Knob Job

@JoelP  wiring issues can be a nightmare to solve, especially by description, and even more so without a diagram.  I'm sure VM has a diagram...

Your tach has a wire that runs from the coil directly to the tach.  It also has switched 12v and a ground.   I've attached the gauge wiring diagram, and regardless of what harness is used by VM, the gauges have to be wired this way, with the exception of turn/hazard indicator lights, and we wire our GPS sender to 12+ (constant) so that the GPS sender doesn't have to relocate a signal every time you restart the car.

Back to the tach, they have a delay in readout, but it is <5s.  Any longer indicates an issue.  Most common issue is a ground problem, and the 2nd most common, which we're all seeing more recently, is a failing distributor.  More specifically the internal electronic pick-up.  Again, not saying this is your issue, but from what I've seen it shows itself as a bad tach signal that is intermittent and directly correlates to heat and then failure when hot.  However, rereading your post, I'd lean more towards a main ground issue overall, especially since you are losing multiple items at once.  I'd be looking, and looking again, for anything that could have been knocked off when doing your switches.  A wired pulled too tight, loose crimp at the wire, loose spade terminal, etc... especially since your were under there working and things worked previously.  I say this from experience, as I have done something as simple as just heated up some wiring and the change in tension, direction of pull, any disruption, has revealed some other underlying issue, like a bad crimp/solder/whatever...  Retrace EVERYTHING you did.  When you did your timing, where did you power and ground your timing light?  If you ground to the battery terminal did you knock loose an already loose battery ground or reveal a bad battery cable connection.  Regardless of what wiring harness VM uses, a disconnected or loose main battery cable (power or ground) would kill everything...  if you're going to resolve this yourself, just go through everything methodically and look at EVERYTHING you were in contact with, and then stuff you weren't...  That's the best advise I can offer.

Regarding "tech for techs sake..."  I just want to say that in the case of these VDO gauges that isn't the case.  VDO (nor any major manufacturer) would agree to make mechanical gauges after they quit production of the Brazil VDO versions, and those that have been around here long enough know the nightmares of the later Brazil/China mechanical copies.  Henry (former IM) and myself, who developed these gauges with VDO,  pushed for good quality mechanical, but had to settle on digital with added logos for warning lights.  Anyway, I am a KISS person when I can be, but in this case it was the only alternative and while not infallible, they are the best gauges that have been available for a long time.  There are some new clone mechanical gauges coming down the pipeline (not VDO), but unproven so far.  Hopefully they get them right and they last.  Time will tell.

Thanks @chines1 I sincerely appreciate your feedback.

I made a list of things checked:

- ALL grounds (all good; had to reconnect two that were not secured to steering column)

- Fuses (seated correctly & all NEW)

- Connections to fuses (all good; had to tighten far right grey wire connection)

- Speedo/GPS connections (all good)

- Tach connections (all good)

- Combo connections (pulled gauge, all good)

- Ignition connections (all good)

- Headlight switch connections (all good; had to tighten 56b connection)

- Wiper switch connections (all good)

- Wiper relay (both speeds work)

- Headlight relay (lights work, clicks when high beams used)

- Radio connections (all good)

- Battery connections & post health (all good)

- Running light connections (all good)

- Gas tank sending unit connections in trunk (all good)

This is what has been done so far. I haven’t checked the distributor or the coil, as I have no idea what that “checking” entails.

I have a Magnaspark 2 distributor. Maybe some kind of adjustment is needed. I have a new coil, so maybe it’s time to break that out? Also will check the alternator because I’ve never seen a battery light come on without the alternator being bad  

I guess we’ll see.

Thanks again.

It's tangential to the main problem here, but I would be remiss if I didn't say it - crimping a Sta-Kon with pliers is a recipe for failure. Sat-Kons get crimped with a crimping tool, or they will pull out - maybe not now, but for sure when you really need them not to fail.

There are a few tools that I've learned to carry duplicates of in my service trucks- wire strippers, an electrical multimeter, and the crimpers are at the top of the list. It is impossible to fake your way through a call without them, and they are easy to leave behind on a service call. It used to be that nobody but Klien made a Sta-Kon crimp tool worth having, but then Ideal started making a nice one, and now even Harbor Freight has a Quinn crimper that's perfectly adequate.

Lots of guys think they can smash the barrel "good enough" with regular pliers. Don't be that guy.

