Hellooooooo, been on the van all day sorting wiring. never had the auto selector lights working so in the dark you couldn't see what gear you're in etc, anyhooo today i undid it but found a couple "problems" i just want a bit of a brain storm 'cos i'm second guessing myself on how the wiring works but i'm also wondering why part of it wasn't connected. Problem 1. No lights on selector - 2 bulbs blown? but wiring is in series/parallel (i forget which one i can never remember) basically there are 2 bulb holders wired earth to bulb holder one side (through bulb) out the other side to one side of another bulb holder (through bulb) out the other side to live when lights on. If i put 2 new bulbs in they light up but really dim, if i put just one in the curcuit isn't complete so it doesn't light up (if you remove one of the bulb holders and just fit one it's bright). should they be 6 volt bulbs i wonder?. Problem 2. there is a wire off the selector lever the green one - basically it is ignition live and looks like the shift lever makes a connection to the black wire in a certain position - why would this have been disconnected and what did it do? i'm thinking reverse lights? the black wire isn't live or earth so obviously it's feed to something if the ignition live is connected to it. Problem 3. there is a red/red black wire with a scotch lock on it which has a black wire going off to the front - this isn't live at anytime or earth at anytime but it's a fair thickness of wire - any ideas what it did/does? I'll put some pictures up in a moment.
Top pic is how i found it under the cover. next pic shows the red/red black and scothlock - what's this do? 2 bulbs dim/1 bulb bright close up of the side of the selector that the green must go to, other pic shows the rear of it - the gear sector makes a connection to it for something?
Just a thought, is the thick red/red black some sort of wire that stops you starting the engine when it's in drive? if so how to test and what would the scotchlock be feeding?
can really be of much help I'm afraid without having a look at it my self .....and never having worked on an auto camper I'm not familiar with the wiring for that. I've searched through vintagebus wiring diagrams and can seem to find the right diagram for your bus, Bently manual and Haynes dont seem to have it either :headscratch2: Anyway, Problem 1 - again, not being familiar with how your circuits work I will just be surmising. Form your description your bulbs are wired in series, If both bulbs should illuminate together then I would connect them in parallel. As you've noticed if one bulb blows in series they both go out. Connecting in parrallel will make 12V common to both bulbs and if one blows the other will still illuminate - I'm guessing this is how they should hve been wired. If it looks all original and that they have always been like it then perhapse they were 6V bulbs originally as they would then both illuminate brighter as you should get a 6V drop across each bulb......but if one blows then the other wont light either Problem 2 - not sure without seeing the van and testing it (or finding the circuit diagrams) Problem 3 - those wires look like they should have come from the starter/battery due to the size of them. My guess is that they were feeds linked to the ignition and fuse box at some point. If they are never live then it sounds like they are not connected any longer and have possibly been bypassed with new wires run in - but there is a posibility that this is where they looped in from the starter to ignition originally? the only help I might be able to add is to link to my fault finding thread, it might help you trace through where the wires go to and narrow down or work out what is happening http://thelatebay.com/index.php?topic=5352.0 good luck mate, hope you get to the bottom of it
black and red is usually the stater solenoid relay, so that will be you inhibitor switch the scotch block looks to be doing nothing take it off tosee if it is actually joining wires or is left over from a temporary fix
cheers guys much the same as i was thinking, i'd already decided to wire the lights differently so thats sorted, the possible reverse light - i'll bridge the selector so it doesn't have to be in reverse and see if i have a live near the light cluster at the rear, as for the red/red black and scotch lock i'm gonna drop a volt meter on it and go for a drive using all gears and stop starting etc to see what (if anything) it does, i reckon it's the inhibitor so you can't start it while it's in drive, but why it's been scotchlocked onto is a mystery, i'll see how it goes and try to trace where it goes into the dash area.
I guess it would make sense with the red and black wires. If it was for some sort of inhibitor I guess it would act like a switch, when your in drive it would break the feed to your ignition switch from the starter, then the black wire from the scotchlock may have been for a warning light on the dash letting you know it was in 'drive' either that or it was a latter addition just taking a feed for something else
Ok bit of an update here, had another play with the wiring today and after the above posts got me thinking it made it easier to check. The green ignition live when joined to the black wire produces 12v at the rear light cluster so is indeed the reverse light sender. The red and red/black wire should indeed be the inhibitor switch for the starter, i basically discovered this by trying to start the van in gear (and it did!) but if i split the wires it didn't..... the black scotchlock goes off to a grommet and dissapears under the van so i need to chase that at another time, the reason for the bodges become apparent when you realise how the selector works, there is a connector on the lever that once lines up with the white block in certain areas provides the completed curcuit, however the connector is broken - it looks like it's got some sort of spring missing but i should be able to sort something with it, anyway a couple of pics and then i'm done here as i don't think anyone else can help unless they have a picture of a complete one. Here is how the selector meets the block when the green and black are bridged this is the reading on the wire that's always been hanging by the rear light cluster
