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Zylinderkopf Samba Member
Joined: September 09, 2012 Posts: 679 Location: SE Oklahoma
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Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 8:47 am Post subject: Fried wire to coil |
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My son borrowed my '71 super beetle. Said it started to lose power and then stopped completely. White smoke coming out the front air vents, smelling like burned wires. I found a wire from coil completely fried and one in the front as well (see pictures). And yes, the fuel filter was dangerously close to the wire that shorted. Had not had a chance to move it ( just bought this bug about a month ago). Wiring is not my expertise... Can anyone point me in the right direction on how to fix? Thanks!
_________________ 1963 Beetle
1966 Beetle 1300
1970 Karmann Ghia Coupe
1971 Super Beetle
1974 Thing
"A lot of people never use their initiative because no one told them to." |
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Glenn Mr. 010
Joined: December 25, 2001 Posts: 76760 Location: Sneaking up behind you
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Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 8:50 am Post subject: |
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Looks like a short. You'll need to run a new wire but first find the short. _________________ Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
"You may not get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"
Member #1009
#BlueSquare |
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BugMan114 Samba Member
Joined: March 22, 2007 Posts: 3744 Location: Ellenwood, GA
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Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 10:23 am Post subject: |
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Perhaps the coil is shorting out. I'd replace it and the wire with the same or larger gauge. I'm guessing that wire may have melted the wires around it which can cause the other wires in the loom to short out and possibly cause a fire. Might need a new harness. CIP1 has them for a reasonable price if that's the case _________________ 1974 Super Beetle: Custom resto in progress
1972 Super Beetle: Daily Driver
1971 Std. Beetle w/ 1929 Mercedes Benz Gazelle kit
1960 Baja Bug
1969 Baja Bug
Sand Rail- Homemade
Sand Rail- FUBAR
Aircooled Airheads
Why the hell do they call it a gland nut. its obviously a big fat bolt!!! |
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DrummerDaveB Samba Member
Joined: March 25, 2005 Posts: 504 Location: Louisville, KY Area
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Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 10:59 am Post subject: |
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I had that happen once.
Check to see if your choke wire shorted against the alternator ... or the Idle selenoid wire against something. _________________ 79 SB Vert, in pieces.
Kadrons, SVDA. |
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Cusser Samba Member
Joined: October 02, 2006 Posts: 31268 Location: Hot Arizona
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Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 12:13 pm Post subject: |
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Yep, back in 1978 had to run a wire over the roof back to the coil to get me home. My wire had shorted out somewhere in its path, luckily my ignition switch electrical was still OK. SO that afternoon I ran a wire under the fender, under the running board, back underneath, back to the coil.
And I now have an in-line fuse up at the fuse box, as this circuit is unfused from the factory.
Looks like Mr. Wire met Mr. Hot Intake Manifold. _________________ 1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297 |
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Joel Samba Member
Joined: September 04, 2006 Posts: 11099 Location: NSW Australia
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Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 2:04 pm Post subject: |
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As above the old melted wire on the preheat gag.
Normally its the oil light wire or the condenser low tension that it happens too.
Someone on here is making kits for an easy plug and play inline fuse for the coil wire, will prevent this from ever happening again. _________________ Quick little bug, you got a Porsche motor in that?
1974 Germanlook 1303 2.5 Suba-Beetle |
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Cusser Samba Member
Joined: October 02, 2006 Posts: 31268 Location: Hot Arizona
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Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 2:07 pm Post subject: |
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Getting an inline fuse and putting correct termianls on it and inserting that between live side of fuse box and the coil wire was a 15 minute exercise for me. _________________ 1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297 |
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Joel Samba Member
Joined: September 04, 2006 Posts: 11099 Location: NSW Australia
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Zylinderkopf Samba Member
Joined: September 09, 2012 Posts: 679 Location: SE Oklahoma
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Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 2:44 pm Post subject: |
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thank you all for your replies. I hope to have time this weekend to try and fix this. I may be back to you with more questions at that time! _________________ 1963 Beetle
1966 Beetle 1300
1970 Karmann Ghia Coupe
1971 Super Beetle
1974 Thing
"A lot of people never use their initiative because no one told them to." |
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Cusser Samba Member
Joined: October 02, 2006 Posts: 31268 Location: Hot Arizona
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pwmcguire Samba Member
Joined: January 30, 2011 Posts: 1108 Location: Kennesaw GA
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Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 6:45 pm Post subject: |
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Cusser wrote: |
$7 shipped is very reasonable too. |
Zylinderkopf, I'm sorry about your short in your coil wire. Cusser, Thanks for the nice comment. I created this kit to assemble the parts for a reasonable price. By the time you buy all of the parts you'll have way more than 7 dollars. I made it plug and play with no modifications on your wiring. Check out my other electrical products. |
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volksworld Samba Member
Joined: November 26, 2011 Posts: 2525 Location: formerly NY currently NC
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Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 7:00 pm Post subject: |
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when you ground out a wire it melts at both ends and works its way toward the middle....probably cause there's more resistance at the ends but I don't know the scientific reason....so most of the time you can get away with just replacing the burnt ends,not the entire wire...just depends how long it was grounded out....factory wiring doesn't have enough slack to hit the heat riser...what was that attached to?....in addition the ignition switch could be damaged too... |
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Zylinderkopf Samba Member
Joined: September 09, 2012 Posts: 679 Location: SE Oklahoma
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Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2014 6:01 pm Post subject: |
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Problem solved. The prior owner had installed a chrome firewall and the wire to the starter was wedged between the engine and the firewall (which has a sharp edge where it was cut to fit). The engine vibration wore through the insulation and voila! we have a short. I replaced the wire - routed it through an existing hole, said a quick prayer and started her up. Took her on a test drive and so far so good.
_________________ 1963 Beetle
1966 Beetle 1300
1970 Karmann Ghia Coupe
1971 Super Beetle
1974 Thing
"A lot of people never use their initiative because no one told them to." |
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pwmcguire Samba Member
Joined: January 30, 2011 Posts: 1108 Location: Kennesaw GA
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Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2014 6:54 pm Post subject: |
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The coil fuse kit shipped out today. It shouldn't take long to get there.
Thanks |
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volksworld Samba Member
Joined: November 26, 2011 Posts: 2525 Location: formerly NY currently NC
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Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2014 6:57 pm Post subject: |
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just wait till you pull the motor some day and when you break the upper nut loose the firewall removes your knuckles like a cheesegrater....you've only begun to love that chrome p.o.s. |
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Zylinderkopf Samba Member
Joined: September 09, 2012 Posts: 679 Location: SE Oklahoma
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Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2014 8:59 pm Post subject: |
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volksworld wrote: |
just wait till you pull the motor some day and when you break the upper nut loose the firewall removes your knuckles like a cheesegrater....you've only begun to love that chrome p.o.s. |
Ha! You're probably right about that! But when I do pull the engine the chrome p.o.s. Firewall will go into the trash! It's definitely not my style! _________________ 1963 Beetle
1966 Beetle 1300
1970 Karmann Ghia Coupe
1971 Super Beetle
1974 Thing
"A lot of people never use their initiative because no one told them to." |
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chad_m Samba Member
Joined: October 23, 2013 Posts: 35 Location: Emmaus, PA
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Posted: Sun May 25, 2014 7:28 am Post subject: |
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Hi, what amp fuse did you use when you added the fuse holder to the coil wireing? I had the wire to my choke short out a few weeks ago on me and make a mess.
Thanks |
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