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Sun Nov 23, 2014 4:08 pm

So I spent a few hours today, attempting to clean up the wiring mess on my 68 Bay (I really need to give her a name).

Two pictures attached.

First. All the wires that I removed that went nowhere. Yes. They either started from somewhere and went to nothing, our they were utterly connected to nothing in either end.

Second. All the cluster wires behind the console. A true cluster ____!

I can't believe that this is normal. It is F!Ing nuts. And there are still so many items that don't work. My left blinker console light is always on, but blinks when I turn on the blinker. The right clinker never blinks on the console. I have no reverse lights. Traced the writes to the transmission, and one of the wires runs to the backup lights, while the second wire runs to nothing.

How can people need things up this bad. It is nuts.

Sun Nov 23, 2014 4:11 pm

OEM wire nuts?

Sun Nov 23, 2014 4:28 pm

It IS normal, at least as far as being a big, mystifying snarl of wires. Almost any vehicles' wiring appears
as such until you have come to a good understanding of it. Obviously, one or more electrically-challenged
PO's have been messing around with it, but after you get it all straightened out it's not going to look much
different. You just have to trace each wire, individually, and correct things as you find the need. That's what
wiring diagrams are for.

Sun Nov 23, 2014 4:45 pm

take it FWIW, but make sure you go over every wire and clear them all for scrapes or gouges that expose raw metal. I had a very delightful dash fire in my '72 914 after trying to unravel a rat's nest like this one and exposing some wire accidentally.

Sun Nov 23, 2014 5:02 pm

Not shocking at all and sadly quite "normal", you've been PO'd and you are not the first. That snarl makes sense if you have the secret decoder ring, unfortunately it seems your PO's didn't have access to the Samba and it's wonderful archive of diagrams as well as the help available here on the forums. Those added aftermarket wires with the funny colors make it even more confusing.
Comb out that mess and while you are at it remove all the rest of the loose stuff, then pick one circuit at a time and find the correctly colored wires to connect between the correct terminal numbers on each component, if you get stuck add to this thread, you are not the first to take on that (as some believe) crazy 68 wiring, it's not hard if you concentrate on one item at a time.
If the ends are F'd up you may want to invest in a real ratchet crimper and the correct uninsulated wire terminals to do it right, good for another 46 years at least that way, also invest some time in shining up every switch/fusebox terminal so when you reconnect it makes perfect contact every time.

When I take on a job like that I remove the cluster and park in a sunny spot so I can sit in the drivers seat in comfort and contemplate every connection in a happy place with no distractions.

Sun Nov 23, 2014 5:03 pm

agree- wiring is a mess- the number and color codes can be a challenge.

I did a boat once where all the wiring was blue- so could be like rabbit vacuum lines ALL white.

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Sun Nov 23, 2014 6:01 pm

I would like to point out even on it's best day, the wiring under a bus dash is a joke. it will always look like somewhat of a rats nest. you can only clean it up so much

Sun Nov 23, 2014 6:38 pm

The Germans decided to have a beer, wine, and wiring party one Saturday years ago, and what you are seeing are the results.

Sun Nov 23, 2014 7:02 pm

Yes you could look at it that way, or you could contemplate the shortest path between two items and the tape and extra wire that was saved doing it. Production line workers of that era were quite accustomed to work loads like that and actually used thier brain now and then, far smarter than the current minimum wage simians who plug A into B, tuck C into slot D and then push the button to move the project down the line to the next mindless zombie.

It's the same deal as current wiring without the need for X ray vision, each circuit is easy to see and trace, no mysteries when something suddenly stops circuiting :wink:

Sun Nov 23, 2014 10:42 pm

While tracing multiple wires I realized that they could have made this much nicer by bundling 4+ wires together at a time. It just required them to make them all a length that would easily be routed together. Seriously could have been done much better. Just looking behind the dash gives makes my eyes hurt...

Mon Nov 24, 2014 3:22 pm

the main caveat is you want to know where things move and pinch. Any wires that run thru an area that moves need to be secured so they don't get cut accidentally. Buses are especially hard to wire smoothly because you cannot pull the front seats out and have a reasonably flat floor. They require a contortionist most of the time. I found it easier to work on things while the dash was out.

Mon Nov 24, 2014 4:16 pm

I can't count how many bus's wiring i have had to fix that looked like that. I end up with a big pile of wire on the floor that wasn't supost to be there. Why people feel the need to add wire to the system I just don't know.

Mon Nov 24, 2014 5:59 pm

It is my standard practice when I buy a used vehicle to remove any added wire that I can not readily determine a use for. I have very seldom ever needed to add one back. I did the same on a piece of off road equipment with a smallish dash where I work one time and ended up with over 200 feet of excess wire on the floor when I was done and on another rig cut out a foot and a half length of wire with something like 18 butt splices. I do not understand what drives people to mutilate a wiring harness the way many do.

Wed Nov 26, 2014 11:49 am

Looks normal. I pulled about that much extra wire out of my 59 and easily 3 times that from a 78. I think the 78 had 12 radios installed and each installer left all the old system wires in place and added new!! Such is the joy of previous owners.