electrical is all wonky and i need direction

[Guest Anonymous]

hi all, in the past week my wipers turn on by

themselves and it takes me about ten tries of

pushing the stalk button to turn them off, the

speedo stopped working and the fuel gauge no

longer works. gremlins for sure under the dash!

any direction that you can give me is appreciated. i

am hesitant to start ripping through wires with

reckless abandon and then not having the car

start. thanks!

[Guest Anonymous]

Just pull the under dash panels, and start checking wires and connections. Unplug a connector, clean it up, check for loose connectors, and put it back. Check all your ground connections(those are the solid brown wires). I like to use serrated star washers under ground connectors.

[Guest Anonymous]

URL: http://www.2002tii-restoration.com/index.htm

Check all the connections in the circuit first. If you suspect the switch, you are welcome to borrow mine for troubleshooting purposes. Let me know if I can help. Good luck!

Martin

'73tii

[Guest Anonymous]

self-parking mechanism on the motor itself. There should be several references to troubleshooting this mechanism (I posted 'em) on this board.

Gas gauge problem is most likely a bad ground at the gauge itself. This is usually the case when the gauge goes all crazy vs not working at all. If it's the latter, first check the fuse, then the sender unit itself. Again, there have been plenty of posts on repairing sender units.

The speedo problem is mechanical--either the cable is broken (or sticking) or the speedo head itself is bad. If the odometer is working properly and the speedo isn't, it's in the speedo head. Easier to find another one than try to repair unless you're really patient--and sometimes even that doesn't help.

Good luck

Mike

[Guest Anonymous]

1) I don't have the early-style wiper switch, so I can only guess...but I'd guess that whatever makes contact to turn on the wipers is making contact on its own occasionally. Does it work like the hazard switch where off is actually the "in" position? Remember the hazard switch fails because the catch no longer holds it "in", aka "off."

2) Fuel gauge sender could be sticking...make sure the float can travel along the guide pins. Check the wiring back at the tank for possible corrosion at the connection. Also, make sure the wiring connector hasn't just fallen off the back of the gauge.

3) Speedometer is mechanical so that's not an electrical problem. Could be a bad cable, or again it's possible that the cable has become disconnected at either the gauge or the tranny.

Hope this helps...but definitely be systematic about it...fewer things go from bad to worse faster than wiring.

Tim

'76 2002

'03 Golf

[Guest Anonymous]

I have wiper relays, wiper motors and maybe even a fuel sender if you want to just start replacing stuff.

You get the "family discount" on parts and labor.

My guess: Wiper relay (located on a metal mount on the firewall under dash), bad ground on temp guage or maybe from the sensor in the trunk (did you jostle anything around after that gas spill?), and speedometer cable.

I might be able to meet in Castle Rock, or you are welcome to spend an evening in my garage.....e-mail me.

G

[Guest Anonymous]

probably the switch on the column.let me know I,ll guide you through troubleshooting the fuel guage

[Guest Anonymous]

The wiper motor parking mechanism is "hot" all the time; the wiper switch whether column or dash mounted only turns the power off to the motor itself, not the parking mechanism. If one of the contacts on the parking mechanism (inside the can-shaped appendage on the wiper motor assy) gets bent, broken or jammed, it will feed current to the motor all the time (or intermittently) as long as the key is in the accessory or ignition position. The parking mechanism contact plate used to be available as a spare part, but probably is NLA, but you can always rob one from a wiper assy with a bad motor...

One more thing: with the 72/73 column mounted switches, the two little wires that run up the shaft can flex and break at the base of the shaft. They can then intermittently touch, causing the wipers to go on until contact is broken, then they park again. If the wipers park properly when they do shut off, I'd suspect the switch. If they just stop anywhere on the windshield, I'd suspect the parking mechanism...

Post what you find for general edification...and to add to our treasure trove of 02 arcania!

Mike

[Guest Anonymous]

The wiper motor parking mechanism is "hot" all the time; the wiper switch, whether column or dash mounted only turns the power off to the motor itself, not the parking mechanism. If one of the contacts on the parking mechanism (inside the can-shaped appendage on the wiper motor assy) gets bent, broken or jammed, it will feed current to the motor all the time (or intermittently) as long as the key is in the accessory or ignition position. The parking mechanism contact plate used to be available as a spare part, but is probably NLA, altho you can always rob one from a wiper assy with a bad motor...

One more thing: with the 72/73 column mounted switches, the two little wires that run up the shaft can flex one time too many and break at the base of the shaft. They can then intermittently touch, causing the wipers to go on until contact is broken, then they park again. If the wipers park properly when they do shut off, I'd suspect the switch. If they just stop anywhere on the windshield, I'd suspect the parking mechanism...

Post what you find for general edification...and to add to our treasure trove of 02 arcania!

Mike