First Car!! 1982 VW Rabbit Convertible!!!!

[fowler]

U can spray them in

That's the point of them

It'll only affect the plastic that the trim is made out of

 

[j.concepcion54321]

Ok so i looked into the lectra clean and i found it at my local home depot store.

fowler- do you think that this product will be a good solution for me? I can just cover up areas i dont wanna get sprayed, spray it into the terminal that's all screwed up, and itll come out clean and conducting electricity again?

how do you think it would compare with this http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sta-Lube-06026-10-Oz-Heavy-Duty-Corrosion-Inhibitor/19866157

 

[Datsun]

http://www.teamgeko.com/homee/2013/5/2/japcrap-bombsquad-1jz-vw-caddy-mk1.html

 

[exenos]

Ok so i looked into the lectra clean and i found it at my local home depot store.

fowler- do you think that this product will be a good solution for me? I can just cover up areas i dont wanna get sprayed, spray it into the terminal that's all screwed up, and itll come out clean and conducting electricity again?

how do you think it would compare with this http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sta-Lube-06026-10-Oz-Heavy-Duty-Corrosion-Inhibitor/19866157

Well, that walmart stuff is only says its a a inhibitor, not a cleaner so it probably wont do what you need it to do. I'd definitely try what fowler is suggesting .If they use that stuff on the heavy machinery then it should do the job for your stuff.

 

[j.concepcion54321]

Soooo, we finally had some sun and nice weather out so i got some work done on the rabbit

I was all set to buy the lectra clean at home depot with the money i got from returning a headlight i had purchased at autozone, but when i returned it all they gave me was store credit so i went with one of the electrical component cleaners that they had on site. I showed the guy a picture of what i had and he said itd work so i went for it. After spraying down the terminals and cleaning it with an old tooth brush it looked a little cleaner..... i guess SO i got everything connected again and now my headlight works!!!! well sorta. haha. THeres always a catch with this electrical system huh? The drivers side headlight works with the high beams on, but not normally. And the passenger side is the exact opposite with the headlight working on the normal setting, but not the high beam... Ill save that headache for another day... Still no blinkers though... But wipers and horn works!

I also got the old fuel pump off!!! Wasnt as hard as i thought it was. I think now that i know what im doing putting on the new one is going to be a breeze. I lost alot of time doing little things but once i got down to it i was good. The gas that came out of the tank was very very old and smelled like Thats when i looked on the windshield and noticed that the last time this car was on the road was in 2000! 14 year old gas cant be good!!!

SOmething else that cant be good is that i brought my tester down there after i got everything out of the way and low and behold............. there was no power at the fuel pump :toetap05:

I already ordered the new one though so i didnt bother testing my old one. Besides im pretty sure i saw rust in the old one, not sure how it got there butttttt.

IM going to have to try and trace the wires to see if theyre being cut off at any point... My gut tells me it has to do with the fuse box though, and if it is then

 

[Poboy kartman]

Let me see if I can simplify things just a bit....there are wires coming out of the ignition switch. There is always going to be a feed wire going in from the battery that is hot. Going out ... there is at least one that should be hot with the key on (accessory)....there will be one that should only be hot when you crank the engine. Probably one or two that are only hot when in the "on" (run) position. (Engine ignition and fuel pump..... but in the on position every wire that isn't ground should be hot.....except for the starter wire....

But in the meantime- get enough wire to go from the battery to the fuel pump and by-pass everything else. Get a trolling motor or battery charger type clip for the battery side - $2 a pair at Wal-Mart and start the critter......

 

[j.concepcion54321]

when i tested the fuel pump thats how i did it. First with the car turning over, then with a wire going straight from the battery. I talked to a local vw mechanic today and he told me that swapping out the relay should be the solution to that. Ill look into it and see if i can find one online at a decent price.

 

[itsid]

test the relay first
it's really easy.. just read the wiring diagram on what contacts are the trigger and what the contactor,
then apply the trigger to 12V.. you should hear it click..
still check with the multimeter for low resistance on the contactor though.

I have the feeling that it's a broken cable rather than the relay,
and It'd be a shame if you buy a new one just to find out that wasn't the cause.

'sid

PS Oh unfortunately, the german repair book isn't available in the local library

 

[Poboy kartman]

PS Oh unfortunately, the german repair book isn't available in the local library

Look around- you probably forgot to return it !!!

And it's not a cable- it's a wire.....We don't call wires cables until they get over 10 gauge electrically speaking. Non electrical can be any size and be called either...although usually cable refers to larger twisted multi-stranded wires.

So an accelerator cable is a solid small single strand wire incased in a sheath.Cable television wire is a solid wire encased in a sheath. Automotive spark plug wires have no wire. You can wire people money or you can cable it to them.

People who do speed get "wired" but never get cabled.

So you see- it's all very simple..... It ain't easy being American. But it keeps us on our toes......

 

[OzFab]

And it's not a cable- it's a wire.....We don't call wires cables until they get over 10 gauge electrically speaking. Non electrical can be any size and be called either...although usually cable refers to larger twisted multi-stranded wires.

To be honest, I'm guilty of the same thing but, technically, the last sentence is correct; a wire is a single strand, a cable is made up of several wires...

So an accelerator cable is a solid small single strand wire incased in a sheath.

... only on a push lawn mower, all other accelerator cables are multistrand; the reason is that a multistrand cable is much more flexible than a single wire of the same gauge, making spring return easier

Cable television wire is a solid wire encased in a sheath.

...surrounded by a braided multiwire ground...

Automotive spark plug wires have no wire.

We call then spark plug leads

 

[itsid]

I'm sorry I'm getting mixed messages...

