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SyncroHead
Samba Member
Joined: May 23, 2005
Posts: 1159
Location: Northern Nevada
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 Posted: Thu May 07, 2020 2:52 pm Post subject: Re: Ground Locations - 2.1L |
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| shadetreemech wrote: |
No water tank in mine when I bought it. There's plenty of wire. You might want to just cut it, put a new eye on, scrape the paint off to bright metal where you want to place it and use a self-tapping screw to secure it. I did.
Dan |
I suspect I'll do just this. Seems quite an obvious blunder between VW and Westfalia to have "buried" something like this.
Jim
_________________
"A Vanagon? It's not a car or a van. It's a hobby!"
Check out:
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| sphet wrote: |
| I have *no* idea what the previous owner carried in his Westy... angry donkeys? |
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shadetreemech
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2005
Posts: 813
Location: Claremont, CA
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| Posted: Wed May 06, 2020 6:41 pm Post subject: Re: Ground Locations - 2.1L |
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No water tank in mine when I bought it. There's plenty of wire. You might want to just cut it, put a new eye on, scrape the paint off to bright metal where you want to place it and use a self-tapping screw to secure it. I did.
Dan
_________________
'84 GL 1.9
'01 Volvo V70 T5
'88 Westy - "MZDRTHY" |
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SyncroHead
Samba Member
Joined: May 23, 2005
Posts: 1159
Location: Northern Nevada
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| Posted: Wed May 06, 2020 3:23 pm Post subject: Re: Ground Locations - 2.1L |
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| shadetreemech wrote: |
The ground on my '88 Westy comes out of the ECU and attaches to the body behind the rear of the water tank. I moved it about 10" toward the center of the Van where's it's visible when you raise the rear seat.
Dan |
Dan,
Were you able to get to it to move it without removing the cupboards and tank?
Jim
_________________
"A Vanagon? It's not a car or a van. It's a hobby!"
Check out:
www.VANAVATION.com
www.SyncroSafari.org and
www.Vanagons.org
| sphet wrote: |
| I have *no* idea what the previous owner carried in his Westy... angry donkeys? |
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shadetreemech
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2005
Posts: 813
Location: Claremont, CA
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| Posted: Wed May 06, 2020 6:35 am Post subject: Re: Ground Locations - 2.1L |
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The ground on my '88 Westy comes out of the ECU and attaches to the body behind the rear of the water tank. I moved it about 10" toward the center of the Van where's it's visible when you raise the rear seat.
Dan
_________________
'84 GL 1.9
'01 Volvo V70 T5
'88 Westy - "MZDRTHY" |
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dhaavers
Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2010
Posts: 8378
Location: NE MN (tinyurl.com/dhaaverslocation)
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| Posted: Wed May 06, 2020 6:10 am Post subject: Re: Ground Locations - 2.1L |
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| SyncroHead wrote: |
| Has anyone simply cut and re-routed this ground wire to a more accessible location? |
Brilliant! Not necessary in my weekender, but that's what I'd do if I owned a full Westy.
Just do it! 
- Dave
_________________
86 White Wolfsburg Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"
<EDITED TO PROTECT INNOCENT PIXELS> |
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SyncroHead
Samba Member
Joined: May 23, 2005
Posts: 1159
Location: Northern Nevada
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| Posted: Tue May 05, 2020 4:30 pm Post subject: Re: Ground Locations - 2.1L |
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| randywebb wrote: |
Can we list all the ground locations needed for a 1986-on Vanagon to start, and run properly?
Everyone says "clean the grounds" but without explaining where they are.
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Moderator edit: The following are numbered/labeled according to the Bentley Service Manual lists (photos provided by numerous Samba members):
#29 Near Digifant control unit (1987-1989)
Above photo shows ECU location in a non-camper, which is where the ground is located on all 2.1L vans (buried behind cabinet in the full-campers). |
I am attempting to determine if the Digifant ground is secure and clean. Trouble is that I can't find it in my 1989 Westy. The brown ground wire from the Digifant unit runs outside of the sheath of the rest of the connector's wires and then disappears into the cupboard approximately behind the bottom of the water tank and forward of the "wardrobe" cupboard.
