NEWBIE Owner w/ electical problems, 1982 Diesel Rabbit

[CoastalDefender]

What you are measuring is how much power is being converted to heat due to resistance in the wires/connections.

If after cleaning the connections you are still getting a high voltage drop you most likely have bad cables

Ah, I see.

In that event, I could run jumpers to see which unit is faulty? I am thinking the Starter will be next avenue of approach.

[burn_your_money]

jumpers typically don't get the best connections. They are designed to transfer electricity at a rate slower then what the starter draws. You can definitely try hooking them up directly to the starter and seeing if that helps.

[CoastalDefender]

jumpers typically don't get the best connections. They are designed to transfer electricity at a rate slower then what the starter draws. You can definitely try hooking them up directly to the starter and seeing if that helps.

I can tell this is going to be a very long weekend. Doesn't help that I have a 14hr day waiting for me tomorrow and a 12hr day waiting for me on Sat.

Hopefully it's not pouring down rain. EEK! :shock:

[clbanman]

If I read your post correctly, you have only confirmed one glow plug.  Am I correct?  I can tell you from personal experience that with only one functioning glow plug your car will probably not start.

[CoastalDefender]

If I read your post correctly, you have only confirmed one glow plug.  Am I correct?  I can tell you from personal experience that with only one functioning glow plug your car will probably not start.

Correct.

I am going to pull them all tomorrow and test them. Then we're going to attempt a pull-start.

[fatmobile]

If you have a block heater you might not have to pull start it.
 If it's just the glow plugs a block heater will compensate for that.

[CoastalDefender]

If you have a block heater you might not have to pull start it.
 If it's just the glow plugs a block heater will compensate for that.

If the glow plugs are good and the starter/batt are toast, it won't make a lick of difference. The only way to find out for certain is if I pull start.

I could test how many amps are drawn, but I'm not 100% sure on how to do that.

[CoastalDefender]

Okay, had a few buds over yesterday to see what we could see.

DEFINITELY an electrical problem. I"m going to pull all my wiring today and try to trace it down.

HUGE electrical surge when we attempt to start from the jump. And not getting anything new.

So... Now the fun of chasing wires begins.

[CoastalDefender]

Well, started stripping the wiring and thinking to myself "this is screwed, I've got better things to do".

So this morning I towed it on my boss's car hauler into the local VW dude. Specializes in Air and early H2O, he was VERY familiar with my rig.


So I swung by when I got off work today and he told me what he thought of it. The wire that burst fried 4 others, and those all touching is what's giving me the headache.

He's going to order/find a new wiring harness (right side engine, black connector under the dash), and in the meantime he's going to wire the engine up to make sure it even works. He doesn't want me to dump any more money into this than I do. So we'll just make sure it runs before we start expending $$$ and time.


Oh, he also had another rabbit sitting there, early 80's. He said "when we get yours working, you can do whatever you like with that one. Parts, etc, all yours if you want them".

[Possum79]

If he said you can basically have the other rabbit snag that up.

Id take it.

 :wink:

[CoastalDefender]

If he said you can basically have the other rabbit snag that up.

Id take it.

 :wink:

Oh hell yes.