You haven't given much info to go on but the melting alternator wires are a common problem with the waterboxers until mid 86. VW changed the alternator wiring then and beefed it up even more in later years. I have fixed the wires on a few 84/85 vanagons by installing the later model alternator sub-harness. I always saw the damage after the owner incurred it so I don't know what caused it for sure. I suspect jump starting to be a factor in some cases. Since VW did not put any kind of fuse in either the main charging or engine power wires, various problem can result in visible wiring damage. Mark Jefferson adams wrote: >help! >i had to leave my 85 van broken down in a little town >1 hour northeast of tulsa, oklahoma (vinita). i can >get back to tow it home to austin, texas ( about 500 >miles) in a couple of weeks. no one i've spoken with >in vinita, ok, seems to know much about vw's. anyone >nearby who can help or reccommend where to look for >it. i'd rather return to pick up a repaired van, and >the fellow at the shop hasn't even looked at it ( in >the week its been there) to tell me if he thinks he >can fix it. >its the electrical system. either the alternator's >out and/or there's a short somewhere. and at the end >of the fiasco, the new battery i tried burned off the >insulation from some of the major cables that travel >just behind the engine box. >in way over my head, >colby > > > >__________________________________________ >Yahoo! DSL – Something to write home about. >Just $16.99/mo. or less. >dsl.yahoo.com > > > > |
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