wiring problems

Hello, I did something wrong! I have a 2003 Mexibeetle. I wanted to change out the speedometer guts from the kph to mph from a 72. I pulled the speedo, made the change and went to reinstall. I somehow blew two fuses, must have touched the wrong wires, even though I was careful. I put it back together the way I thought it was, and now I am having some strange problems. The hi-low beam indicator light works inversly, and once the engine is started, the ignition cannot shut the engine off. Sounds really strange. I am in a bind because I have not been able to find a good reference for my type of bug. It sounds like a relay is haywire but I have no experience working with beetle wiring problems. I also do not know how similiar my car is to an original German beetle. Please help me!!!!!!!

Thanks a ton! Tom.

Reply to
Thomas M. Loos
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Kinda guessing here cuz I've never worked on a Mexibeetle. The Hi-beam indicator is simply connected to the fuse(s) supplying the hi-beam headlamps. Std Beetles had 2 fuses for Hi-beam and 2 for Lo-beam. Follow the indicator wire to the fuse block and move it accordingly.

Run-on can occur if the alternator is able to "back-feed" into the Ignition circuit after the key is turned off. This can happen because the alternator D+ terminal goes to the "GEN" indicator, the other side of which goes to Ignition. In the Standard Beetle, this didn't matter because not enough current would pass thru the lamp to keep the ignition alive.

I'm guessing that the Mexi speedo had a different lamp (maybe LED) or had a diode in series to prevent back-feed. Adding a diode may be the easiest fix to try. You can use a little 1 Amp diode, like the 1N4001. Cut the Blue wire which goes to the GEN indicator and insert the diode in the wire, with the White band (cathode) toward the harness and the unbanded side to the GEN lamp.

Speedy Jim

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Reply to
Speedy Jim

just for curiosity's sake, have you ever had any other beetles? if so, how do you like your mexi in comparison? and are the mexi's still available? i've put so much $$ into my beetles that i often wonder if i'd been better off just getting a mexi that was already fixed up nicely.

Reply to
Dewey Hylton

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