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Wed Jun 25, 2025 4:20 pm

Does the factory wiring of the fuse panel follow any particular convention?

For example, does the power feed enter the top side of the fuse panel, then travel through the fuse, and then gets distributed throughout the bus?

Wed Jun 25, 2025 4:38 pm

I think it is unique to how VW did things in that era. In general messy. Some fuses have their own supply wires, some have a buss connecting several. Some are in other places in the bus. Start by getting the wiring diagram for your year bus and the page in the owners' manual with the fuses on it. I download the wiring diagram to a flash drive and take it to a print shop like FEDEX etc who have plotters, then print a large version of it I can work with. Actually I print several so I can scribble on one as I check circuits, and keep a couple others unmolested. If you have a year bus that the wiring diagram is poor, use the next year also to make it easier to read. They are in Technical at the top of this page.

Wed Jun 25, 2025 6:50 pm

what year bus are we dealing with?

Wed Jun 25, 2025 9:28 pm

It varies by year.

On earlier buses, the power went to the headlight switch, then to the ignition switch, then to the fuse block. In later years, it went directly to the fuse block.

General fuse block organization: First 6 fuses are taillights and headlights. Fuse 7 is generally a spare, but goes to the roadside parking lights in Europe. After that are fuses fed by the ignition switch. Finally are fuses fed directly by the battery.

The input sides of the fuses have busbars tying them together in groups. The output sides of the fuses are always individual connections.

Thu Jun 26, 2025 10:01 am

It's a 1978 Westfalia.

Fri Jun 27, 2025 8:24 am

Remove the fuse(s), then check the fuse terminals top and bottom for power using a multi meter. Whatever side has the power without the fuse is the feed side.

Best regards,
Chris