Date: Thu, 29 Dec 2011 19:18:54 -0800
Reply-To: MICHAEL H <vwdash80@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: MICHAEL H <vwdash80@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: intermittent electrical problem in dashboard and wiper fluid
problem
In-Reply-To: <CAFeNKKF5==FA2-aYOUrqdx5k0deRPctF2XXAdg55sM2XCuJwcw@mail.gmail.com>
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Joy, Karl W raises a good point about speed. I use a safety pin to direct the spray at or just below a piece of tape on the inside of the windshield. sit at the wheel and stick the tape at eye level. forward speed wil counter gravity a bit ; even a bit more with `Rain-X'. it's not rocket surgery but a major pain in the hair to keep adjusting the spray pattern to an unmarked point. my best with the elecs ... mike
________________________________
From: Joy Hecht <jhecht@ALUM.MIT.EDU>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Sent: Thursday, December 29, 2011 1:03 PM
Subject: intermittent electrical problem in dashboard and wiper fluid problem
Hi folks,
Now that Matilda is running properly, figures that other stuff would
surface...
First problem - I seem to have an intermittent electrical problem in the
dashboard. Sometimes the light behind the speedometer doesn't go on, and
with it several other things - the blowers to defrost the windshield, in
particular. Wipers work, the light on the clock works. I don't know if
the light on the tach works because it has been disconnected for ages.
I couldn't find the fuse chart, to figure out which fuse(s) control these
things. Is it in the Bentley somewhere? Or elsewhere? Could this be a
fuse problem? Or more likely a loose connection somewhere in the dash?
Matilda's an '89 - that might affect which fuses are relevant, I suppose.
Second problem - the pump that should put out wiper fluid makes noises but
no fluid comes out. (I just poured a bunch in, so the tank isn't empty.
Unless it has a leak, but I didn't notice one. And since there's a noise,
this isn't part of the aforementioned electrical problem.) Could something
be blocked in the system? I haven't tried to use wiper fluid since last
winter - and for a LONG time I have had major problems trying to get fluid
to spray in the right place on the windshield. Endless application of a
pin to move the jets this way and that, but the fluid is always too high or
too low. Might these two problems even be related, if things are clogged?
Or does it sound like I need a new wiper fluid pump? Do others have major
trouble trying to get the fluid to go in the right places to actually clear
the windshield?
Both of these are major issues if I want to drive in the very messy
Newfoundland winter!
Joy
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