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Replacing The Wiring Harness

After seeing the wiring mess under the hood, and finding hanging wires every where I knew something
bad was just waiting to catch on fire. There were wires that were spliced, diced and chopped up all over.
Many of them I couldn't even follow back to the real source. There's also a lot of household speaker wire
being used. So, after checking with a mechanic, and my favorite parts place, I ordered my new harness.


I decided not to post a play-by-play on the installation of the harness, but just a few hints and tips that
might help out the next person trying this. I can say one thing, if me and my mom can install a
harness without any real mechanical or electrical knowledge, anyone can do this. It takes patience
and time....and the rest will fall into place.


Supply List

This is everything I used that help me get my harness in. Get this stuff together before you even
start so you don't have to make a wild run to the store !

a. Paper and Pen

b. Nylon Twine

c. Electrical Tape

d. Plenty of Wire Connectors

e. Fuses

f. Some sort of scrub brush to clean off all old connections.

g. Assorted screwdrivers and plyers, including crimping plyers for those connectors.

h. Any good VW manuals you may have. (Haynes, etc.)

i. New bulbs for tail lights, dash lights, etc.


Hints and Tips

1. Before you even start: Get a paper and pen and draw out where every existing wire goes.
Color code your picture and make lots of notes. Anything you see, write it down. Where the
wire goes in, and where you see it coming from.

2. You will need strong twine (we used nylon twine) and strong electrical tape to attach the old
harness to the new one. This is how you pull the new one into place. The last thing you want
to happen is the new one get stuck half way through the body, and disconnect from the old
harness.

3. Before you disconnect a wire, double check it is on your diagram (see hint #1).

4. Go ahead a replace old bulbs in your tail lights and dash if needed. Their not expensive
and will save you alot of head ache trying to track down a bad connection when it's really
only a bad bulb.

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