Does anyone know a way to access this location to assess and clean this ground? (I mean without removing the A/C and most of the cupboards.)
Has anyone simply cut and re-routed this ground wire to a more accessible location?
_________________
"A Vanagon? It's not a car or a van. It's a hobby!"
Check out:
www.VANAVATION.com
www.SyncroSafari.org and
www.Vanagons.org
| sphet wrote: |
| I have *no* idea what the previous owner carried in his Westy... angry donkeys? |
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dbeierl
Samba Member
Joined: April 22, 2009
Posts: 165
Location: Providence, Rhode Island, USA
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| Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 9:18 pm Post subject: Re: Ground Locations - 2.1L |
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| lkupac wrote: |
| Looking for ground #26 on 1986 digifant automatic camper. Photo please? |
If you're looking at 97.89 track 32 (for late '86) it's right were 97.86 says it is -- inside the ECU harness between the ECU relay and the injectors. But it's (as it says on 97.86) a positive connection, not a ground.
If you're looking at something else, please refer to page and track number. |
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lkupac
Samba Member
Joined: December 29, 2015
Posts: 17
Location: 97523
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| Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 7:29 pm Post subject: Re: Ground Locations - 2.1L |
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which are the exzceptions?
| dgbeatty wrote: |
| If it ain't brown it ain't a ground. Two exceptions. |
_________________
1986 VW Westfalia
automatic aka Olivwr |
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dgbeatty
Samba Member
Joined: October 26, 2006
Posts: 702
Location: Sacramento
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| Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 7:23 pm Post subject: Re: Ground Locations - 2.1L |
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If it ain't brown it ain't a ground. Two exceptions.
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Schau in das Buch |
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lkupac
Samba Member
Joined: December 29, 2015
Posts: 17
Location: 97523
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| Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 2:35 pm Post subject: Re: Ground Locations - 2.1L |
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Looking for ground #26 on 1986 digifant automatic camper. Photo please?
_________________
1986 VW Westfalia
automatic aka Olivwr |
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shortwave360
Samba Member
Joined: September 29, 2011
Posts: 7
Location: Seattle, WA
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| Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2019 8:50 pm Post subject: Re: Ground Locations - 2.1L |
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| Thanks for this, been digging around and getting cleaner connections made slowly but surely! |
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kamzcab86
Samba Moderator
Joined: July 26, 2008
Posts: 8438
Location: Arizona
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| Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2018 1:50 pm Post subject: Re: Ground Locations - 2.1L |
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| howdyhoss wrote: |
| When the Bentley indicates ground #X (circled number icon), what does that mean exactly? |
It is the physical ground point location, or ground wiring connection location, listed in the diagram's index.
| howdyhoss wrote: |
| ...it says 81 is located "in instrument panel wiring harness", but i'm not sure what I am looking for here or where in the panel/ on the harness I'm supposed to be looking. |
If you look on page 97.108, you'll see between tracks 54 and 55 is a ground loop between points #30 and #81. Thus, any ground showing 81 is a multi-point connection in the dash wiring harness that ultimately leads to 30, which would be the trees/stars above the relay panel.
Likewise, ground #94 is "in Digifant wiring harness". This is a multi-point wiring connection in the fuel injection harness that leads to ECU pin 6. The ECU is grounded locally under the rear seat and/or in the engine bay.
| djkeev wrote: |
| Radios weren't as a rule a factory item but they did prewire for them. |
Depends on the year/model, but radios were generally optional equipment in the vans, hence, the pre-wire.
| djkeev wrote: |
| The ground wire built into the dash harness for the radio grounds on one of those two ground trees. |
On the late-model vans the radio and map light grounds on the center "hump".
