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t25 headlight switch on dash burnt out

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mjwcookie Seriously Crusin Dubber

105 posts · joined Mar 2011 ·

#889486
Hi all.

This is a bit of a continuatuation of a past thread.

some wiring burnt out months ago and turned out to be the wire from the dash light switch to the dash lights. replaced it and the switch burnt out.

replaced the switch with a new one it too stopped working after 30 sec. no smell though. checked the wiring and it is good. plugged it all in again. still did not work, but was getting hot. the little copper brass/shaft pivot in the wheel at the bottom of the shaft burnt my hand.

where is such high voltage coming from to do this. can i put in a regulator or fuse, but will it keep burning out?

How can i fix this so i can have dash lights.

mark
Mark Wilson
78 bay window, 82 bay Westy. T3 Caravelle GL 89 on the road.
Now in Victoria.

Joel Now containing 100\% E-Wang

9,368 posts · joined Feb 2006 ·

#889501
Volkswagen in their infinite wisdom decided the dash lights would be perfectly fine to run unfused atleast in all air cooled stuff, I bet a T25 is still the same (dash light wiring straight from the switch to the bulbs?

So if ever there's a problem there, it just melts wiring and eventually burns out the rheostat in the light switch.
I run an inline fuse on all my VWs for the dash lights because of this.

You would have a dead short there.
I assume a T25 still uses those crappy spring loaded BA7S bulb holders for dash lighting?
They often break internally and cause a short.

psimitar Son of Jim - Creator of Good

2,506 posts · joined Jan 2009 ·

#890077
dunno if you can get in Oz but P45t bulbs are H4, for good brightness, but fit the old P45 3 prong arrangement.

As for dash lights they should blow quite easily and before any fuse would cos it's only a 5watt bulb so less than 0.5amps being drawn. lowest fuse rating i've seen is 2.5A. S'pose it will stop fires from a wire shorting tho 😉
madness is in the eye of the beholder 👍

AA003 Custom Title Time!

1,189 posts · joined Oct 2011 ·

#890079
psimitar wrote:dunno if you can get in Oz but P45t bulbs are H4, for good brightness, but fit the old P45 3 prong arrangement.
No, P43t are 3 prong H4 and standard on T25/T3.
P45t are replacements for old style bulbs. (pre 1980)
I read it on samba, so it must be correct.

Sometimes Volkswagen dealers sell spare parts. Amazing isn't it!😂

psimitar Son of Jim - Creator of Good

2,506 posts · joined Jan 2009 ·

#890168
AA003 wrote:
psimitar wrote:dunno if you can get in Oz but P45t bulbs are H4, for good brightness, but fit the old P45 3 prong arrangement.
No, P43t are 3 prong H4 and standard on T25/T3.
P45t are replacements for old style bulbs. (pre 1980)
Huh, funny cos my T25 had the old style globe type 3 prong bulbs. *shrug*
madness is in the eye of the beholder 👍

AA003 Custom Title Time!

1,189 posts · joined Oct 2011 ·

#890171
psimitar wrote:
AA003 wrote:
psimitar wrote:dunno if you can get in Oz but P45t bulbs are H4, for good brightness, but fit the old P45 3 prong arrangement.
No, P43t are 3 prong H4 and standard on T25/T3.
P45t are replacements for old style bulbs. (pre 1980)
Huh, funny cos my T25 had the old style globe type 3 prong bulbs. *shrug*
That's correct. They all had the 3 prong globes. P43t



Pre 1980 had the P45t

I read it on samba, so it must be correct.

Sometimes Volkswagen dealers sell spare parts. Amazing isn't it!😂

ratty 63 Custom Title Time!

1,083 posts · joined Oct 2003 ·

#890454
I just repaired the wiring on my 1990 T3 dash lights - it appears to me that at some stage the dash lighting stopped working so someone just ran another wire with an inline fuse from the switch to the plug on the back of the gauge cluster - it worked fine... but it would have been easier if they had replace the factory fitted fuse on the top of the fuse box 🙄

I don't have a wiring diagram for the T25 but if there is no fuse (and it sound's like there isn't) then I would recommend fitting one ASAP. The dash lights should not draw much current so a 1 amp fuse should be sufficient. In-line fuse holders are easy to get - any of the auto parts places should stock them.

R 🙂
40hp, 6V and ...er... slowly making improvements 😂

It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice!

Founding member of the Gold Coast Dub Club Inc. 🙂

psimitar Son of Jim - Creator of Good

2,506 posts · joined Jan 2009 ·

#890524

That's correct. They all had the 3 prong globes. P43t



Pre 1980 had the P45t
Hmm, maybe got me numbers wrong then as my 59 bug I've fitted the modern halogen thin cylinder type bulb with 3 prongs n thought they were P45t but musta been P43t I fitted. My old T25 tho had the round early style globe bulbs with 3 prongs 😉

Apologies to the OP 🙂 this means I meant get P43t bulbs but if thats whats in there then my apologies.
madness is in the eye of the beholder 👍

psimitar Son of Jim - Creator of Good

2,506 posts · joined Jan 2009 ·

#890526
ratty 63 wrote:I just repaired the wiring on my 1990 T3 dash lights - it appears to me that at some stage the dash lighting stopped working so someone just ran another wire with an inline fuse from the switch to the plug on the back of the gauge cluster - it worked fine... but it would have been easier if they had replace the factory fitted fuse on the top of the fuse box 🙄

I don't have a wiring diagram for the T25 but if there is no fuse (and it sound's like there isn't) then I would recommend fitting one ASAP. The dash lights should not draw much current so a 1 amp fuse should be sufficient. In-line fuse holders are easy to get - any of the auto parts places should stock them.

R 🙂
If you are using an inline with glass fuse then pretty sure you could get it in 0.5A or maybe even 0.75.As I said a single 5W bulb is pulling less than 0.5A constant. If you have 2 or more of these lights connected in series or parallel then the feed line to the circuit needs a fuse large enough for all the bulbs on the circuit 🙂

As for wiring diagram try thesamba.com and look at the tech articles. There are wiring diagrams in there but dunno if they cover the T25.
madness is in the eye of the beholder 👍