So... When I had decided to purchase the mexibeetle it was because i was pretty much fed up with my 73 super... it had been a great car, but I started having issues with it in February and was at that point fed up...

In February I started having random no start... I resolved the issue for a while by having someone jumpstart me... you couldnt jumpstart with a jumpstart battery pack, it had to be from a running car... eventually that stopped working... so I ran a wire under the back seat that I could touch to the battery so it would start. Finally I broke down and bought a new ignition switch as this is what I was bypassing with the wire... the old switch was obviously physically broken, so problem resloved... right? well after i replaced the ignition switch my turn signal switch started popping fuses when I would indicate a left turn... so i figured the turn signal switch was just shorting out and i would replace it eventually... i have a bulb out on that side anyhow.

well... after a few weeks i couldnt start my car with the key again... but that wire under the back seat was still there and what do you know? it worked? so i went and got another ign switch and replaced it... and broke my wiper switch in the process (i dont use them anyhow) so i had the new ign switch in and it worked! for about THREE days!

so then i went on vacation and i found my mexi beetle... and when I got home the bug got hit by a semi, and I have been driving the mexi ever since...

a week or two ago i decided to rectify the situation and when i pulled everything apart and put it back together the ignition switch worked again... but was it a coincidence? it worked off and on before too... well it worked ok for a while.

well, when my bf was down here last week we drove it a couple times, it was working with the key still too! we drove once at night, and discovered that when you turned at night the brights would go on/off based on when you turned (this is with the new turn and wiper switch installed)... and it would not cancel either. ok, maybe i didnt have it in tightand at this point the ignition switch had quit working again.

so today i pulled it apart and fully analyzed the turn signal switch... i think i know how every part of the stupid switch functions now, and the aftermarket crap i just dont think will work right for me... it had also started popping fuses again. so i put a german one out of my first car (72 super) in the car and put it back together... well it is now popping the fuses as soon as i turn the key! so i pulled the fuse box and found the wire to my tach was loose, so i fixed that, but doubt it was loose before and probably didnt have anything to do with this... also found the double green wire on #12 had a broken connector which may cause issues, so i fixed that... but saw NO damaged wires and nothing else loose... so i tried the key again... popped #10. the only fuses I have had to replace in this car are #8, #10 & #12... but #10 I have probably replaced 25 times in the last 6 months... 4 times today alone...

I cannot find my bentley for the bug... so i am about to look it up online... but I really hate wiring fiascos... really my wiring is mostly original... only thing added was a cd player, tach & oil temp gauge... i see no evidence of replaced wires...

where would you go from here? I have to drive this gas guzzler daily til i get my mexi back or get fed up and put another car on the road... i really want to just rip the dash outta this thing and fix it wire by wire... but for now i just need it to function properly!

is this really a problem with the ignition switch still? perhaps the left turn signal really never was the issue? just drew a little more power but the ignition switch is really what's doing it?


HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i can rig a push button starter... but i do like to fix things the right way.. the more i work on this car the more it seems to break... all the 33 yr old terminals seem to be a bit brittle

Wow !!  After you described all those problems, I think you have wires going to places they shouldn't be . Spring for the Bentley, Buy a case of Black Lable Jack, lock the garage door and dump the cell phone.
   I have had a problems with after-market switches for years.
   Tag light , back-up light wires end up in the fan. You have a serious problem no doubt and you had better take care of it before you have to abandon ship . These cars sort of look like the "Hindenburg" when they light off

well, i cannot find any wires resembling the tag light wires... i went and verified the location on the wires on several other cars and on this car they are NOT there! however there are all sorts of wires in the engine compartment that are not in the other cars... of course the other cars have no engines in them... but i dont think these are part of the engine wiring harness...

gen light is still coming on at 2500 rpm... any suggestions? all connections at the battery and alt are clean and tight

I take it the burned bug is the same you have now ?  If so maybe a "patched and rigged" wiring harness is now making itselve known. Is the car worth installing a new wiring harness ?

definitley NOT the same car...


I will probably install a new used harness (courtesy of my 73 super parts bug)  in this bug, maybe, who knows, but now that i have no headlights i give up... it can join the cars in the backyard the POS... I knew I should have sold this thing... I have never been so frustrated... i just want my POS mexibug back... or something... i dont know... this stupid car... how can it have so many issues? it has to be just one issue gone crazy... i will never buy another 1303 super... they're just ridiculous... the wiring in the earlier cars was soooo much simpler...

i'll go hang my head in defeat now.

Oh well !   Welcome to electrical systems from across the pond, but it could be a lot worse. Your system could have been Lucas ( The Prince of Darkness) instead of Bosch.
    I never could figure out the logic of why auto makers would make a $30 + relay to do things just to save 25 cents worth of copper wiring and a simple switch.
   How about Saturn. The early models had every relay in the car under the center console cup holders. Spill a little coffee, coke and it ended up soaking every relay down. You ought to see what coke can do to a elec. relay.
   Don't cuss VW alone.  Even the 'mercans have electrical nightmares.

Postive grounds indeed. Did you know that Ford used positive ground until 1949 (I think).
     In your case, I think you car is trying to use both systems at the same time with all the "fuse popp'n'" and other strange things going on.
     You didn't park your car next to a TR-3 did you ? :lol:  :lol:

i didn't... but you know who would like to have a TR3 here...

so after spending 2 days on this and going over EVERYTHING... i still am not sure why #10 is blowing... but #11 & #12 share the same power supply from the coil from what I can tell... and both # 11 & #12 contain everything that I am having issues with... I tested the line from the coil and it has early 12 volts at the fuse block (could be a full 12 but I really just wanted to make sure there was power there)...

so i admit that I suck with electrical diagnosis... what do #11 & #12 have in common that would prevent them from both working? how are they grounded? through their corresponding parts? they can't be grounded through the fuse block as the fuse box is just plastic screwed in to the body...

suggestions? I feel like I am getting somewhere... but not really sure where to go from here...