Date:         Tue, 8 Jun 2004 07:00:14 -0700
Reply-To:     Wes Neuenschwander <wes.neuenschwander@COMCAST.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Wes Neuenschwander <wes.neuenschwander@COMCAST.NET>
Subject:      Headlight Switch Replacement (Melted Connector)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

The headlight switch on my '91 Westy failed on a trip to eastern Washington
last week.  Poof!  Smell of acrid melted plastic and smoke streaming from
the dash.  Pulled the requisite fuses immediately, but the switch partially
melted, fusing itself in places to the wiring harness molded plastic
connector.  

The switch price was bad enough ($US65), but replacing the wiring harness
($US450 plus a couple of weekends of work - at least?) is out of the
question.  

The obvious solution is to cut the connector plug off the harness and make
the connections with individual slip on connectors, crimp-connected (or
soldered) to the harness wires (there are only 6 wires or so, even though
the switch has close to a dozen terminals).  

Does anyone know where I can get the necessary connectors?  I definitely
would prefer to use the correct connectors - ones that fully meet the
Bosch/Euro or whatever specifications - since a poorly made connection will
only exacerbate the poor switch design and probably cause the darn thing to
overheat and fail again quickly.  (I do intend to install relays in the near
future, but I need to get the lights back on quickly in the meantime so I
can drive at night.)

Any suggestions on where I can get these connectors (or any other solution
to the melted molded connector problem) would be greatly appreciated! 

Wes Neuenschwander
Seattle, WA   USA