72 Beetle Dead Short

Hi. I have a 72 Beetle that is suffering from a dead short. As soon as the ignition is turned on, fuse number 2 blows. Then, of course, there is no positive power to the coil and the car will not start. What confuses me here is that the wire (white in color) from fuse 2 goes into a black box about

10cm x 10 cm. Then, different color thin wires emerge from this box and connect to the steering column. Any idea what box this is? And what color wire should I then be tracing from the balck box.

Finally, is there any resource on the web that gives you the color of the wires that go to each fuse. I suspect that my wiring is probably not 100% :)

Regards, Elvin

Reply to
Elvin Rambaran
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Your wiring is not 100%.

Go here:

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download a diagram. The black box you describe is not stock on a '72. Also, which country are you in?

Finally, there is *NO* fuse in the circuit to the Coil. (Or should not be; someone has altered the wiring...)

See if there are markings on the black box- a part number perhaps, or terminal # designations.

Speedy Jim

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Reply to
Speedy Jim

Hi. No part number on the black box. Or terminal designations for that matter. The number 2 fuse appears to be for the brake lights and the windshield wipers, but who knows :) The car is the South African version.

Regards, Elv>

Reply to
Elvin Rambaran

I don't have a wiring diagram for a 72 beetle, but on my 71 bus, I had the same problem. When I turned the key, the brake light and horn fuse blew instantly. Turned out to be the brake warning switch (screwed into the master cylinder with two or three wires coming out of it). It was shorted out. Replacing it fixed the problem. It's cheap... like 7 bucks or something. Do it quick, no need to bleed the brakes, just add more fluid.

-tom

Reply to
vic20owner

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