Your speedo is cable driven off the left front wheel isn't (wasn't) it?  Unless it's a new Beck GPS driven one.  If so check the C clip on the small hub grease cap to make sure it holds the end of square cable used to drive speedo.

Did/do you have a copper strap from trans to a good chassis ground?  Know you did work on trans/engine areas.  Perhaps there isn't a good ground there anymore.  Not sure why that would affect fuel gauge.  If good ground strap check fuses.

Sounds more like a bad common ground off all of the gauges.....

Alan:

So how do I check that, just crawl around looking for loose wires and check the ground strap?

Thanks in advance.

Each gauge needs a ground, look for a wire that is attached to the gauge case or a neg connection on a gauge, they usually are looped as one continuous wire but have seen a separate ground for each.

First, check for a blown fuse.

Since your gauge lights are working, it probably is not a loose ground, but look for either a blown fuse or a loose or missing +12 volt feed to the gauges.  It might be "daisy-chained" (one hot wire going from gauge to gauge) or three separate wires, but that would be my guess on where to look first.

If the engine runs, then the ground from the frame/pan to the engine via the transmission strap is probably OK, but check it anyway - it is at the forward end of the transaxle case right at the nose mount......Flat, braided cable about 3/4" wide.

On some gauges there are two grounds, one for the light bulbs and the other for gauge...GN is right maybe a 12v fused supply too......

"On some gauges there are two grounds, one for the light bulbs and the other for gauge"

That's true, but only if the second (non-gauge-can) ground is completing the circuit for, say, the directional bulb or one of the bulbs in the multi-gauge.  For the senders - temp, fuel and oil pressure - the sender itself provides the ground so the other side of the gauge/meter has to have a reference voltage, 12 volts, supplied by the ignition circuit.

Since ALL of the gauge needles are not working but the lights do, I suspect that the gauges are not getting their 12 volt reference.  Find your fuel sender and note the color of the wire going to it.  Then, find your gas gauge module and find that same color wire going to it.  Right next to that wire (just above it at a terminal marked "+" ) will be another wire - if I were wiring it, it would be red, for 12 Volts.  Follow that back to the fuse block.  I think VS once used fuse #7 for that, but from what I've read lately, who knows?

I've got an old VS wiring diagram somewhere that I could upload, but this might be a good start:

Here's a partial (and old) schematic of the VS gauge cluster - it's the best I've got - and their wire is supposedly "red":

Thanks again, gentlemen. I'll let you know how this turns out.

Enjoy the Superbowl!

Two blown 7.5 fuses! 

Thanks again. 

You're welcome, Bob.  I hope that stuff helps.

I'll be recording the game to watch later.  Been uphill battling pneumonia all week, so I doubt that I'll make it throuh the whole game before falling asleep.  Hopefully, I'll actually sleep a while tonight.....   Been a tough week.

BTW, I took a few pages from the "Jack Crosby Playbook" and have been writing a manual for my car and including stuff like that - schematics, engine specs, specs for everything, in fact, along with every bit of info I can find.   Damn thing is over 150 pages and growing!

Wow, Gordon!

First, take care of yourself. Having had a couple of bouts with pnuemonia I know it is no fun.

Second, 150 pages of info. You have created a precise owners manual for a bespoke car. That just adds value to it. I doubt many custom cars have a document like that supporting it. Good for you! I am inspired.

I am curious as to what this ends up being ......

Alan:

Two 7.5 fuses blown. That was all it was. 

I love it when the problem is something easy.

You might try replacing those piddly-iddly 7.5 fuses with some 10 amp versions.  10's are still pretty small and should protect your circuits just fine and provide a little more "safety" zone before they let go.  I don't think I have anything smaller than a 10 in my car.  Of course, the heater, alone, has a Big Honkin' 30 amp job, mostly to run the glow plug during start-up!

I used a Bentley's service manual as a guide for laying out my book and have the same table of contents and section numbering sequence.  I added a few sections here and there for the custom stuff and then just started writing - it just flowed from there.  Included are all of the "articles" I've written over the years, like installing the windshield and convertible top and such.  

I've also been scanning in things that I had as hardcopy, like installation instructions (and drawings) for the Kafer Brace, maintenance instructions for the Berg shifter, Info on the Ignition system, that sort of thing.  It's coming along nicely and currently at 106 MB's and growing.  I also gave it hyperlinks so you can go to the table of contents and just click on your interest, which takes you to that section's table of contents where you click down again to get to what you want.  