To me
this is wire:

this is cable

to hot wire a car you need to short two specific cables

Oh and it's not about the number of strands around here
what makes wires a cable, but the insulation.

copper wire is not insulated and even a single strand copper cable is.

So, thanks for the input, and I try to use the terminology you understand best from now on,
but you may excuse me if I mess this up in the future,
because we infact use the insulation to divide wires by cables.
(well there's insulated wires... lacquer mostly.. to wind motors or other coils that'd go too far here)
Oh btw we call it spark plug cable [well ignition cable].. it's insulated

So since I cannot measure any gauges over this distance,
I think I'll try to go with how Tony suggested ..
single wire, multi cable.

That should work
Also I don't have to edit the post above

'sid

 

[OzFab]

So, what would you call this

& these

 

[itsid]

cable.. both.

if that's what you're asking for..

actually we call a steel cable mostly steel rope (stahlseil)
that one specifically (actuator) we call a bowden cable
hard to translate since we use the word Bowdenzug,
which refers to the pulling action not the cable'iness of it

the second is a cable, no matter what; single strand copper cable precisely.
(einlitziges Kupferkabel)

'sid

 

[j.concepcion54321]

Ok, well now that the cable talk has been sorted out.........


I cleaned the terminals at the headlights, then i went ahead and pulled all the relays and gave those a good cleaning too. Next came the fuses, and some of the wires coming from the back.

Ultimately this got my horn, directional lights, wipers, and rear lights all working. But my driver side headlight still does nothing...

When i get a chance im going to and check out all the grounds and make sure they aren't unplugged or corroded.

After looking around i realized that my top is completely up so i better start looking for a whole new unit. The frame itself is fine, but the cost of headliner+padding kit+top itself= over 450 bucks!!!

I found someone selling the entire top on the frame ready to go for 100 bucks on craigslist, but he says the outer vinyl is starting to go. Either way that would be a total cost of around 260 which isnt bad compared to the other price. Plus theres always a chance that i could mess up on the installation which would not be good. Im also gonna look into some scrap yards and see if i can source a top in good shape.

 

[itsid]

That's great

Any chance it's just the bulb socket that needs to be cleaned up?
(or maybe a burned bulb? Nooo, that's too easy, you checked that already)
Otherwise that'd be fuse #1 to triple check again.

The ebay auction from page #1 for the roof is still active:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/350914687177
everything but the frame and rear window, no sewing required!
still expensive, but it's way better than the vinyl roof.

Maybe you can find someone around your area selling a Sonnenland roof for your car.
maybe they can match the price of the auction. (and you save shipping fees)
it's really the best there is...
made by Haartz
http://www.haartz.com/en/products/convertible_toppings/cloth/cloth_convertible_topping.asp
So if you can afford it, get it, you will never regret it

'sid

 

[j.concepcion54321]

so i got the new fuel pump in the mail today and i got it installed fairly quickly but still nothing i dont think it was getting any power...

Also, the first time i installed it i got the wires backwards and thats when nothing worked. I took it down again; realized my mistake and fixed it. Still nothing..... Im kinda nervous though, i dont want it to be that my fuel pump is messed up now...

Either way i checked with my teester and i wasnt getting electricity down there

Checked the wiring all the way from the pump to the fuse box and its not cut off anywhere.

Maybe my solution is a new relay after all. Im gonna see if the local auto parts store has one. If so ill grab it, and if it works then awesome! If not ill return it as cash isnt really overflowing from my pockets right now.

I grabbed some pics, ill throw them up later today.

 

[exenos]

Electrical issues I hate them.

 

[j.concepcion54321]

STORY OF MY LIFE!!!

I had electrical problems with the cdi on the ktm and now this.....

 

[itsid]

Well, it's not wise to buy any part if you don't know if it HAS to be replaced
that only gets really expensive really quick.

You should always change cheapest first
checking a power line with a digital multimeter on a car is always easy.

it should have a continuity tester on board, and it beeps,
if it doesn't beep, find the leak

So, before you ever ordered the fuel pump,
you could have already tested all ground lines aswell as the powerlines,
and even the relay.

Sorry don't want to go all smart a55, but car electric is a pain in the behind,
but most of the time it's really cheap to repair
some crimp connectors, a soldering kit, electrical tape, maybe heatshrink and a wire brush
and a few feet of new wires (this one's for you Doug ) in red, black, blue, and yellow.
that's all you need to fix your complete wiring harness.

Once that is known to be in fully working order, everything else is just a matter of touching it with a multimeter on cars like yours.
(well the ignition system IS a different story here )

you can check a relay with a small 9V battery and a multimeter,
if it's $20 but good, that's $20 less to spend.

I know, too little, too late,
but I'm sure you will encounter more than just one electrical mishap on your way,
you should make sure not to spend more money than necessary


'sid

 

[j.concepcion54321]

Yeah thats true. I tested the old pump afterwards though and it didnt work, so that gave me some piece of mind knowing that the pump itself was bad as well. As of now i havent had to buy things that i didnt need (knock on wood)

I saw some videos online and i think im gonna try to test the relay the way i saw it done. This included, like you said, a power source and a multimeter. Ive been using a test light for most of the stuff on the rabbit. I think my dad said he got rid of our multimeter... ill have to take a look and let you guys know what i find later.

As far as testing the wiring, how would i do that? I know which wires they are, and i followed them from the fuse box back to the pump and they seemed to be intact. How can i check this with the multimeter to see if its getting power on the other end? I think your right and maybe it is just a ground thats messed up...

Additionally, i looked online at jumping the relay with a wire between certain terminals and i tried it with the terminals 2 and 8 which are supposed to be the ones with the power (confirmed with my test light) and nothing happened down at my pump even after doing that..