Looks like you've checked just about everything I would haver, very thorough.

Magnaspark 2 has been the specific problematic unit in my experiences. I hate throwing parts at a problem but I don't have a better way to test the unit, and for us it is a quick solution to grab a new distributor off the shelf and drop it in.  I would suggest Pat's Shockwave distributor, however it may still be sold out.  In which case you may have to just replace the electronic module, part #2012 from CB and it should be $50 or so.

As for your errant grounds, did you find them completely disconnected or just loose?  The reason I ask is because in our (Beck) harness we have one harness made for each model, but for a variety of engine possibilities, so for example, an aircooled harness will have several relay triggers for coolant fan, dual pumps, temp senders, ECU relays, etc...  I doubt VM's harness is that complicated, but is it possible that a ground got connected that shouldn't be?  

When you say you hooked it to the column, I assume you are referring to the column tube, and just FYI that is a terrible ground.  It is generally isolated by both a rubber anti-shock bushing and in the case of a speedster, fiberglass, and the column should have its own isolation (rag joint, slip fitting/coupler)  It will get a ground through the upper VW press "bearing" but not well.  It may be th case that yours is dedicated ground by design, but you may try both unhooking those grounds (especially if you found them dangling) or running a temporary ground "jumper" to a better dedicated chassis ground.

I had similar problems when I installed a Magnaspark 2 about a year ago. After two modules and two coils, I went back to my old Bosch coil, kept the Magnaspark 2 distributor and everything has been fine since.

The errant grounds were looped over the bolts that are used on the bracket that holds the steering tube in place.

It’s funny you say that about the dizzy, as I just said the same thing to my wife about these issues. As a former motorcycle mechanic, I never worked on a cheap item when it was cheaper for the customer for us to just replace it with a new part ($50 and $25 for install vs $150 in labor to refurbish). Luckily, my car is still well within warranty.

Could this be the alternator? I have a digital timing light. I’ll hook it up and see if I get good voltage output at idle and acceleration.

@Panhandle Bob Thanks. I’ll definitely be looking into options as I move forward. Sadly, I already have a CB Black Box that I planned to install this winter. C’est la vie! Still, all good to know. Because my car is under warranty, I’m must stick with Magnaspark in the near-term. Hopefully this is a small bump in the road

@dlearl476 I have never done this, but I will try to create a VM wiring diagram and share. No reason we should be wandering in the dark like this. If you or anyone else has experience making something like this, I’m all ears. Mine will likely be done with MS Visio or on graph paper and crayon.

It is my contention that the Magnaspark module problem is really a coil problem. The provided Magnaspark coil has a 1.5 ohm primary, which is really low to be running through an electronic pickup module.

I was part of Bob’s troubles with the Magnaspark setup. Like most folks, I’m running Magnaspark on the 2110. However, I found and installed an NGK coil (the coil is for an early 90s Mitsubishi Mighty Max pickup truck) to replace the CBP China-doll coil. Furthermore, to protect the pickup, I installed a 1.35 ohm ballast resistor in the usual manner, bringing the effective resistance the pickup deals with (anytime besides startup) into the 3.0 ohm range everybody has always been comfortable with  

It’s worked perfectly so far. I’m pretty sure the ballast resistor is the important piece of the puzzle.

Thanks @Stan Galat I’ll go out and get a proper crimper/stripper today, along with some supplies.  

Thanks to all for the great advice.

@Stan Galat posted:

It's tangential to the main problem here, but I would be remiss if I didn't say it - crimping a Sta-Kon with pliers is a recipe for failure. Sat-Kons get crimped with a crimping tool, or they will pull out - maybe not now, but for sure when you really need them not to fail.

There are a few tools that I've learned to carry duplicates of in my service trucks- wire strippers, an electrical multimeter, and the crimpers are at the top of the list. It is impossible to fake your way through a call without them, and they are easy to leave behind on a service call. I used to be that nobody but Klien made a Sta-Kon crimp tool worth having, but then Ideal started making a nice one, and now even Harbor Freight has a Quinn crimper that's perfectly adequate.

Lots of guys think they can smash the barrel "good enough" with regular pliers. Don't be that guy.

Just purchased one on line now -- Thanks for the tip, Stan. 

@Stan Galat wrote of his trusty tools: "It is impossible to fake your way through a call without them, and they are easy to leave behind on a service call."

