Fuel Gauge Wiring & Other Issues

stevespeirs · Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 5:24 am Post subject: Fuel Gauge Wiring & Other Issues

Slowly but surely working my way through the wiring issues on my 71 Bus. The fuel gauge has never worked consistently, and now that I have the instrument cluster out I can possibly see why:

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The brown wire out of the back of the fuel gauge was taped to a couple of black wires at the back of the instrument cluster.

First question - how critical is the connector with circular cardboard "insulator" similar to the one on the white wire out of the fuel gauge? Do I need to find a replacement, or can I use something else?

Second question - shouldn't the brown wire from the fuel gauge connect to the other brown wires at the back of the instrument cluster (all grounds I'm assuming)? Currently it connects to 2 black wires - one to the left turn signal & "G" lamps, the other to the right turn signal & "engine" lamps.

Other small issues I'm trying to resolve:

1. Turn signals are operational, but both dash lights flash at the same time (i.e. Signal left, both dash lights flash. Signal right, both dash lights flash). Hazards work fine by the way.

2. High beam is operational when the turn signal lever is raised towards the steering wheel, but the blue dash lamp doesn't light. The bulb is good.

Apologies for the slew of questions. I've found a ton of useful electrical information on other posts, but nothing so far to resolve these issues.

Let me know if you need more info. Thanks!

busdaddy · Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 6:22 am Post subject:

The cardboard surrounding the connector is to insulate it from the housing, there's many creative ways to repair that with either a grommet or nonconductive glue.
The brown wire on the gauge connects to the wire coming from the sender in the tank, it's a ground but a special variable ground, connecting it to the rest will give you a perpetual full tank. The black wire that also connects to the areas surrounding the dash arows and idiot lights is the power for the gauge.
Both arrows flash regardless of what direction you are turning, it's the way it was made and early bay's are one of the few VW's of the era that actually have 2 lights, many have 1.
Confirm the high beam wire is connected to the fuse box.

The diagrams you need can be found here: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/wiringt2.php
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blacktruck · Samba Member Joined: September 23, 2005 Posts: 377

the only one I can speak to is the dash indicator for the turn signal...they will continue to flash together.zee germans built it like that.

stevespeirs · Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 7:38 am Post subject:

Thanks guys. I may have one of those insulated connectors on a spare instrumental cluster I have stashed away.

Good info on both arrows flashing - I never knew that.

Can confirm high beam wire is connected to the fuse box (fuse #6), although the connector was a little corroded. Cleaned up the terminals and the blue light actually lit a couple of times when I activated high beam. Now it's stopped working again, so I guess there's another bad connection somewhere.

Appreciate your help. Great to be making progress.

stevespeirs · Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 10:48 am Post subject:

busdaddy - think I'm confusing myself here....

Should the dimmer relay be located in the middle of the fuse box as per the wiring diagram? Mine is located on the right side of the box with the flasher relay in the center.

Think I just need to step away for a few hours then come back fresh. I've cleaned up numerous dirty terminals, but now the relay isn't even clicking, let alone the blue dash lamp lighting up.

kreemoweet · Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 11:17 am Post subject:

The wiring schematic does not show physical location of any device, except
very approximately. See section 8.3, Dimmer Relay, in the Electrical
System chapter of your Bentley service manual.
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SGKent · Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 11:25 am Post subject:

busdaddy · Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 12:24 pm Post subject:

The dimmer relay is at one end of the fuse box on a 71 (can't recall which end), easy enough to look at the wire colors leading to it to confirm.
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stevespeirs · Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2013 4:08 pm Post subject:

Update....

Thanks for all the advice - long story short it was a dead dimmer relay, but it was a good exercise for me to methodically compare various circuits to the wiring diagram.

I also relocated several dash switches to match the layout in the Owner's Manual and switched out a couple of dim bulbs in the instrument cluster.

Can't believe everything appears to be working as it was intended to - must be the first time ever.

Thanks again!

--Steve


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