull the parcel tray and investigate anyway...

My possible concerns, am I missing something? What do you guys think?
-The headlight switch may me going out, causing a short?
-The stereo is pissing off the fuse box area and robbing the headlights of juice?
-The H4's are overloading the switch?
-Wires possibly shorting inside the headlight buckets?

Sat Dec 06, 2008 10:34 am

i would definately guestion the switch pull it apart clean it grease it. the stereo and headlights are on the same circuit maybe you are getting a ground in the switch which is just enough of a voltage drop for the stereo to shut it down.

Sat Dec 06, 2008 1:12 pm

I had it 3 years ago.
In my situation one of the connectors of the head-light swith made every once and a while connection with the dash resulting in the same smell from the same area.

Sun Dec 07, 2008 1:09 am

As noted by slow36hp, rebuild the light switch. Thanks to Eric&Barb & Matt Roberds for the how-to ....

http://www.type2.com/library/electris/vw-hauptlicht-schalter.html

The existing wiring should be fine for 12V H4's if you have cleaned all the connections and grounds, and rebuilt the switch. A little DeoxIT on all the connections helps too. You can usually get DeoxIT spray at Radio Shack.

Sun Dec 07, 2008 11:26 am

Thanks a lot guys! I did get the switch in a used part bin or swap meet, can't remember. I had my suspicions it was the switch. I tried making the same drive without the stereo on today and I did not notice any smell. I assumed I would have to find a new switch. Thanks for saving me some cash, especially in times like these, I did not know it was rebuildable! :P

I'll let you know how it turns out...

Sun Dec 07, 2008 11:52 am

You should look into what wattage of bulb you are using. 55/60 watt will work, much more than that and you need to run a seperate much bigger power wire for the headlights.
Good to solder the brass fuse box clips that hold the fuses to the brass pieces that the wire attach to.