My wife and I grew up with UNIX and are comfortable using Apple gizmos, like our phones and my iPad.  When we're at home, everything is quiet as they know they're on their home network but when we travel they all look out for each other using the "Find My" app.

As we were heading out to LAX a couple of weeks ago through the Boston airport and after I had removed everything loose and separately binned my carry-on and backpack/iPad case (but leaving the iPad in the backpack as instructed by the helpful and smiling (not) TSA guy), I got through the scanner, gathered my stuff, got dressed again and headed to our gate.  About 100 feet away from there my iPhone starts binging and boinging in my pocket, so I wake it up and it says,

"Gordon's iPad was left behind at TSA inspection, Delta Airlines, Terminal B, Logan Airport"  Last seen 30 seconds ago.

!?!?WHAT?!?!

So I look in my backpack and, sure enough, no iPad.   I hustle back to inspection and saw the helpful, smiling TSA lady (this one was smiling) on the back side of the scanners and say; "My phone says you have my iPad back there."   She reaches around and produces it but asks me to prove it is mine, so I touch the fingerprint reader and it wakes up.  "I guess that's yours!" she says and I told her the TSA guy out front said to leave it in my backpack.  "Oh, he did, did he?  I'll see about THAT!" and hustles over to the incoming area.   I saw this as a good time to be elsewhere so I headed to my gate.

I wish I had that "left behind" feature for 10mm sockets, or for ANY tool I just put down a few minutes ago, these days.......

I'll get even more specific with the stripper and crimp tools. I don't care for the combination tools, because to crimp you generally need to put the handle of the tool over the wire. This works out in the open, but in a confined space - not so much. I like two seperate tools:

The Klein 11045 "T-Stripper"

and the Klein 1006 Crimper

Note the double die crimp jaw on the 1006. That's really, really nice.

Good luck, gentlemen.

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To Stan's point about internal resistance of ignition coils:

CB is a little slow to admit it, but the Magnaspark works just fine with 'normal' coils. When I switched out my Pertronix 009 clone for a Magnaspark, I kept my old Bosch blue coil and have had no problems with either dizzy or coil for the past five years or so.

The Bosch coil claims an internal resistance of three ohms, so no ballast resistor is necessary.

CB advertises their wonder coil as 'oil-free', like that's a good thing. But the 'oil' in the blue coil is there to better dissipate heat. CB's coil is $30. They sell the blue coil for $70. So maybe you still get what you pay for? Full disclosure, though, the Bosch coil is now advertised as 'epoxy-filled'.

Also, it's a good idea to mount any coil as far from heat sources as possible. The 356 mounted the coil right on the fan shroud, but those engines made only 60 or 70 hp worth of heat. The vent grills were doubled up when later engines produced a massive 90 hp. If you're putting over 120 hp in a compartment with just one grill, take pity on your poor ignition coil.

Mine is mounted in the rear corner of the compartment.

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@Stan Galat posted:

I'll get even more specific with the stripper and crimp tools. I don't care for the combination tools, because to crimp you generally need to put the handle of the tool over the wire. This works out in the open, but in a confined space - not so much. I like two seperate tools:

The Klein 11045 "T-Stripper"

and the Klein 1006 Crimper

Note the double die crimp jaw on the 1006. That's really, really nice.

Good luck, gentlemen.

I like the ratcheting crimpers, when you have room for them. Klein makes a nice pair for ~$30.  Another tool I’ll add is a sharp pair of electronics side cutters. I’ve never been able to make a perfect cut with the ones on strippers, even high quality ones. I have a pair of Xcelites that are reserved copper and zip-ties only. (And an older Klein I use for SS safety wire, etc)

And it goes without saying that using the proper size is imperative. Both on the crimp and the crimpers. You’ll never get a good bite on a 18ga wire using a 14-16ga sta-kon, no matter how hard you squeeze.

Having done a few thousand in the course of my work and my hobbies, I have pretty good luck with an Ideal tool like this but, like I said, I’m a belt and suspenders kind of guy with my own stuff. (crimp and solder)

I see you've wired stuff before. I've always found ratcheting crimpers to be unduly bulky - certainly for hauling around in a bag, and I really hate those combo stripper/crimpers. It’s pretty close to impossible to get a good crimp in a tight space.

