Was the rear qtr fixed? many have wrecked harness through welding and long screws for trim. Later Dave the Wave


        
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OK, to clarify, the whole car loses power. This morning, while getting my coffe, the car was running wonderful. Then, on my way to home depot, the car started acting up again. Frustrated, I closed the door harder than I normally would and presto, instant power. When the power kicks out, seems like I could "turn" the power back on by opening and closing the door. This is killing me! I have a swim in 3 days. All connections and leads cleaned.

I dont have a wiring diagram. Where is the first power distrbution point? Main power goes to the regulator, but where does "the car" get its main power from?

Thanks


        
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Could a bad voltage regulator do this? If so, I will overnight one.


        
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Did you pull the ignition switch out (as I previously suggested) and take a good hard look at it? A bad contact inside there or bad solder joint there will kill the "whole car". And sometimes, jiggling the car (such as rough bumps when pulling off onto the shoulder of the road when it quits) will make it come back to life again for a short time. Let me know if you have ruled out the ignition switch.


        
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When the problem occurs, I jiggle the ignition switch and its wires, as I have easy access with the glove box removed. Nothing. However, I open close the door and power up.

I have not pulled it out, but maybe I should if a bad switch will cause whole car power loss.

Thanks everyone...please keep suggesting.


        
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In a message dated 8/18/08 9:58:54 AM, writes:



Not likely. Probably bad ground, or battery connection, or possibly rust or
corrosion at the terminal block unde the hood.
Chas


**************
Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your
budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos.

(http://autos.aol.com/cars-Volkswagen...00030000000007 )


        
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GORDON IMPORTS INC.. The world's largest source of Amphicar parts and accessories. Visit our new website today.

I still say it is where the main harness branches out on the driver's side firewall. I have had this happen. You might need to remover the engine hood to get at it. This seems especially likely given your door slamming comment. Turn ignition on, then watch for power on the dash as you take two hands and push the connectors together at this junction box. The top, or 2nd from top controls main power. Voltage reg. will only cause a charging issue, not complete power outage.
Greg

--- On Mon, 8/18/08, Tom Laferriere <> wrote:

From: Tom Laferriere <>
Subject: RE: [General Amphicar Discussion-t-20119] Re: Electrical Problem driving me crazy!
To: g_zink_us@yahoo.com
Date: Monday, August 18, 2008, 2:04 PM







When the problem occurs, I jiggle the ignition switch and its wires, as I have easy access with the glove box removed. Nothing. However, I open close the door and power up.

I have not pulled it out, but maybe I should if a bad switch will cause whole car power loss.

Thanks everyone...please keep suggesting.


        
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GORDON IMPORTS INC.. The world's largest source of Amphicar parts and accessories. Visit our new website today.

Hello,

When I was restoring my first car, Hugh Gordon told me to change ALL the terminal ends that go to the connector block on the left side of the engine compartment. He told me those clips go bad and will cause annoying intermittants. I thought that seemed a bit extreme and just replaced one bad clip. Over the next several months I had numerous intermittant electrical problems and all of them ended up being more of those terminal clips. It turns out that the old brass clips become brittle with age and split down the sides. When they split they lose the pressure required to make good connections. I was in electronics all my life and had never seen connectors fail this way but he was right. I removed the hood, put a piece of cardboard on the muffler and spent an afternoon replacing all the clips with new ones. That ended all the intermittant problem I had and 7 years later, all is still fine. Here's a tip; since the wire is short using normal shrink tube on the wires was difficult to do, I found that there is a 4 to 1 shrink tubing sold by Eastwood that can slip over the clip after you have soldered the new clip onto the wire. This worked fine and looks original. Since all the power going from the back of the car to the front goes through these terminals, I suspect that's causing your problems.

John Friese
67 White
67 Red


        
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GORDON IMPORTS INC.. The world's largest source of Amphicar parts and accessories. Visit our new website today.

Yep, Greg is right, that's the place to look. Muffler heat and splash water kills those connections, then follow that big lead back to where it gets power from a tab on the regulator which in turn is via a short lead from the starter solinoid. Be careful however as a lot of that isn't fused. If still probs it could be loom damage as Wave suggests. It's not the ignition switch as the lighting circuit doesn't go near there.

I love the simplicity of the Amphicar wiring. I recently spent half a day trying to find a 12v ignition controlled feed for SatNav in a new Volvo - nightmare, most of the wiring is CAN bus. That uses different voltage levels on the same wire to control devices, it reduces wires (which is important given the quanitity of electronics in a new car) but even for those of us that have spent their workling life in electronics and computers it's a real headscratcher - a problem in there and I'd probably just sell the car !

David C

----- Original Message -----
From: gzink
To: david@manbus.com
Sent: Monday, August 18, 2008 4:12 PM
Subject: RE: [General Amphicar Discussion-t-20119] Re: Electrical Problem driving me crazy!


I still say it is where the main harness branches out on the driver's side firewall. I have had this happen. You might need to remover the engine hood to get at it. This seems especially likely given your door slamming comment. Turn ignition on, then watch for power on the dash as you take two hands and push the connectors together at this junction box. The top, or 2nd from top controls main power. Voltage reg. will only cause a charging issue, not complete power outage.
Greg

--- On Mon, 8/18/08, Tom Laferriere <> wrote:

From: Tom Laferriere <>
Subject: RE: [General Amphicar Discussion-t-20119] Re: Electrical Problem driving me crazy!
To: g_zink_us@yahoo.com
Date: Monday, August 18, 2008, 2:04 PM







When the problem occurs, I jiggle the ignition switch and its wires, as I have easy access with the glove box removed. Nothing. However, I open close the door and power up.

I have not pulled it out, but maybe I should if a bad switch will cause whole car power loss.

Thanks everyone...please keep suggesting.


        
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
GORDON IMPORTS INC.. The world's largest source of Amphicar parts and accessories. Visit our new website today.

In a message dated 8/18/08 3:31:04 PM, writes:



There is even a more immediate reason why you should have a careful look at
these. I have seen at least two cars, where the rust had mushroomed to a larger
diameter than the original surface area of the connector, and in both cases,
the rust mushroom had shorted out against the mounting fastener for the
terminal block to the car, which caused a direct short on a main feed wire, which is
live all the time, even with the key in the off position. Both of these cars
burnt a wiring harness while shut off in the driveway, and both cars may have
gone up in flames if the owner was not nearby enough to notice the smoke and
odor of the short and disconnect the battery in time. Both cars required a
replacement of several wires in the harness which had melted. My car was one of
these, and it was a 468 original mile unmolested example!
Chas


**************
Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your
budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos.

(http://autos.aol.com/cars-Volkswagen...00030000000007 )


        
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
GORDON IMPORTS INC.. The world's largest source of Amphicar parts and accessories. Visit our new website today.