This gives me a chance to get all of the info I have into one place that's easily searched, rather than thrown all over a couple of desks and file cabinets.  That's where I got those circuit diagrams this morning and I'll be adding those spiffy VS diagrams that Wombat created a little while back, just to have them for reference.   Ultimately, I want a full set of info for the next owner to have, that I can also easily use in the meantime.

Typically, for this sort of project, what started out as a small vision has turned into "War and Peace".  I've attached the main able of contents for you.

Go Pats!

That is really something! What a valuable project.

Well done!

VS wiring looking under the dash at times looks like a rats nest

Was your Speedo electronic too?

Wolfgang- for all the years VS was in production, a better wiring arrangement would have been developed- oops forgot, its not Porsche Germany.

Wishing you a speedy recovery, Gordon.

Think of this as the third quarter. The next one will be a lot better.

And what a Hell of a Fourth Quarter it was!

I missed it in real time, but will watch it this morning.  Just reading about it makes my hair stand on end!   Can't wait to watch the crowd react to Goodell.......

Yay, PATS!

Ridiculous.

I'm a fan of the game, having loved it and played it in high-school. I had no dog in the hunt, but I was really pulling for Atlanta. They play the kind of football I would really like to see come back into fashion-- hard-nosed defense, a fantastic run-game, and receivers that can actually catch and run. For the first half, they had their way with New England, and it looked like a runaway-- but I've seen enough in the last 15 years to know that it was far from over. 

Tom Brady just flat out will not be denied.  He has the skill set needed to play the game at the highest level, but even more than that-- he just plain hates to lose, and knows exactly how to win.

The dude was down 28-3 at the half. The "D" never could stop the run. But by the time New England won the coin toss determining possession in O/T, it was already over. You knew that team was not going to leave him hanging.

I think Belichick is ridiculously overrated as a field general, but Bob Kraft thinks both he and his supercoach are geniuses. As an organization, the front office does an excellent job of acquiring and retaining talent. In defense of Belichick-- he adjusts and motivates as well as anybody ever has. But there are lots of well run teams in sports. None of them approach New England in the Brady era.

Watching Goodell shake Brady's hand post-game was priceless, as was Fox's idiotic decision to broadcast walking the trophy through 45 emotional street-fighters all dropping the f-bomb creatively and profusely (probably 15 times, quite clearly) as they kissed and touched the thing before they miked it down.

But it was the second half that really did live up to the billing of being "super". 15 years of dominance has pretty much ridden the back of Brady, and it was Brady (and no other), who won that game. Boston owes that guy the keys to the city.

Ridiculous. 

Gordon, I am afraid I was pulling for the Falcons for the simple reason that I get tired of watching the same team win over and over.  It could have been the Patriots against a high school team and I would have pulled for the latter, not because I hate the Patriots (I don't) but variety is nice.  It's the same reason I pulled for Clemson over Alabama.  Ah well...

Here in New England, it is seen a LOT differently.

Belichick not only coaches his players, he also coaches his coaching staff.  Look how many of them have gone on to good/great coaching positions on other teams.  They get replaced on the Pats and we continue to win with the new people, coaches and players.  Look at how many other teams have picked up Patriot players to their great advantage.  Look at how many players Belichick has acquired from other teams and everyone said "What?  Why did he pick THAT guy - he's useless! " and then "that guy" does a stellar performance for his new team - for years and maybe in a different position - because Bill saw something special in him and he becomes part of the Patriot "family".  And you never hear "coach" or a Patriot player say "I did a great job".  It's always "the team carried us here - THEY won this game".  Always.

