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borninabus Samba R&D Dept.
Joined: May 18, 2006 Posts: 4539 Location: Arizona Highways
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 2:38 pm Post subject: ATTN: Check Your Power Steering Switch Wiring!!! |
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so i edited the title of this thread to reflect what i found (or you might say, i was lead to). if you find damage like this, it was most likely caused by a similar situation. check the tightness of the connections on your power steering switch, make sure they are insulated and install an inline fuse near the power lug in the engine junction box.
Moderator Edit: and..... FUSE your EFI /Fuel Pump feed!!
***************
driving highway speed, all good, smell electrical. shut down & coast to stop. checking out the usual suspects around the dash, i notice smoke from the rear vent. frantically disconnect the battery and open the engine lid to find this:
so i know a guy (me) who’s good with wiring and a guy (me) who has a replacement engine harness and i’m really not too worried about making the needed repairs. my question to those more knowledgeable than me is: what caused this? i don’t want to make the repairs and end up with this same result.
obviously, a dead short caused this, but where? fuel pump relay? ECU failure? alternator? or is it simply some chafed wires that finally wore too thin?
there is evidence of heat inside the loom about halfway across the engine to about the throttle cable and everything is normal, as it should be.
i have some driving lights wired into the fuel pump + lead, but it just powers a relay which gets its power direct from the fuse box. also, this relay was not hot, nor damaged. coincidence? i’m guessing not. also, there is no evidence of damage or heat where the relay splices into the fuel pump. i will be investigating as you read this. _________________ 88 Van WBX, A/T - 13 JSW TDI 6M/T - 2012 Touareg TDI Sport
Last edited by borninabus on Thu Jan 04, 2018 3:54 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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E1 Samba Member
Joined: January 21, 2013 Posts: 6585 Location: Westfalia, Earth
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 2:41 pm Post subject: Re: Electrical Meltdown! What Happened? |
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Was the relay out like that, or did you pull it afterwards? _________________ ‘84 Westy, 2.1L with Digijet, 5.43 R+P, GT Gears
"Adding power makes you faster on the straights.
Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere."
— Colin Chapman |
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djkeev Samba Moderator
Joined: September 30, 2007 Posts: 32634 Location: Reading Pennsylvania
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borninabus Samba R&D Dept.
Joined: May 18, 2006 Posts: 4539 Location: Arizona Highways
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 2:56 pm Post subject: Re: Electrical Meltdown! What Happened? |
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E1 wrote: |
Was the relay out like that, or did you pull it afterwards? |
i pulled it out. thanks _________________ 88 Van WBX, A/T - 13 JSW TDI 6M/T - 2012 Touareg TDI Sport |
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borninabus Samba R&D Dept.
Joined: May 18, 2006 Posts: 4539 Location: Arizona Highways
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 3:00 pm Post subject: Re: Electrical Meltdown! What Happened? |
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djkeev wrote: |
Unfused fuel injection / fuel pump wiring.
Member dhaavers had similar problems tgat stemmed from the Power Steering idle switch wires,
As a result of his experience I (and hopefully others) put a fuse in the circuit.
Dave |
you don’t say?
_________________ 88 Van WBX, A/T - 13 JSW TDI 6M/T - 2012 Touareg TDI Sport |
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crazyvwvanman Samba Member
Joined: January 28, 2008 Posts: 9940 Location: Orbiting San Diego
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 3:00 pm Post subject: Re: Electrical Meltdown! What Happened? |
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Check the power steering pump pressure switch wiring. That is the usual cause of cooking that fuel injection harness power wire so look at it carefully.
Mark |
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borninabus Samba R&D Dept.
Joined: May 18, 2006 Posts: 4539 Location: Arizona Highways
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 3:04 pm Post subject: Re: Electrical Meltdown! What Happened? |
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so, where does the fuse go?
funny stuff.
you guys are good, thanks a ton! _________________ 88 Van WBX, A/T - 13 JSW TDI 6M/T - 2012 Touareg TDI Sport |
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Vanagon Nut Samba Member
Joined: February 08, 2008 Posts: 10379 Location: Sunshine Coast B.C.
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 3:09 pm Post subject: Re: Electrical Meltdown! What Happened? |
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its interesting to see which wire in the black box failed.
I redid one of your images.
Likely not related but are the wires arrows point to damaged?
edit: I see the image of PS connector now.
Neil.
_________________ 1981 Westy DIY 15º ABA
1988 West DIY 50º ABA
VE7TBN
Last edited by Vanagon Nut on Thu Jan 04, 2018 3:11 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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borninabus Samba R&D Dept.
Joined: May 18, 2006 Posts: 4539 Location: Arizona Highways
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 3:10 pm Post subject: Re: Electrical Meltdown! What Happened? |
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i’ll put the fuse close to the lug in the (already crowded) junction box and edit this thread title to serve as warning to future vanagon owners.
guess i should have used insulated spades, huh.
live and learn _________________ 88 Van WBX, A/T - 13 JSW TDI 6M/T - 2012 Touareg TDI Sport
Last edited by borninabus on Thu Jan 04, 2018 3:15 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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borninabus Samba R&D Dept.
Joined: May 18, 2006 Posts: 4539 Location: Arizona Highways
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 3:12 pm Post subject: Re: Electrical Meltdown! What Happened? |
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the left arrow is the same smoked wire and the right arrow is just dusty with a clean spot where i was handling it. _________________ 88 Van WBX, A/T - 13 JSW TDI 6M/T - 2012 Touareg TDI Sport |
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borninabus Samba R&D Dept.