Regarding the red/blue/yellow Sta-Kons, I always put the wire in the smallest terminal it will fit. In other words, if a particular brand of 12 THHN will fit in a blue terminal, I'll use it every single time - because the crimp just holds better. People get in trouble when they try to crimp a 18 ga wire in a yellow terminal.

I hear you on the nice diagonal cutters.

I like nice tools.

Nice tools are to most men what shoes and clothes are to most women.  Yeah, that was sexist, but I still think it's true.

<Lane ducks and runs from room>

David, I mostly use one of the Ideal crimpers you pictured, too. I've still got a super sharp pair of side cutters that I got when I was an electronics tech 50 years ago. Last year when I rewiring, I broke down and ordered a set of 3 side cutters to have in different places where I was working. I expected them to be of throw-away quality, but much to my surprise, they've held up well.

I figure buying some new side cutters every 50 years is not being too extravagant. Especially when they're 3 for $20.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0765NMV68

I love how you find the super-deals, Michael. Those diagonal cutters are the bomb.

I’m lucky that I built up quite a stash when I was working. I used to use this stuff more in a week than I do in a year taking care of my cars and bikes. It will definite all outlast me.
I think I aught to dig out my $300 Ideal Cat 5 set up and sell it before it becomes obsolete.

@Lane Anderson posted:

Nice tools are to most men what shoes and clothes are to most women.  Yeah, that was sexist, but I still think it's true.

<Lane ducks and runs from room>

Funny you should mention that. There was a segment on local news last night re: Social Media influencers and health/beauty products. Turns out men spend 1.5 times what women do. I think the rise of facial hair and manscaping are mostly the cause. They interviewed a barber at a manly day spa kind of place who said it’s not unusual for a guy to drop $75-$100 on a haircut and beard trim, and walk out with another $100 worth of product.

Me? My $35 Wahl clippers cover both me and Milo just fine. I can’t remember the last time I had a real haircut. Probably 2015 or so. (In my defense, I do have a fancy double edge razor, but I haven’t used that in years, either)

manly day spa kind of place

manly day spa kind of place?

manly day spa kind of place!

@edsnova posted:

manly day spa kind of place

manly day spa kind of place?

manly day spa kind of place!

Three words I never thought I'd see strung together in a sentence.

@dlearl476 posted:

I’m lucky that I built up quite a stash when I was working. I used to use this stuff more in a week than I do in a year taking care of my cars and bikes. It will definite all outlast me.
I think I aught to dig out my $300 Ideal Cat 5 set up and sell it before it becomes obsolete.

It's been obsolete for a while. I was doing Cat6 5 years ago. They are basically the same crimper, but Cat6 has thicker insulation and more space in the outer jacket, which is a bigger diameter so the crimp ends are different.

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@DannyP posted:

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...It's been obsolete for a while. I was doing Cat6 5 years ago. They are basically the same crimper, but Cat6 has thicker insulation and more space in the outer jacket, which is a bigger diameter so the crimp ends are different.

I hope you guys realize what you're discussing is the Etruscan pottery or Roman coin of our time.

It's distinctive looking, durable, universally distributed throughout the empire, but marking a clearly defined period.

A thousand years from now, archeologists will be saying stuff like,

"Dr. Delrin, we're down 17 meters and still finding Cat 5 cabling and 21-pin phone connectors, so very late 20th century but no later than early 21st."

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@DannyP posted:

It's been obsolete for a while. I was doing Cat6 5 years ago. They are basically the same crimper, but Cat6 has thicker insulation and more space in the outer jacket, which is a bigger diameter so the crimp ends are different.

I didn’t buy them for computer/comms stuff. At one point, cat 5 replaced MMC (midi machine control) for interfacing audio amps and processing gear with computers. (2000-2005)

Then some rocket scientist figured out how to transfer multi-channel audio via Cat5 to orchestra pit monitor mixers so that musicians didn’t whine to us when we were actually doing important things, like mixing the show. We could just send them subgroup mixes and they could roll their own.

Musicians, being what they are, took a heavy toll on gear and it required constant upkeep. Hence having a n’est plus ultra stripper/crimping tools was a necessity  

I retired 6 years ago, so I don’t know what they’re using these days.

@DannyP posted:

It's been obsolete for a while. I was doing Cat6 5 years ago. They are basically the same crimper, but Cat6 has thicker insulation and more space in the outer jacket, which is a bigger diameter so the crimp ends are different.

