Wires under Instrument Cluster question

[felixbobcat]

While doing some work under the instrument cluster I found these two sets of wires that had been crimped together then covered with electrical tape.

Is this factory spec or someones quick fix? Tape didn't seem to be 34 years old.

My van is an 85 Westy.

[erdonline]

Best thing to do is trace them back and see where they originate and terminate. It's a bit hard to tell from that picture, but if I had to guess I would say stereo speaker wiring.

Ed
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'85 Vanagon Westfalia
'84 Vanagon 7-passenger
'98 Mexican air-cooled Beetle

[bettingonvans]

Not factory. Sloppy. Blue is probably +12V? Browns probably used to terminate at the ground stars near the fuse box. Easy to check. Bad if they touch. I'd heat shrink the blues at least unless you plan other action.
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1990 Westfalia, GW2.2, Peloquins TBD

[SyncroHead]

Brown is definitely ground.

Gray/blue +12V, and if I recall correctly, is the dash lights dimming circuit. Not 100% sure though.

Look for some accessory that a previous owner added or modified that might have a light that dims with the instrument lights.

Jim
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"A Vanagon? It's not a car or a van. It's a hobby!"

Check out:
www.VANAVATION.com
www.SyncroSafari.org and
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[calo1956]

there is a star lug on the A pillar just above your fuse box, i would start by looking at that to see if someone yanked the wire off that for some reason. Don't know about the blue and gray, but a simple look at the wiring schematic should give you some clue. Trying to figure out someone else mess isn't easy. I am the original owner of my 80 westfalia, and i can't figure half the wire mods i did myself! Now i label everything...
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Enjoy the ride....
72 bug
80 westfalia

[syncrodoka]

The grey/blue wire mess is actually factory, it is the dash illumination wires as stated above. It drives me crazy and I crimp them all together with a large heat shrink butt splice connector.

[felixbobcat]

I did see that a couple of the grey/blue wires terminated in the switches on the dash.

Really can't say why they were cut. Only accessories I found was and overhead video monitor but that was not wired into the dash.

I'm going to cover it and leave it for now and fix it when I pull the dash.

I'm sure someday someone will shake their head at my upgrades. But at least they will be done correctly....

[T3 Pilot]

The wires were not “cut” that is how that portion of the harness was fabricated at the VW factory in West Germany. It looks like it was done in East Germany.
Like the previous poster said, the mess looks like a hack but it is not. Those wires are hot but at least they are fused and had some tape covering them. He suggests a more workmanlike solution by redoing the connection with a modern insulated crimp connector. Likewise the adjacent ground crimp mess is Original, looks like crap but it’s only a ground right?
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1988 Vanagon

The most important part in every vehicle is the nut behind the wheel......

[wcdennis]

Does anyone know if there was once a factory insulator on that crimped connector? It seems so odd that VW would have left a “hot” connector exposed, but I have never seen one protected. Maybe it was something that self-destructed after 20 years?

[Zeitgeist 13]

VAG still gang crimps wires like that inside the wiring looms.
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?