Joined: May 18, 2006 Posts: 4539 Location: Arizona Highways
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 3:16 pm Post subject: Re: Electrical Meltdown! What Happened? |
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on the plus side (get it ) i should be back in action by tomorrow. _________________ 88 Van WBX, A/T - 13 JSW TDI 6M/T - 2012 Touareg TDI Sport |
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djkeev Samba Moderator
Joined: September 30, 2007 Posts: 32634 Location: Reading Pennsylvania
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DanHoug Samba Member
Joined: December 05, 2016 Posts: 4800 Location: Bemidji, MN
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 4:35 pm Post subject: Re: ATTN: Check Your Power Steering Switch Wiring!!! |
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check your wiring loom on the passenger side by the tail light also.... mine had melted there because the PS switch is tied into the idle stabilizer relay.
-dan |
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djkeev Samba Moderator
Joined: September 30, 2007 Posts: 32634 Location: Reading Pennsylvania
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dhaavers Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2010 Posts: 7757 Location: NE MN (tinyurl.com/dhaaverslocation)
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 5:41 pm Post subject: Re: ATTN: Check Your Power Steering Switch Wiring!!! |
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Wow...seeing this post brought back a WHOLE lot of memories...& frustrations...
OP, good on you for making a clear, insistent post title.
This issue NEEDS to be consistently mentioned in the same breath as fuel lines!!!
But for some aware rear seat passengers, my situation could've gone on for another
several minutes & I could've easily been just another guy with a burned van...a statistic.
DON'T WAIT...DO THIS, PEOPLE!!!
BARE MINIMUM: Insulate your (unfused) power steering pressure switch connectors.
SUPER SAFE: Add a (7.5a - 10a) fuse in the black connector box for the entire FI harness.
- Dave _________________ 86 White Wolfsburg Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"
<EDITED TO PROTECT INNOCENT PIXELS> |
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dhaavers Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2010 Posts: 7757 Location: NE MN (tinyurl.com/dhaaverslocation)
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Vanagon Nut Samba Member
Joined: February 08, 2008 Posts: 10379 Location: Sunshine Coast B.C.
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 9:30 pm Post subject: Re: Electrical Meltdown! What Happened? |
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borninabus wrote: |
the left arrow is the same smoked wire and the right arrow is just dusty with a clean spot where i was handling it. |
Ok. Thanks.
Pure "dumb luck" on my part but upon list advice, one of the first things I did after buying my '88 was fuse that B+ wire.
Assuming the PS wire was causing the short, I have to wonder why that PS wire didn't fail first?
Neil. _________________ 1981 Westy DIY 15º ABA
1988 West DIY 50º ABA
VE7TBN |
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mikemtnbike Samba Member
Joined: March 26, 2015 Posts: 2797 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2018 5:46 am Post subject: Re: ATTN: Check Your Power Steering Switch Wiring!!! |
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I already replaced my PS switch ends with weatherproof connectors a while ago because mine looked like such garbage...but I'd really appreciate a photo of where the inline fuse should go. I went through dhaavers linked thread and it still wasn't clear to me, mostly because I hate wiring diagrams I guess.
Thanks! _________________ 1991 Vanagon GL 2.1 AT Westfauxlia. "Frankie" Totaled https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764510&highlight=carnage
1995 Eurovan Camper "Marzivan"
2020 GTI SE manual |
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dobryan Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2006 Posts: 16508 Location: Brookeville, MD
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Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2018 5:51 am Post subject: Re: ATTN: Check Your Power Steering Switch Wiring!!! |
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mikemtnbike wrote: |
I already replaced my PS switch ends with weatherproof connectors a while ago because mine looked like such garbage...but I'd really appreciate a photo of where the inline fuse should go. I went through dhaavers linked thread and it still wasn't clear to me, mostly because I hate wiring diagrams I guess.
Thanks! |
Others are more expert than me but seeing this pic would make me put the fuse right on this burnt wire at the connection to the hot stud.Typically you want the fuse as close to the power source as you can.
_________________ Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2002 Subaru EJ25 and Peloquin TBD
"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." Robert Louis Stevenson
MD>Canada>AK>WA>OR>CA>AZ>UT>WY>SD
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620646
Building a bus for travel in Europe (euroBus)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=695371
The Western Syncro build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=746794 |
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borninabus Samba R&D Dept.
Joined: May 18, 2006 Posts: 4539 Location: Arizona Highways
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Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2018 8:44 am Post subject: Re: ATTN: Check Your Power Steering Switch Wiring!!! |
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dobryan wrote: |
I already replaced my PS switch ends with weatherproof connectors a while ago because mine looked like such garbage...but I'd really appreciate a photo of where the inline fuse should go. I went through dhaavers linked thread and it still wasn't clear to me, mostly because I hate wiring diagrams I guess. |
i will post one once installed.
repairs are under way!
mikemtnbike wrote: |
Others are more expert than me but seeing this pic would make me put the fuse right on this burnt wire at the connection to the hot stud.Typically you want the fuse as close to the power source as you can. |
indeed, this is where it will be. _________________ 88 Van WBX, A/T - 13 JSW TDI 6M/T - 2012 Touareg TDI Sport |
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