Date:         Thu, 22 Jan 1970 00:40:02 -0500
Reply-To:     Kim Brennan <kimbrennan@MAC.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Kim Brennan <kimbrennan@MAC.COM>
Subject:      A tale of lights (not taillights)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed

So, it's the month (here in Virginia) that the GoldBrick has to get its
safety inspection. I knew a few things were wrong, so I figured to fix
them prior to the inspection.

Headlights. Right side brights not coming on. And indicator light in
dash not working. Check fuse. Sure enough it's burnt out. Replace fuse.
Brights and indicator light now work. Problem 1 solved.

Rear side marker light not working. Remove it and note that the housing
is surprisingly corroded. Remove it. Use a couple of wire brushes on my
dremel and clean off the corrosion off the electrical tabs (steel for
the "ground side, brass for the copper hot side.) Reassemble. No light.
Replace bulb. Light. Problem 2 solved.

Reverse lights not coming on. Check fuse. Fuse is good (make a note of
this...) Check bulbs. Bulbs are fine. But no +12 volts getting to
bulbs. Check Bentley. Pretty simple. Check connector in engine
compartment wiring cabinet. No +12 volts. Okay, now to the backup
switch. Incredibly grubby (dirt, grease and water.) Clean it off using
brake cleaner (previously untried brand of brake cleaner.) Okay, now
stick hands under running water and wait for the burning sensation to
go away. What the hell was that stuff? Not carbon tet (thankfully) and
no particular warning on label. Go back to previous brand and finish
cleaning up the area around those wires. Okay. Clean wires. Check
voltage. Hmm. No 12...no wait there was 12. Oh, blast try shorting out
the wires. Okay, let's replace the fuse. Fuse is still good...Lucky I
guess. Check wires again. no +12. Hmmm. Check fuse. check CORRECT fuse!
Still good. Hmm. Check circuit diagram again. Okay, what else is on
that hot circuit. Horn. Horn works. Okay, so I've still got power.
Check for power at the fuse. No power at the fuse. Huh! That's not
possible. Check fuse again. Still good. Tilted head look. Check wires
in fuse socket. +12 volts. Put DIFFERENT fuse in. +12 volts on Fuse.
Yea! Grrr. No backup lights. Remove wires from switch and tie them
together directly. Backup lights. Okay, so I've got a bad backup light
switch..At least that's all I left.

Bloody way to spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon.