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Redoing wiring across whole van, advice
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charleslabri
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 7:47 am    Post subject: Redoing wiring across whole van, advice Reply with quote

Ive done plenty of wiring projects for motorcycles int he past, so I am not daunted by electrical- the van is just a tad bit bigger.

Anyone have any recommendations for
1) bulk wire (thinking im gonna be running 12-18 awg mostly)
2) solid automotive fuse panels
3) any tips?
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dobryan
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 8:10 am    Post subject: Re: Redoing wiring across whole van, advice Reply with quote

I would find a good used Vanagon fuse panel of the correct model year to use. Me thinks you are going to have a heck of a time trying to adapt a generic panel to the Vanagon electrical systems.
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jlrftype7
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 8:13 am    Post subject: Re: Redoing wiring across whole van, advice Reply with quote

First, what about your wiring, that you feel it needs fully replacement? Just curious. Or are you just adding more wiring for new things?

As for wire gauge, 'most' of the time VW used decent gauges for a given circuit. So you could use the stock circuit as your guide when making a new harness
An improvement to the Main Battery Cable, as it runs from Battery to Starter Motor could use a larger diameter cable, and the Altn. charging circuit can be problematic if the wiring is chaffed or the insulation is starting to fall off the wire, along with the early Vanagon versus later Vanagon charging circuit layout too. GoWesty sells a upgrade harness over the pre'86 Vanagon stock Altn harness in the Engine Compartment.
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valvecovergasket
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 8:13 am    Post subject: Re: Redoing wiring across whole van, advice Reply with quote

After my experience melding a Painless fuse box and harness into a mk2 gti race car I'd echo the above.
Find a clean donor harness and adapt and fix as needed.
The generic stuff fits really well if you're using something with the GM switches it was intended for.
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MarkWard
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 8:53 am    Post subject: Re: Redoing wiring across whole van, advice Reply with quote

I'll third or forth finding the factory harnesses if yours are missing. Too many circuits to replicate.
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charleslabri
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 9:55 am    Post subject: Re: Redoing wiring across whole van, advice Reply with quote

One of the reasons is that im gutting a lot of the existing system and id like to add fuse panels in some areas for isolation (i.e. center of van).

I have a working-fine harness in the machine currently, but its a mess from over the years of folks getting in there and doing a bad job of splicing, etc.

Every time ive ground-up replaced wiring in my motorcycles, ive never looked back due to real readable diagrams and quality work.

Sounds like this isnt a task most take on
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mikemtnbike
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 10:10 am    Post subject: Re: Redoing wiring across whole van, advice Reply with quote

I'm just going to point out that 3/4 of the people saying to not do ground-up are pro mechanics of one sort or another and the other is dobryan who plays one on virtual TV.

Maybe you fall into that same group, but that's a lot of informed experience right there.
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MarkWard
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 10:39 am    Post subject: Re: Redoing wiring across whole van, advice Reply with quote

Anything is possible. Best of luck. I would enjoy watching your project if you post up progress reports.
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?Waldo?
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 11:53 am    Post subject: Re: Redoing wiring across whole van, advice Reply with quote

If the current harness is working well and is close to stock, then it would be far easier to fix any damage from previous owners than it would be to redesign and rewire the entire vehicle. Bang for buck is nonexistent. Adding an additional fuse panel to another vehicle location for auxiliary wiring is easy enough to do. There are 'real readable diagrams' of the stock wiring in the Bentley.

Last edited by ?Waldo? on Thu Sep 24, 2020 1:38 pm; edited 1 time in total
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charleslabri
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 12:27 pm    Post subject: Re: Redoing wiring across whole van, advice Reply with quote

ok, ill think about where i want to take this.

thanks all
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fxr
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 12:34 pm    Post subject: Re: Redoing wiring across whole van, advice Reply with quote

As an ex-electronics engineer of some 40 years at the grind, I echo the sentiments above. There's very little to be gained by replacing *most* of the stock wiring. Some things are best added to - headlight relays, a horn relay, kill-switch, hard-start relay etc. I've added about 14 extra relays here and there and two extra fuse panels, nearly all for auxiliary stuff. The Bentley diagrams are very readable, they contain far more information than most automotive diagrams!
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valvecovergasket
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 12:38 pm    Post subject: Re: Redoing wiring across whole van, advice Reply with quote

fxr wrote:
The Bentley diagrams are very readable, they contain far more information than most automotive diagrams!


indeed!

usually when someone complains about how poor the bentley wiring documentation is, its a sign they need to learn how to use it Smile
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DuncanS
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 3:12 pm    Post subject: Re: Redoing wiring across whole van, advice Reply with quote

X a googolplex on all the advice above. I also have 14 added relays and used Ancor marine grade wire for all of it. If you drop the fuse/relay block an peer in under there you will see an unbelievable bird's nest of wire. Trying to rip it all out and redo it would be a serious challenge. It could be done, but would take a huge amount of time that could be spent enjoying driving the car. AND....What it you make a mistake and fry some expensive parts? And what about all the specialized plugs which are most likely not available as NOS? What I do is cut the OG wire as short as possible to the item being modified and then butt splice with the marine wire and always go up a size. For example, DIN 1.5 is comparable to our 14. I go to 12.

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DuncanS
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 3:27 pm    Post subject: Re: Redoing wiring across whole van, advice Reply with quote

Oh I forgot to mention. When I relayed the windows, I created a circuit diagram labeledwith all locations of splices, taps and changes documented. The Bentley for my '91 tiptop gets updated and I keep a three ring binder "Bible" which documents all the changes. For example the page for my window diagram is 97.190 and here is the note I made so either I or the next owner can find out what they are looking at. My Bentley always goes to the shop when a mechanic is needed and I tell him to look to see if the area he is working on might have been modified. Without this, reapairs could be catastrophically expensive.
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