Date: Tue, 2 Feb 1999 16:37:40 -0800
Reply-To: gerry rafferty <gerryr@DIRECT.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: gerry rafferty <gerryr@DIRECT.CA>
Subject: Re: '83 wasserboxer wiring harness melted!
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
I've seen this happen-wiring to fuel relay bare,insulation melted,shorting
to other wires in harness.It would appear that where the harness runs across
the back of the engine,in the right hand corner,it had fallen pass the heat
shield onto the muffler.Made a real mess.Van had to be towed from Bellingham
to Surrey BC. We got a harness from the wreckers for Cdn$120- put it in and
van ran great (at least for 6 months when he slid down a icey hill into a
car at the bottom-insurance company totaled the van as to expensive to
repair).Point is,should go with another harness.
GerryR
-----Original Message-----
From: James, Daniel <daniel.james@INTEL.COM>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Date: Monday, February 01, 1999 11:27 AM
Subject: '83 wasserboxer wiring harness melted!
>Hope you weekend went better than mine. Turns out late last week that my
>'83 Vanagon broke down while my girlfriend was driving up highway 101 in
>Oregon.
>
>Bizarre circumstances. I've been searching the web for clues, but haven't
>found many. Apparently, she drove for 10 miles and stopped at the bank.
>Wwhen she started it up again, it felt sluggish - like it was running out
of
>gas. She headed back home w/ the hazards on, but someone signalled her to
>pull over. The catalytic converter was glowing red!
>
>Some mechanic on the coast has it now. I looked at it on Sat.and the
wiring
>harness (all the engine wiring) has significantly melted in a few spots -
>requiring a new harness (new cost = $900!), but he found a used one for
>$150. But I'm afraid that once he installs that, the original problem will
>still exist. Also, there's a good chance that the catalytic converter is
>toast (there are scorch marks on the sheet metal below the bumper) and that
>the on-baord fuel injector computer is toast, too. Both are big $$ to
>replace. One clue is that the relays for the fuel injection system have
>some molten wires - maybe a relay failed and that caused the original
>prob?.... Maybe the O2 sensor light that popped on 3 months ago was trying
>to tell me something? (I thought that the O2 warning light was just a
>prompt to check the functionality of the sensor...)
>
>>From what I can tell here's what happened:
>
>the wiring harness failed (short?), triggering the fuel injectors full on,
>pumping excess gas into the engine. The catalytic converter tried to burn
>off the excess fuel, resulting in a fire inside the converter. The
>resultant heat melted some more of the wiring.
>
>Any good ideas? I'd love to drag the bus to Portland, where I have a VW
>mechanic, but that's 90 miles. Meanwhile, it's languishing on the coast
>with a part-time mechanic w/ a long lead time for exotic parts....
>
>Dan in Portland
>
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