Date:         Sun, 2 May 1999 09:46:17 -0700
Reply-To:     Davidson <wdavidson@THEGRID.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Davidson <wdavidson@THEGRID.NET>
Subject:      Re: Ox Sensor and Battery Light on.
Comments: To: DrocerNod@AOL.COM
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Don,
The fuses on my 90 Westy Syncro are behind the right rear most closet.
To get to them you have to take out the center shelf and then take out the L
shaped corner piece (two screws top, two screw bottom).
There are several fuses and relays in there.
I have read posts that report the A/C fan not working on one speed or
another as a prelude to a fire and or melting of wires/relays in that area.
Best to not use your A/C until you get this fixed.
In my case, I had no fan failure or melting smells. I was just curious and
wanted to inspect the wires. Well, when I got in there and ran the fan on #4
setting the wires became so hot that I could not hold them for more than a
second before the pain became too much. Needless to say this got me pretty
worried.
With nothing damaged, the solution for me was easy. I replaced the ring
terminal on the end of the large red wire that connects to the 50 amp fuse
with a new crimped and soldered one. Then I pulled all the the wires from
the other side of the 50 amp fuse. And I pulled the three relays. I used
contact cleaner on all the male and female parts of the relays and sockets
and ring terminals. I used it two or three times. I let all that dry out
really good. Then I put a small amount of GB OX-GARD (claims to "guard
against oxidation, improves conductivity and produces a cooler connection").
Bought this in the electrical section of a hardware store. Careful not to
get too sloppy with this in case it could act as a conductor between
terminals on the relays. Put it all back together. Ran the A/C on #4 and
high for about 15 minutes. The wires got warm, but not so hot that I
couldn't hold them as long as I wanted.  This is still surprising to me
since there was no grossly obvious oxidation anywhere. Anyway it worked, and
I feel my A/C is safer now. Now I can go to Arizona without being nervous
every time I turn on the A/C.
Good Luck,
Bill
90 Westy Syncro
-----Original Message-----
From: Don Record <DrocerNod@AOL.COM>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Date: Sunday, May 02, 1999 9:09 AM
Subject: Ox Sensor and Battery Light on.


>I just turned my A/C  (87 westy)  fan up to high and it quit running and
the
>OX sensor and Battery lights came on... I cant find a blown fuse but I
>remember someone talking about this recently...
>Anyone remember
>don
>York, PA
>