Electrical Question - Nothing Works

[VWTortuga336]

I just got a 65 that runs and drives well, but none of the electrical works other than the hazard lights on 3 of the 4 lights. Also, the rear passenger light is very dim.

The horn, head lights, turn signals, brake lights, etc don’t work. Before I start troubleshooting things individually, is there anything that could cause all these to fail together?
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[germanx]

Bad ground or defect light switch?
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'73 Beach Buggy
'66 T1 Deluxe

[Clara]

Check and twirl your fuses.
Also, corrosion and poor grounds can cause dim or non working lights.
The usual solution is to clean all connections (wire brush or fine sandpaper), and use dielectric grease.

You can use a test light to see if power is getting to the bulbs.
Where the wire goes to the bulb holder,
bulb to bulbholder,
ground to body
...all should be clean and shiny for the best conducting.

These buses are old.

[telford dorr]

^^^ X2 ^^^

Basically, every fixture has to be removed, cleaned, and reworked as needed. Rotary wire brushes on a Dremel tool work well. It helps to add (#18 AWG, brown) ground wires to all of the light fixtures which previously depended only on a (marginal) mechanical connection of some kind for the ground. Sand the side of bulb sockets and solder a ground wire to it. You'll need an aggressive paste flux, like zinc chloride, to get 60/40 electrical solder to bond to the steel socket material, and a large soldering iron for heat. Crimp #8 ring terminals to the other end of the wires, and screw them down to a sanded spot on the body somewhere with sheet metal screws.
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'71 panel, now with FI
'Experience' is the ability to recognize a mistake when you're making it again - Franklin P. Jones
In theory, theory works in practice; in practice, it doesn't - William T. Harbaugh
When you're dead, you don't know you're dead. The pain is only felt by others.
Same thing happens when you're stupid. - Philippe Geluck
More VW electrical at http://telforddorr.com/ (available 9am to 9pm PST)

[kintail]

Weld repair on chassis that partially burned thru harness.

It happens.
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Scott

[ZENVWDRIVER]

... first, i'd get a test light.
2. make sure your battery is good and posts are clean
3. make a copy of a wire diagram and have it laminated - diagram in one side and key and meanings on the other.
4 trace - visually look at your harness, back to front to see if any irregularities... any splices, cuts, burns and etc.
5. use the test light on each fuse circuit.
6. remove and clean/sand metal grounds
7. replace bulbs - check that all connections are clean.
Do all that and you'll find your problems. Keep your laminated wire diagram for future use... I have many, many extra harnesses, if you need to make any proper splices or harnesses - just shoot me a PM
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5/50, pastel green 11G - SOLD
8/50, gray 11A Beetle
6/52, pastel green 11C - SOLD
11/4/52, black Zwitter - SOLD to my little bro.
1954 Porsche, pre A, with VW 36 horse- SOLD
1/54, black 11C Beetle - TRADED
2/55 Iceland green Beetle, on a 1965 pan
3/55 113 Beetle, stratos silver
1955 Messerschmitt KR175 - SOLD, sadly
1960 single cab
1962 SO33, with SO 42 interior
9/63 Pacific blue, Ghia
'87 Toyota MR2
'02 WestFORDia E-150, GAVE TO OUR SON

All super-heroes, wear a MASK

[mykillcykill]

This is a job for [https://www.powerprobe.com/power-probe-iii/]

Possibly one of the best tools I've bought. It's a next level multimeter that allows you to run off the car's battery, check voltage, check ground and apply voltage. Start at the battery and work your way forward.
Most of our aging busses suffer from corroded or fraying wires. The green and white crap you see at your battery cables can creep up the wires causing resisitance and HEAT. The cheesy crimp connectors we all use but hate can corrode or fray at the crimp hidden by the plastic insulator. carefully removing wires one by one at the fuse block and cleaning with a brass brush and wd40 can really help, just be sure to disconnect the ground strap before you start wirebrushing wires!