Need Of an Electrician

Jersey Thing · Post by **Jersey Thing** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 9:28 pm

Well All -
I have some good news and some no so good news. I do now have functioning headlights with both hi/lo beams. This issue has been resolved by replacing both the switch and the reley.

I do however still have directional signal issue as well as the heater issue.
I have replaced the reley on the directional and everything looks like it is where it should be.

Bob -

i followed the wire from the 4th fuse in the fuse box from the left and it is a green wire. It is wired to the toggle switch. Off the the other lead of the toggle is a yellow wire that leads through the firewall to 86 on a reley that is mounted to the firewall with in the front compartment by the hearter. The timer ticks off time as well when the knob is turned. This reley has the numbers 6 72 SR 9804 12v max 15 amp. In addition it appears that there is a red wire with inline fuse that connects to 30 and a blue wire that connects to 87. Does this reley belong here or what is its deal. I am sure that the heater will work and it is something really stupid that I am missing.

Someone has taken the time to label the top components of the heater underneath the plastic shield. Can anyone shine any light on this for me...I have tried to follow all the advice so far but i seem to be stumbling a bit here.

I realize that rome was not built in a day and that baby steps are better than no steps...I am just growing a bit anxious because i would like to start cruising around town in my bucket of bolts.

Can anyone please email me what the dash is suppose to look like as i have no hazard lights and missing the actual cigarette lighter. The email address is a yahoo address at for now. vwthingwannabe@yahoo.com. Please put in reference frame " thing dash pic".

Thanks again,

joe

suntour · Post by **suntour** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 1:05 am

Jersey Thing, a.k.a. Joe

I have a question from your last post. The toggle switch to the relay description, are you tracking a turn signal problem or a heater problem? That relay doesn?t sound like it belongs there. However I should note that my Thing appears to have many missing or altered parts, since my car is the only reference I have I can?t honestly say what belongs where to any real accuracy.
The relay for the heater I mentioned earlier in this post is attached to the heater itself.

Here is a link to a good visual source for a BN4.This is what it is suppose to look like.

http://www.181spirit.com/tech_chauffage ... ge_bn4.htm

Thanks to Pierre for that one!

From your post in Thing Gallery it looks like you have a stock 73? so I am pretty certain you have a BN4 with a metering pump (later version) instead of a BN4 with diaphragm pump (earlier version). I don?t know when VW made the switch, I assume between 72? and 73?. You can easily tell by looking at the spark plug. If it appears you have two spark plugs (spark plug and separate glow plug) then you have an earlier style heater and I have no idea how to work on that. Do you have any way of posting pictures? That might help a lot in trouble shooting your problems.

Post by **Marc** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 7:37 am

Jersey Thing wrote:I...still have directional signal issue as well as the heater issue.
I have replaced the reley on the directional and everything looks like it is where it should be.

Marc wrote:...Best practice when troubleshooting t'signals is to bypass the flasher unit and run steady power to the t'signal switch while checking out the operation of all of the lights - once they're all working properly put the flasher into the circuit. Most flashers are load-dependent and may not function properly if the correct number of lamps (in this case 2,3, or 4) are connected to it.

Also, bear in mind that one of the functions of the hazard switch is to select the source of power to the flasher - start by seeing that there is power to the + terminal with the key on/hazard switch knob in, as well as with the hazard switch knob out/key on or off.

Jersey Thing · Post by **Jersey Thing** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 3:30 pm

So sorry for the confusion.

I have a 2 fold electrical issue one is the directional signals and the other is power to the heater. It appears that i have only one plug for the heater. I will post photos asap i am not going to be able to get to the car until friday. I will post photos then. Thanks

Jersey Thing · Post by **Jersey Thing** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 5:50 am

Happy New Year One and all...
Well i still have the same problems with both the heater and the emergency/ turn signal flashers. I did however finally get some photos of both.

I must admitt i am both clueless as well as a bit frazzeled. I have the wiring diagram and still at a loss.

I have purchased a used emergency switch and tried to install. well i can get the red diode to light and or get the green lights on the speedometer to light but no turn signals.

I am cluless when it comes to electrical, the other stupid question i have is do i need to ground the ground wire of the negative terminal to the frame of the car and if so to what part of the bare frame. Please find some links to photos as i can not seem to get the pic to upload to this site.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_ ... _id=103549

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_ ... _id=103550

I do have more photos but do not want to take up space on the nice folks at the samba.

I have read the instruction on this site on how to upload pics but the browse option never arises. Anyway if any can shed any light no pun intended on this subject please do.

As always

Thanks

suntour · Post by **suntour** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 9:33 am

Well at first glance the wiring harness on the heater looks like it should. (granted it is difficult to tell exactly without standing there) Do you still have the timer switch for the heater hooked up? All the major components seem to be in place. Relay, coil, safety switch, flame switch, temp regulator, Just out of curiosity, have you tried to reset the safety switch yet? On another note, I have no idea why your flasher relay is in the trunk, I thought those were suppose to be inside the dash, and I am sorry that they were painted, that has got to be difficult to tell what wire goes where. I am sure Marc can give you some good suggestions on how to deal with that though. Let me give it some thought and get back to you.

suntour · Post by **suntour** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 9:37 am

Oh, as for grounding. Yes everything needs to be grounded. There is a handy ground thingy under the left dash panel attached to the body. It has four prongs welded to the sheet metal. I find that to be a good and convenient grounding source. I will get a picture posted shortly.

Jersey Thing · Post by **Jersey Thing** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 12:58 pm

Thanks...The switch for the emergency switch and reley are both in the dash...sorry about the bad photo.

As far as the heater i will have to try the reset switch.The timer is there and as far as i can tell is connected. Sorry that i am so ignorant when it comes to electrical.

My question about the grounding was at the battery. That should be grounded to bare metal off the negetive power post.Everything seems to be grounded behind the dash.

thanks again

Joe

suntour · Post by **suntour** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 3:59 pm

what does that relay your holding in your hand (photo of heater) go to? If it is for the heater then that just isnt right. The only relay for the heater is the one bolted to the heater housing. (left side of photo)

And the ground for the battery (as far as both my things pans go) is bolted to the pan. on my 74 pan its bolted to the sheetmetal floor. on my 73' its bolted near that hump thing where the body and chassis meet under the back seat. (the 73' is all messed up, so I dont know if that is the stock location)

Jersey Thing · Post by **Jersey Thing** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 9:18 am

Kindred -

The first link photo you are correct that is the reley that was attached to the body then runs to the heater. If that is indeed the case and it does not need to be there then can u shed some light on where the wires are suppose to attach.

suntour · Post by **suntour** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 9:03 am

you have a PM