Today's brief post covers the finishing touches on the wiring harness surgery and my opening thoughts on getting the main electrical in-place. It's beautiful day, and it promises to be a beautiful weekend. I have many family obligations, though, so progress will continue to move at a very slow pace.
Wires Uncrossed
I was able to look into the wiring again Wednesday afternoon and finished removing all of the circuitry for cabin and exterior lighting as well as the AC stuff. I am left with the radiator fan circuits as the lone wire bundle I am a little bamboozled by. With the decision to put the dash pod in the closet, many other decisions can be avoided for now. For example, the ECU doesn't need to know about my brake fluid level, so I don't need to figure out how to fake that anymore. I received the fuse block in the mail this morning, so I should have all the pieces to start laying out the primary electrical.
Primarily Speaking
The primary circuit is basically the charging system (generator, voltage regulator) the starting system (starter, solenoid) and the storage (battery). These sub-systems are connected with big thick wires and are necessary to run the engine. It is the connecting of these systems that I will be taking on next, with the help of the fuse block I just received. In the early ALH TDI engine installations, there wasn't an immobilizer. This reduces the complexity a bit. The starter engagement is limited by a switch connected to the clutch pedal so the driver can't start the engine with the clutch pedal out. I'm going to fake that, since the original bus doesn't have that lockout, and its been working great that way for years. I don't plan to route the battery isolator right away, thinking that it might be easier to isolate engine electrical issues without it first.
I will be implementing the fuse block, though, even if I am only using a couple of the main B+ sources. It will make the circuits that much more like the 98 Beetle install, so, again, it will be easier to identify sources of issues.
I will probably need some more primary cable, however. The block I bought does not have any. The wiring harness has a couple but they are buried deep into the main trunk and may not be long enough anyway. I haven't decided where I will locate the fuse block either, which poses another challenge. Should I put it near the pass-through from the cabin to the engine compartment? By placing it here, it would require fewer changes to the harness, and fewer new-cable installations. On the other hand, if I place it near the battery, it would be closer to the original, and I wouldn't need a thick primary cable running from one side of the engine compartment to the other for the battery : fuse block and then back again for the fuse block : starter. I will look at both choices once the battery is in place, and go with the least confusing looking of the 2 options. At this point, I am leaning towards putting the fuse block near the pass-through to reduce the number of wire cuts I need to make.
That's all I have time for today. I will be getting the battery in-place, and arranging the harness this weekend. Between kids' lacrosse games, piano recitals and my mother-in-law visiting, I don't know if I'll have much time beyond that. Sorry, no pictures today. I'll take some of the electrical as it develops.
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