Date:         Tue, 8 Apr 2003 06:20:59 -0700
Reply-To:     pedro dos santos <pedrokrusher@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         pedro dos santos <pedrokrusher@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      dashboard light games
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Hi Alan

I have the same problem and unfortunatelly I don't
have a cure for it yet. I seem to have this problem
once a year, after storing or something... I think the
van is complaining that I didn't drive her for a
while. :-)))) Humidity? Most probably.

This year, I got that problem when I went to pick up
my van at the bodyshop after the pop-top transplant.
They washed the van and 3 hours later, put it outside
in minus 20 degrees celcius. I just could not open one
single door. They could not keep the van inside any
longer because of too many cars to work on. I thought
they had wired something wrong when installing that
light over the carat table (or multivan). But 3 weeks
ago I took a drive on the highway to get rid of the
lifters clating and noticed everything back to normal,
as last year.

My problem has a little variant from yours. I do have
the same thing with the headlights, AND with the swith
that lights the dash! If I turn off the dashboard
lights the temp needle go to the middle, and the temp
light flashes, and if I turn it on, the needle falls
to the bottom and the temp light goes off (or maybe
the other way around)... Oh well...

Like Alan, I am looking for a cure before it goes out
of hand, because it will!

Pedro dos Santos
91 vanagon + carat int + pop-top transplant
85 ddcab project

----------------snip-------------------------
Date:    Mon, 7 Apr 2003 19:53:29 EDT
From:    Alan Cote <AlanCote@AOL.COM>
Subject: dashboard light games

There's a dashboard light problem on my '86 Westy
thought I ask around first if it's a known genetic
issue before I start monkeying w/ the voltmeter and
the wiring diagram.

Problem: start the van, and everything works A-OK in
the instrument cluster. Turn on the headlights, and
all gauges (tach, gas guage, etc., not speed needle of
course) and dash lights die. But ... if the headlights
are turned on BEFORE the van is started, all the dash
lights/guages work fine.

Usually they'll still black-out spontaneously once in
a while.

Is this a problem solved by thousands before me ??

Alan Cote
'86 Westy
-----------------------snip-------------------------

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