I'm just happy I was able to use all of the 1000 ft roll of Cat 5 as we moved from house to house over the years.

WiFi has pretty amazing throughput these days.

It does, but a direct connection whether copper or fiber is ALWAYS going to be more consistently reliable, and at the speed of light(electricity moves at nearly the speed of light). Radio is ALWAYS subject to interference and reflections.

Which is why I wired my TVs and cameras(PoE) with Cat5. I'm almost to the end of my 1000 foot box as well. I've done several runs to the garage(about 100 feet in conduit), I have cameras and a separate access point in my garage.

I even direct-wired my neighbor's TV, he was having trouble with WiFi interference.

Like a lot of us, I now have a collection of IoT devices:  Switches, security lights, even the kitchen stove!  They've all been working well on WiFi until we got a "free" Router upgrade from Verizon back in June.  It turns out that the new Verizon routers work on both the old 2.4GHZ WiFi frequency, but also on the newer 5GHZ band and Verizon chose to make the 5GHZ side stronger than the 2.4 side.  

That means that some of my older IoT switches, those away from the router and running only 2.4GHZ, now need a WiFi signal booster for the new router to work as consistently as before, and they don't have the option of a Cat 5 cable (Only my TV, security system and Roku boxes got CAT5 cables).  Those signal boosters are reasonably cheap, but it's still a PITA to go through this rigamarole just to get back to where we used to be.  

On the plus side, the new fiber router is running consistently around 1GB transfers up/down - It really screams, plus our main TV works on 5GHZ so it screams, too, especially when watching 4K HDR content.

Back to the downside, I have NEVER been so frustrated in dealing with any provider as I've been with Verizon, lately (OK, so maybe finding a local plumber that actually returns calls is worse....But not by much).  The old level of great support that we used to get from Verizon, say, ten years ago, seems like a memory now.  Getting a real person, rather than chatting on an APP, is very difficult these days.  It's like they really don't want to send anyone to a customer site to actually see what's going on and fix it.

This latest episode has gotten me THIS CLOSE to cutting the cord, dumping cable TV, moving to Youtube TV and picking up another ISP.   🤬

Got a rescue call from the resident SOC Verizon Wizard, Mr. Pip, so I'm trying a couple of tips he gave me to see if I can get a more reliable IoT network running.  

If those router ideas don't work out, I just received another range extender from Amazon that I can use to give that side of the house a stronger signal.  

We'll get this thing running right, YET!

@DannyP posted:

Which is why I wired my TVs and cameras(PoE) with Cat5. I'm almost to the end of my 1000 foot box as well. I've done several runs to the garage(about 100 feet in conduit), I have cameras and a separate access point in my garage.

I totally agree and do the same things you do. But, my Cat5 roll is empty and I'm not buying anymore wire. Everything that needs a hardwired connection is hooked up. Anything else that comes into the house better be good at WiFi!

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So, I guess you guys don't rent too many DVD's anymore?

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Where would one do that? Isn't the Netflix DVD mail service ended or about to end?

My 88 year old Mom borrows them from the library, is that what you do, Mitch?

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Me? Aw, heck no, Danny. I was wondering about you youngsters.

I just pop a few Tommy Dorsey 78's on the Victrola and I'm good to go.

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Don't forget to crank it sufficiently.

I can just see Mitch hanging out in the garage with his Speedster, Tommy Dorsey's band playing in the background with Jo Stafford singing "For You".  

Wow.....    Whattah voice!

You know.....   You could do a lot worse!  A great voice, a great Trombone and a truly great band!

@Sacto Mitch posted:

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Me? Aw, heck no, Danny. I was wondering about you youngsters.

I just pop a few Tommy Dorsey 78's on the Victrola and I'm good to go.

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Make it original Glen Miller and I'm with you(For the record I'm only 59, but I did watch the first moon landing live when I was 5). I have some of my Mom's WW2-era stuff.

We stream today, but I used to buy DVDs. I stopped shortly after the Blue-Ray changeover. It's amazing that we used to watch 480 lines interlaced and thought that was GREAT quality!

I forgot about Redbox, haven't used that in many years!

@DannyP posted:

I'm only 59, but I did watch the first moon landing live when I was 5.

Haha, so did I. The TV set was a piece of furniture.

Big RCA CONSOLE! Yup.

You guys were rich! We watched on the B&W 19" TV up on the "TV stand".

I was also 5.