Blue fuses?

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I just bought a 74 (last night). The original owner past away and his wife sold me the car. There is a toggle switch just to the left of the steering (which I believe I have determined is a replacement for the heater knob) and an old stereo. I haven't been able to determine yet if these came with one, had any dealer installed option or if someone put this in but it is clearly 70s. No other modifications that I can tell.

The drive home was fine and I drive all over town with no problems. We took it to dinner and my husband drove. He's a lot taller than me but he doesn't adjust the seat (it's kinda rusty, I think he was worried. The passenger headlight either stayed on or turned on while we were in the restuarant. Just that headlight, just that side, headlights were turned off. It did it again after closing a door. Wire loose probably, no big deal, I decided just to make sure it's off when leaving so I don't go out to a dead battery and no problem.

We drove the the place where I bought the car to pick up my other car I had left. My husband followed me home and tells me when we arrive home that the brake lights aren't working. They were working fine and then they stopped. That's a problem I can't ignore.

Todays goal: track down the brake light issue.

I enlisted a neighbor (husband is at work) to tell me if the lights are on, I push the pedal, no lights. I bumped the fuse box with my knee and a fuse pops out, put it back in....LIGHTS. So I think maybe the hubby was bumping the fuse box. I decide to make sure the fuses are all in solidly so here's a new problem.

All the fuses should be white except #9, correct?
#1,2, and 10 are blue. #4, and 9 are red. Some look pretty old and faded.

I'm thinking the best thing is to swap them all out for new fuses in the correct amperage, but I wanted to check first if there is a reason/mod/hack that I don't yet know about that is the reason for the differences.

[JayC]

Good morning!

Glad you are enjoying the new Thing.

On the fuses, I think they are all white with the exception of the number of number 9. Blue is a 25 amp fuse is probably too big for safe use.
Not my picture, but was in the gallery.

The other item I found incredibly useful was the wiring diagram up under the Technical session at the top of the page. It will show you all the colors of wires and how the route.

Good luck!

[Captain Spalding]

First, congratulations on your new Thing!

There's a color diagram of the fuse block here. You mentioned you have a '74. Most of the wiring diagrams are for 1973, and that 8 amp fuse at position 9 in the fuse block is for the gas-fired heater that came in the '73 but not in the '74, so I'm not sure what's supposed to be there in a '74. If you leave an 8 amp fuse in there it won't hurt anything. But all the blue fuses should absolutely be replaced.

Replacing the old fuses is a good idea. While you are doing so, it would probably be a good idea to clean up the contacts on the fuse block with a little sandpaper or contact cleaner.

There should be a clear plastic cover over the fuse block. I'm assuming yours is missing. You can get one here.

If you open up the dash to look for a loose headlight wire, I suggest you disconnect the battery first.

Cheers!

[Wildthings]

You can get fuses that have either brass strips or zinc strips. The brass strips are less prone to corrosion and thus are preferable. I also like to use a tad of dielectric grease on the ends of the fuses. Replacing them all at 5 year intervals isn't a bad idea either. There are also glass fuses with cone shaped ends that will work.

When you have an electrical problem very often it will be the grounds that are bad, a bad ground can cause your lights to do really wacky things that can seem quite baffling if you haven't dealt with bad grounds before.

Some early '74s had gas heaters instead of exhaust heat.

[Al Capulco]

If your '74 model does not have a gas heater, most don't, then just run new 8 amp white fuses (brass) at all locations if everything is original. That fuse detail is a little confusing. Not sure why it has amp next the wire size. Don't think you should use 3 amp fuses, maybe just a typo.

[hitest]

The upper right index indicates the relative amp requirements of each fused location- hence 1-8 are relatively light load- only 3 amps per fuse (and there is a lot of fluctuation allowance in those listed circuits). The S10 fuse has to protect a rated 8 amps- so the same white fuse is still the best rated protection.

The reference to wire size is only because amp load requirements determine the needed wire size. Thus wire size equals rated amps. I think the Germans started the standard for which other Euro brands followed with regard to amp rated color coding in cars. Makes life with my Volvos easier too. Pretty neat stuff really

My feeling on blue fuses- they have no place in an original air cooled VW. Overrating a fuse just to avoid troubleshooting what your wiring/circuit/lighting problem may be is a recipe for fire disaster.

I swear the nest of factory Thing wires I've got is worse than any other VW I've owned. Closing the dash panels after a fix is like trying to shove a baby calf back in the mama.
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