Many of those Patriot coaches who have gone elsewhere have brought the Patriot work ethic ("Do Your Job") with them and we're now seeing a lot of other teams with the same philosophy.  That is a good thing.  Last night's game was awesome to watch, regardless of what side you were on.  Both teams played clean with no fights, very few injuries and relatively few flags (actually, I thought the Pats had more than usual, but it was only a few).  How many times have you watched other teams intentionally trying to injure opposing players?  The Pats and Falcons don't do that.  The Patriots play with skill and determination and we put on a great show.  Oh....and we win, as a team.  Brady wouldn't be much (have you seen him run?  He's like a big workhorse!) without his linemen and receivers and anyone on the team can be a receiver (and they probably have been - even Vince Wilfork in his Pats days!) - Guys like Edelman, Amendola, Mitchell and, of course, "Gronk" would be priceless on ANY team, along with our entire defensive team but, for them, playing elsewhere is unthinkable.    

http://profootballtalk.nbcspor...-its-about-the-team/

Michael B (aka bluespeedster SoCal) posted:

VS wiring looking under the dash at times looks like a rats nest

Game over - back on topic. But if you look at the OEM VW wiring it is exactly the same - a true rats nest.  Many owner wired cars here and in hot rods is really a work of art.  All nice and straight and tied off with

But if you look at the OEM VW wiring it is exactly the same - a true rats nest.  Many owner wired cars here and in hot rods is really a work of art.  All nice and straight and tied off with zip ties every few inches.

I was tempted to txt Gordon the results at game end (knowing he time shifted the replay).

Wiring a car is like wiring a data center.  Some people take their time and do a great job;

and others don't;

I kind of fall in the middle, with cars......   It took a while to learn to plan out the trunk line routes and use mounted cable ties to arrange things, then run the wires along those trunk routes to make things neater.  This is both good and bad - Good because the wires follow neat routes.  Bad because once you get everything in you have to remove it to neatly wrap it and then put it all back.  MAJOR PITA, that.  

Unfortunately, I managed data center cabling a lot better than I managed my Speedster.  At least, in the car, I wrapped the cable bundles and dressed them off every foot or so, AND I noted the wire colors in a notebook as I went along:

Which was good, because some of my "schematics" were pretty rudimentary:

And to Wolfgang's point, what was behind the dash of my VW sedan never looked like this (and this was the basis of my Speedster wiring, with a lot of mods):

Geez......I just noticed that the headlight logic schematic has the mnemonic of one of the company flights when I was working - and the departure time.....   2 am  

Nice short drive yesterday. Everything functioned fine.

This morning I have: 

Headlights working, 

Parking lights working

Tail lights working

No brake lights 

No blinkers front or back

No gauges

No oil pressure gauge

No wipers

Checked fuses. One of the ones I replaced yesterday (7.5) was fried. Replaced it with a 10 amp. Didn't fix the problem.

Bob,

You, my friend, have a short. Look at the last place you worked on. 

Found a loose wire on the fuse box. Tightened it. Fixed everything but the wipers and the brake lights.

Stan, did you mean to say I have a short, or I am short? One I can fix, the other....I'm trying to eat more so I grow upwards.

You were working around trans (front trans mount) and rear (new exhaust)/poil hoses.  Did a wire to rear lights, backup switch or the engine get crimped in new cooling tin or too close to hot exhaust? Did you pull engine for rear mounts?  If so maybe engine wire.

See any of these in garage?

I'm going to check the wiring at the rear of the engine compartment next. Some of that got pushed around when I put the tins and the seal in. That could account for the brake lights. also have to reconnect the LED third brake light in the rear grill.

The wipers are a different story. I replaced the arms last week and they were working as well as they could given the fact that they suck.

Those things in the picture live in my garage.

Panhandle Bob posted:

 

...also have to reconnect the LED third brake light in the rear grill...

 

If the tip of the (disconnected) wire for the third brake light contacts anything that's grounded (almost everything in the engine bay), it will take out the fuse for the brake lights as soon as you tap the brake pedal - even with the key switched off (most cars don't wire the brake lights through the ignition switch).

And anything else on that fuse will, of course, then be dead, too. I think that's the first thing I'd check. It's a good idea to tape off the tip of any hot wire you temporarily disconnect.

I've reconnected the third brake light. still no brake lights at all.

Checked the wiring in the back and popped off the lenses. rear lights are working fine. Wiring looks good. 

Back checked to the connection block and looks good.

Either I am missing something or the issue is outside the engine bay.

Is there a pressure switch at the pedals?

I did add new pedal covers several days ago.

OEM VW is 1 or 2 pressure switches on the master cylinder - you can see in left front wheel well (to rear behind pedal assembly).

Yeah, Greg. That is my next stop. There just isn't that much to this system. That is what I have, a dual master cylinder.

Bob - I can swing by Wed and give you another set of eyes. Want to check out Hammock Bay anyhow.

Let's talk tomorrow. Love to have you come by.