early fusebox how many/what relays..

[Therunner]

hi been studying wiring diagrams & the wikki for so long that all i can
see is lines & i have a headache,

so can anyone tell me,.

in my 83 diesel fusebox i have the first relay being the -flasher unit
then in the number 3 relay slot i have i think a 24,. load reduction (What the blithering heck does that do)
& no more..


my problem is my wipers dont work,. they got slower & slower & eventually stopped
halfway up the screen, so first i thought i'd check the relay but there isn't one,
so do non-intermittent(sp) or early vans not have a wiper relay?

also up behind & left of the fuse box just above the earth spiders there are 2 more
relays, a big one & a small one,. they're not mentioned in any book so i'm taking it they're not standard &
the bl**dy van's been messed with ( it does have a tailgate wiper arm,. but no motor/linkage..)

thanks for reading

k8

[Therunner]

could really do with a bit of help here,
the mans been ill for weeks & i'm pretty
much on my own with the kids so not getting much
time to work on the van(s) & was supposed to have this one
ready & moted tommorow & there's still welding & interior to do
so with what little time i've had out there today i've taken the dash/steering wheel
off for a better look & i can't see anything viseably wrong behind it,
i don't 'know' if there 'should' be a relay for the wiper but i 'know' that there 'isn't',.
there are no blown fuses or anything,. no loose wires,. & i can't get at the wiper motor
to test for current..

[weldore]

if you lift the blades off the screen and see if they try to move when you turn em on,if so ,on here was mentioned to spray wd40 onto the shafts that the wiper arms bolt onto,try and give em a helping hand and see if they start to work again,other than that i dont know...sorry.

...Dave.

[Therunner]

well they're working again..
BUT

i now have headlights that flash with the hazards
no brake lights
one tail light
one side light ( driver side tail light & side light not working, tried known good bulbs
from the other van,. nope still no workie)
maybe it's something in the dash that i didn't put back together correctly but it all looks
as it was,.
even the glow plug light flashes with the hazards then comes this orrible undescribeable noise from the
engine bay..

ffs,

wipers are good though yip(f*cking)pee

[bigherb]

As you guessed no wiper relay. As weldore says it sound like the wiper spindle are seizing up.

Lights flashng is a bad earth. Check the earth points by the fuse box again. Fuse 2 controls the O/S side lights check it has not been dislodged and fuse 8 for the brake lights.

[Therunner]

thankyou,
i wd'd the wipers when i put them back on, they were working fine, now they're really slow again
but now the heater fan works, when before,. it didn't,. ho hum,

i was really impressed/relieved when we got this van that ALL the electrics worked,.
even that little fog light tale tale you don't know is there till it fails your mot

anyway,
there's an earth coming from the battery to another part of the engine bay
like a make shift earth,. that's not right is it?.
& the gearbox earth is completely not attached! so i'm surprised any electrics
work & the engine even starts!

& that horrible scratchy groanie noise is coming from the realy box in the engine bay,.
hopefuly just another result of bad earth.


hopeing the teething boy'll give us a better night sleep tonight & i'll be able
to think more methodicaly (sp) (& spell better) tommorow,

thanks for your reply

[J188]

Just a simple thought, recently my washers were not working very well seemed as if it was not getting enough power and water was just dribbling out. However a bit of wire wool on the stalk switch and now they're firing the water over the van Could it be a dirty connection that is making your wipers slow/stop etc?

[Syncro G]

thankyou,
i wd'd the wipers when i put them back on, they were working fine, now they're really slow again

WD40 is a water displacer above all else. Its passable as a penatrating oil for unseazing stuff but theres much better stuff for that avalable. Its not a proper lubricant though, might help get things moving but they'll need oil or grease to stay free for a long time.

[Therunner]

thanks, i don't like wd but it's all i had to hand, i'll lube it up proper when i can
get in the garage without breaking my neck on some obstacle.. i don't think that's the problem though,.
for some reason my electrics have gone f*cking crazy

the wiper switch/stalk is new, well a replacement anyway,
the wiper direction arms that were originaly on the van were
a bit broked,
i cleaned the new one up with wire wool before i put it in & all contacts were good & it worked well
initially..

[Syncro G]

I think bad switches would more likely make them just stop rather than go slow, but wiggleing the switch within its on position might help if the contacts are poor/dirty?

The speed issue is more likely to be the linkage or motor fault though. Motor could be nothing more than a conection/earth issue through age corossion or water ingress. Have a vuage recolection the earth for the fusebox on later vans is somehow related to the windscreen wipers so that might explain other things playing up with it, but I'm not sure how early stuff is wired.

Big relays mounted on body behind dash are probubly for the rad fan so genuine.

[Therunner]

that's the thing, is i have a jetta haynes for the diesel engine but all my wiring help (confusion)
is coming from the Aircooled manual,. & i was also comapring to our Aircooled van,
i identified one of the behind dash relays as the oil warning light relay, the other one is a stubby
grey one like the number 24 (x relay you all call it?)

think i'll have to start with sorting out my gearbox earth,. it's broken off,. guess i need a new one,
but this is where men come in handy as i don't have the strength to undo the bolt bit that the strap goes
into

then the bodge battery earth i assume someone made up because the gearbox one is dodgy is broken too..

then i can have more fun with spaghetti junction upfront if a proper earth doesn't help,

[Therunner]

i'm truly beat on this one,.

been in & under & all over the van & can't find why my offside tail light & sidelight &
brake lights aren't working, have replaced several earths, had my crowns off & cleaned them
up, discovered the nice fat red wire to my radiator was broken so some good's come of my searching
around but i'm stuck now, been studying wiring diagrams but they're in some language that i don't understand
& i want to cry

( where's the brake light switch,.)

[lhd]

( where's the brake light switch,.)

Under the instrument cluster on the bottom of the brake master cylinder, remove the binacle cover and clocks.

[Therunner]

thought so,.. but wanted to be sure,. thanks