71 Super beetle not starting

[Torpedo]

Hey guys, new user here and also 1st time bug owner.
I had recently purchased a 71 super beetle that has been running absolutely great up until the last couple days. The PO did not have a radio installed so naturally I went to get one out in by a car audio place around the corner from my house. The first couple days were fine and had absolutely no issues. The other day on my way home from work the radio shut off and the generator light on the dash started blinking and the car just died. I tried to restart it and I turned the key and none of the lights on the dash turned on. No generator or oil light or anything. Now mind you the car was running great before I got the radio in and I think bad wiring is the issue and there's a short somewhere. When I try and start it now I get absolutely nothing. No dash lights when the key is in the on position, not even a click from the starter. I checked the batter and it's fully charged. So I'm at a loss rightnow. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[DeathTrap]

How did you check the batter?

just take your test light or electric meter and trace from batter back to and through ignition switch to ignition coil and starter motor (both source and trigger)

there are schematics available on this site.

[Torpedo]

Checked it with a multimeter, read 12v exactly. Also forgot to mention that my head lights, brake lights etc. All work fine. Not sure if that helps

[sjbartnik]

12v exactly = dead battery.

Needs to be 12.6v to be fully charged. That would be at rest with no electrical load.
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1965 Volkswagen 1500 Variant S
2000 Kawasaki W650

[Torpedo]

Hmm. I'll go ahead and charge it up and see what's happens. Will report back. Thanks guys

[Cusser]

[rockerarm]

Hi. WELCOME.
A fully charged up battery is 12.5v to 12.6v. The parts stores (O'reilly and AutoZone) will charge it up and load test it for you. If they say it is bad don't buy a $125 battery just yet. Reasoning is you may have some other issues with the car's electrical.
A couple of basic checks you can do visually are the red wires that are hot, 12v, all the time, circuit term #30. Follow from the battery pos post to the voltage regulator (left side under rear seat) and verify a solid connection there. Do you know if this car has been fitted with an alternator? As the oem regulator may still be there or some hack job wiring could exist. Once this checks out, verify the battery ground is secure on the battery and its mounting spot.
At this point you will probably need to access a wiring schematic from technical link at the top right of the page here, unless you have a Bentley manual with the color wiring schematic.
Now, under the front hood you. You should look for the thick red wire as it connects to the fuse box and see if you have 12v there. If you don't have any electrical items that work you will need to study the colored wiring and see where the wiring goes from this point dependent on what works and what doesn't work.
A tip here is to have the battery negative cable on a bit loose. Reasoning is if the radio installer possibly knocked off a wire somewhere and you poking around creates a short to ground on a non-fussed circuit like the red term #30 it will burn til you can interrupt the short. You gonna have to look around the fuse box area and above/below the radio location.
If this doesn't find your fault you will have to see if you are getting 12v towards the ign switch and 12v out on the black #15 wire and the yellow/black X wire, if equipped.
Hope this helps, Bill.

[Torpedo]

Well I swapped the battery for one I know for sure is charged up and still the same problem. Ill go ahead and look around the fuse box again to see if I can spot anything and see if the ignition is getting power. And I do still have a generator not an alternator. Thanks for the replies guys I really appreciate the help.

[awreed]

x2 on what Cusser said- I'm gonna guess the electrical part of the ignition switch.

I've also had a broken spade connection at the fuse box where it was still touching and making a connection, but would occasionally move while driving, and kill the engine periodically. That one freaked me out, but was easily diagnosed and fixed.

[sb001]

[Starbucket]

Gently give each wire (both sides of the fuses) to see if one is not connected. Also spin each fuse to make sure it's making good contact and look closely at each fuse especially the one going to your new radio to make sure its not blown. Does the radio work?

[jovanybg]

As mentioned above, have a good look at the fuses. I've had a lot of oxidation between the fuses and the contacts, resulting on starting problems!
A good clean-up and lightly covering with dielectric grease solved the issue!
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1971 Karmann Ghia Autostick
Solex 34 Pict 3
DVDA Bosch 113 905 205 AH distributor