FWIW, I've updated the first post to include most Bentley ground location numbers and labels, and have added more photos (where available) in an effort to make the guide a bit clearer.
_________________
~Kamz 
1986 Cabriolet: www.Cabby-Info.com
 1990 Vanagon Westfalia: Old Blue's Blog
2016 Golf GTI S
"Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance." - 孔子 |
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dgbeatty
Samba Member
Joined: October 26, 2006
Posts: 702
Location: Sacramento
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| Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2018 12:54 pm Post subject: Re: Ground Locations - 2.1L |
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Take the time to study your Bentley starting at page 97.3. Without understanding these few pages none of it will ever make sense.
_________________
Schau in das Buch |
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djkeev
Samba Moderator
Joined: September 30, 2007
Posts: 32987
Location: Reading Pennsylvania
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howdyhoss
Samba Member
Joined: September 04, 2007
Posts: 159
Location: Oregon
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| Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 8:40 pm Post subject: Re: Ground Locations - 2.1L |
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When the Bentley indicates ground #X (circled number icon), what does that mean exactly. For example, I am troubleshooting my stereo and I have determined that the ground location is 81. I look a few pages back and it says 81 is located "in instrument panel wiring harness", but i'm not sure what I am looking for here or where in the panel/ on the harness I'm supposed to be looking. Any help would be appreciated. I am a total novice with electrical stuff so I am trying to make heads or tails of the Bentley as it relates to what I am seeing in my van.
rg
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'87 Westy Vanagon GL- "Ruby"- Titian Red
'05 Subaru Outback |
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dgbeatty
Samba Member
Joined: October 26, 2006
Posts: 702
Location: Sacramento
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| Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2018 12:41 pm Post subject: Re: Ground Locations - 2.1L |
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Bentley has a few pictures of ground points in the 97.6-97.9 pages.
In addition the ground point locations are described on page 97.86 for the 1986 digifant vans and 97.103 for the 1987 digifant vans. There are other pages for their relevant years/models.
Standard for VW wiring the ground point identifying number is placed in a circle ,usually but not always, at the bottom of the diagram. Current flows from top to bottom in their diagrams, at least for the last three maybe four decades or so.
It takes time, study and effort to effectively use technical literature.
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dhaavers
Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2010
Posts: 8378
Location: NE MN (tinyurl.com/dhaaverslocation)
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| Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2018 6:51 am Post subject: Re: Ground Locations - 2.1L |
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^^^ Simple: ya got two stars there; #9 & #10. Done.
- Dave
_________________
86 White Wolfsburg Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"
<EDITED TO PROTECT INNOCENT PIXELS> |
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urquattro
Samba Member
Joined: June 20, 2018
Posts: 22
Location: Sweden
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| Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2018 2:40 am Post subject: Re: Ground Locations - 2.1L |
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| djkeev wrote: |
As I mantio ed, the pump grounds on the ground trees.
Upper dash area above fuse panel......
You won't be finding any stand alone factory ground points behind the dash.
Dave |
Thanks djkeev, I asked because the Bentley says, the Washer pump ground is in 10 (Behind dash) the one in your picture is 9? but I'm start thinking that 9 (Behind Dash near fuse/relay panel) and 10 (Behind dash) are the same. It would be good more clear ground draws on the Bentley manual for donkeys like me  |
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djkeev
Samba Moderator
Joined: September 30, 2007
Posts: 32987
Location: Reading Pennsylvania
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urquattro
Samba Member
Joined: June 20, 2018
Posts: 22
Location: Sweden
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| Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 12:43 pm Post subject: Re: Ground Locations - 2.1L |
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| dgbeatty wrote: |
| Ground locations are shown in your Bentley manual. Quicker that asking someone else to do it. |
I've been checking the Bentley, as I said it does not specify where, just behind dashboard but not where, must be a single brown cable. There is no information about the single grounds location in the Bentley manual. |
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