Date: Sat, 26 Aug 2006 18:35:10 -0500
Reply-To: Jim Felder <felder@KNOLOGY.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jim Felder <felder@KNOLOGY.NET>
Subject: Re: Yet another turn signal L.E.D. data point...
In-Reply-To: <44F0D619.5080007@cox.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed
Thanks as always, Mark. And the plumbing analogy was nice, reading my
email on my PowerBook at the table over Chili--not!... just messing
with you.
Plumbing and the things that go with it, these are the lessons in
life I understand.
I've left everything sitting out where I was working on it, it's
about to get dark. Is that IC connector you're referring to the main
one into the clock(tach, whatever) end of the cluster?
Thanks again,
Jim
On Aug 26, 2006, at 6:15 PM, Mark Drillock wrote:
> Bad ground, bad ground, bad ground......................
>
> While the IC bulbs are mostly LEDs, the other dash bulbs are
> incandescent. Incandescent bulbs don't have polarity. If you apply
> the voltage to the ground leg and there is a reverse path backwards
> to ground, they can light up. Diodes won't do this, they only flow
> one direction. A bad ground further down stream can cause the
> voltage to backup in reverse flow. Like a plugged main sewer line
> can cause black water in the bathtub whenever the toilet is flushed.
>
> VW screwed up the grounds for the dash as I have pointed out many
> times. Too many things share a single ground point. When the single
> point gets bad, the blocked voltage can try to flow current the
> wrong way in the other circuits.
>
> Simply run an additional ground wire to the IC 14 pin connector. Be
> careful, different models are different. Some have 2 brown wires to
> the IC and later models have only 1. The ones with 2 brown wires
> are really screwy since one of the browns is just a continuation
> back out of the ground that came in on the other brown wire.
>
> Peel back 1/4" of the insulation a few inches from the 14 pin
> connector on the brown wire that is supposed to be the real ground.
> Wrap the striped end of piece of wire around the now bare section
> and solder it on. Then screw the other end to bare metal.
>
> Sorry for the plumbing analogy but it is almost right.
>
> Mark
>
> Jim Felder wrote:
>> While the turn signal light (proven to work in its circuit) doesn't
>> blink, the parking brake light DOES blink slightly, in sync with the
>> turn signal relay.
>> ?
>> Jim
>
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