Damn Mice

[dipple]

So I decided it was finally time to replace the burnt out reverse bulb my neighbor pointed out. After removing the taillight assembly from the passenger side of the van I found a large mouse nest I had previously missed when giving the van it's initial giant clean. I proceeded to clean out mess of insulation and dirt. Behind the nest I discovered a large relay completely disconnected by chewing mice. First what is this relay. Second half of the wires are marked by color but the second half are all white and only marked by numbers at the base of the connector for the relay. There are no identifying marks on the disconnected wires. I have taken a brief look at the Bentley but thought I would post the question here first for some insight. Thanks MArk

[snowsyncro]

That is the location of the idle stabilizer valve controller. Not the best location, for a variety of reasons, now including rodents by the sounds of it.

RonC

[insyncro]

Fuel injection, idle relay, very needed for a proper running van.

This is the number one reason we have cats at our shop.
Not a roddent anywhere.

[dipple]

Thanks Samba Rules. I am assuming my van has been like this since I bought it a year ago. It previously sat for 3 years on a farm. It runs and drives fine and I have had no issues. I have also restarted since cleaning out the nest and totally disconnecting the relay. What should I do next. I would like to reconnect all of the white wires but I am totally unsure of how to identify them. Thanks again.

[snowsyncro]

Your description of the damage is a little confusing. It sounds like the wires running to the base upon which the controller mounts have been chewed through, and you are trying to re-establish the wiring. Is this correct? What exactly are you trying to do now? You lost me with the second half of the wiring part.

RonC

[dipple]

Sorry It was meant to say Second: as in the second question. Correct, I am trying to establish which white wires go together. All of the color coded were easy to connect but the 6 white wires only have corresponding numbers on the connector end and not on the actual wires running to the engine. Thanks

[snowsyncro]

OK, gotcha. I have a controller out right now, and a van with the taillight removed. It's dark here right now, and the van is outside, so I will take some photos tomorrow if that will help. I'll check Bentley too, but right now, after a couple of single malts and a Moosehead green pop(nearly midnight here), I don't feel like it

RonC

[dipple]

Thanks a lot Ron.

[ftp2leta]

Mice... you have seen nothing, here is mice stuff:

Ben
_________________
Working with rust, grease, dirt and dust is a sad truth.
------------------------------------------------------
FI part for sale: http://www.benplace.com/parts_sale1.htm
My site: http://www.benplace.com/vw2.htm
Subi conversion: http://www.benplace.com/vanaru_eng.htm
Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/ftp2leta

[Gauche1968]

I hope you all are wearing a mask and gloves and spraying the nest material down with disinfectant before cleaning it. Hanta virus is rare, but deadly!
_________________
1984 Vanagon GL
1984 Vanagon Westy

[snowsyncro]

Here is what I found...

First let's make sure we are talking about the same thing. The Idle Stabilizer Control Unit (ISCU) sits in here, behind the right taillight...

(Don't mind the rust...hehe)

It is mounted on a relay adapter, that clips on to the original relay mounting bracket shown in the first picture. Here is the ISCU, mounted on the relay adapter...

Here is the bottom, showing the ten wires. Note there is only one completely white wire, the bottom-most on the right...

Here is the relay adapter, with the ISCU removed...

And here is the bottom of the ISCU, showing the connectors and labelling...

My wiring agrees with Bentley, here is the mapping...

Wire Colour___Bentley___Actual

R/BK ..........6/50 .......... 50
R/W .......... 14/15 .......... 15
W/Y .......... 15/LH .......... LH
BR .............5/31 .............31
GY .............13/T .............T
R/BL .........8/LS .............LS
W ............ 4/ST2 ...........St2
Y ............ 11/ST1 ..........St1
W/G ......... 2/K ...............K
G ............. 17/1 ............. 1

Hope this helps.

RonC

P.S. Edited to correct an error in the original table.

[dipple]

Ron,
That is was I am talking about. Thanks for the detailed pics. I wish my wires were as obvious as your. I definitely have 6 white unmarked wires. I will take some pics when I get home. Thanks

[dipple]

Here are some pics of the damage. I have spliced in a connector from my parts van, both have 6 white wires that can only be differentiated by the numbers on the base of the connector. The only thing I can think of it to trace the wires back to the source. The van is still running fine with this disconnected.

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[snowsyncro]

Huh....Sounds like it wasn't the first time that was a mouse condo. VW always colour-coded, so a PO must have made a previous repair, and you could have any wire colour you wanted; so long as it was white. Love it.

Eventually those must be spliced to the proper colours, unless the whole wire run was replaced, but that is a lot of work (to do it wrong). In the stock configuration, the wires disappear into a plastic jacket after about 4-5 inches, then all that is bundled into a larger harness after a couple of feet, with all of that running across the forward part of the forewall from left to right, then forward through the firewall on the left side.

See if that is the case for yours. Look for a repair to the jacket, see if it was maybe slit lengthwise to get access, then the splices might just be out of sight.

One more thing...my counting skills and colour perception have improved during the day.. There are actually ten wires, as you can clearly see in the photo, and I mis-interpreted red/black for red/blue. My wiring now magically agrees with Bentley -- I will edit the original post.

RonC

[dipple]

This seems like it is going to get complicated. The first pic actually shows the jacket cut back about 4 inches. I was hoping to find some kind of color coding. This does not seem to be a repair and the one from my parts van is also white. Each wire does have an individual number at its base. Both of these vans are 1987's for reference.

[snowsyncro]

Very strange. You have two mounting blocks, from two different vans, and each has 6 white wires? I agree, does not seem like a repair, but very strange. Did VW run out of colored wire? Were they the same wires on each mounting block?

In any case, presumably you can get at the chewed ends that are part of the wiring harness, so the fix is not all that complicated. You know which 6 wires you have to identify, because you can see where they terminate in the mounting block. From the wiring diagram you can then locate where those 6 wires end up. Then you can ring the wires with a multimeter to sort out which is which. If you don't have a multimeter or a test lamp, you can make one with some wire, a battery and a small light bulb of a voltage to match your battery.

[dipple]

Thanks again Ron.

[Dogpilot]

Use this easier to read schematic to help you ring out the wires to their components. get it from my public folder:
http://homepage.mac.com/WebObjects/FileSharing.woa...mp;lang=en
Download:
Vanagon Wiring Diagram.pdf
_________________
Geology with a Syncro rocks!
86 Syncro Westy AKA "The Bughunter"
98 Disco I
08 Range Rover SC
08 VW Rabbit S
1951 O-1G

[tikibus]

Holy F-bombs. Your sure it wasn't a badger living in there?


Instead of the tape, a very small flat head to put into the connector and pull those fixes out . Any good FLAPS or hardware store should have color coded wire and reconnect properly.

go slow.
_________________
Happy Trails!
Mark
______________
Founding member of the Empire State VW Camping Club.
http://www.empirevwcamping.org/
1984 Westy - Tiki
1997 Honda Civic -The Green Hornet
1971 Volvo P-1800E- needs TLC

[KYLE automotive spec]

A change was made somewhere between 87 MY and 88 MY. The early harnesses have 6 white wires to the ISCU and the later have only one white. It shouldn't be too hard to use the Bentley diagram and continuity testing to identify each wire. Identify and label them all first and then do all fo your splicing afterwards. Stay organized and it is easier to keep the job from getting overwhelming.