THE PORTAL HUB - Pinzgauers, Haflingers, Volvo 303s and more!

Hi,

My name is Arie and I'm new to this forum and Pinz ownership. My 712M is giving me grief with electrical problems in that I now don't have turn signals, brake lights or headlight hi-beams. When my turn signals went south, I had the steering at full lock and I saw a little arc flash down to left of the steering column. The #12 circuit breaker popped but it does reset with power applied. My 712M has been retrofitted with the EG23 flasher ... it's fine since my hazard lights work properly. Other possible related things to note:
- The previous owner also installed an aftermarket brakelight micro switch (I understand the OEM brakelight switches are problematic).
- I took apart the turn signal switch; dusty inside but no sign of shorts. Also notice black electricians tape wrapped around the steering shaft?? and that the screws holding the switch/stalk to the housing are stripped.

Any thoughts? I know I need a complete new turn signal switch assembly but do my problems run deeper than this? I wouldn't think a worn-out turn signal switch would lead to no brake lights.

I bought my 712M from a previous member here .. Eric Minnick. Eric, if you still visit this forum, please chime in.

Also, Jim LaGuardia helped immensely with my purchasing the 712M from Eric. Jim, if your encyclopedic knowledge of Pinzes in general and using your wizardry to help Eric with fixes and patches over years can shed some light on this, I'd be very grateful.

popped circuit breaker?

The circuit breaker did pop (or trip) and I did reset it by pushing it in again. Do these circuit breakers fail (resetting it still leaves an open circuit)? I think it's safe to say there's a short somewhere; I just don't know if it's in the turn signal switch, the micro switch for the brake lights or the wiring. I also notice now that the hi-beam switch no longer "clicks" when I pull the signal stalk towards the steering wheel.

Hey pawzitiv,
I had a very similar problem last fall in my 712 also and found that when I reset the breaker the short showed itself by melting the wire from the turn signal switch all the way back to the breaker. It was a bit of a pain to change but eventually found the breaker to be bad. I installed an inline fuse as a temporary fix and once I changed the wire all was good again. See if you can follow the wire from one end to the other and you will likely find the problem, circuit #12 if I remember right.
Good Luck

For the high beam, try re attaching the brown ground wire from the dash to the body(they can fall off or get knocked loose).
As far as brake lights, power comes from #12 breaker(orange wire). Using a test light, check both sides of breaker for power with key ON. Breaker is 8amp.
You can follow the orange wire(brake circuit) and test for power at each connection.
One last item, cycle the 4 way switch, sometimes the contacts in the switch get dirty.
The turn signal switch is a VW transporter switch, they can be found on Ebay for around $100-$175.

Thanks everyone for the diagnostic ideas and tips. Time to do some more troubleshooting with a VOM/test light and then likely some parts to order. I take it that the correct VW Type 2 signal light switch to order is part #211953513G. Has anyone installed one of these and, if so, how do the VW switch wire colors cross-reference with the OEM switch?

Again, many thanks to all ...

Arie

Search VW turn switch and you will find lots of helpful posts like this one: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=7201&hilit=Vw+Turn+signal