Electrical issues, Help!! Options

[gklinger]

I've got some strange electrical things going on.

Symptoms:

Brake warning light always on.
When brakes are applied, light goes out momentarily then comes back on.
When turn signals are activated, turn indicator flashes (left or right) correctly, but brake warning light flashes along with turn indicator.
Flasher relay makes a very slight buzzing noise, can only be heard when the car is not running, but I'm sure it's always there. New relay does the same thing.
Instrument lights are always on.
Rear license plate lights always on.
If the car is running and the light switch is in either parking or headlight position, and the ignition is switched off, the car continues to run as if the ignition were still on. If lights are then turned off, the motor is switched off.

All lights operate normally otherwise. Car is a '73.

This has really got me stumped. I'm wondering if a bad headlight switch may be responsible? This just started out of the blue one day, hadn't done rewiring or anything to cause it. Anyone have any ideas?

[lapuwali]

There are enough terminals and weirdness that I'd not be surprised if a short in the headlight switch couldn't bridge two circuits that would even include the ignition.

Here's how I'd start: Pull the switch (knob unscrews, then the little chrome bit behind it. LEAVE EVERYTHING CONNECTED. Once the switch is dangling below the dash, clean the wires off until you can see what color everything is, and take a couple of photos. Draw some diagrams. Mark the wires.

Then, pull all the wires off and apply some black tape to the spade terminals.

Start the car (should work fine), and verify that the ignition is operating normally. If so, you've isolated the problem to the switch. If not, then the ignition problem is elsewhere.

Note that new headlight switches are quite expensive. If you want to tackle at least a partial rewire, you can get VW switches for a Type 1 or Type 3 from Bug places for far less money, but they'll only have 6 or 8 terminals on them, not the 10 the 914 switch has. Even the 6 terminal switch should do everything you need (parking lights, low beams, dimmer), but you'll need to work out how to wire it up. Both switches look and operate 99% like the 914 switch.

If the ignition problem isn't the headlight switch, then you have a short elsewhere. Look at the back of the fusebox for burnt or loose wiring. Look at the wiring coming out of the steering column, too. The other likely culprit is the steering column switch. The electrical portion of the switch is fairly cheap ($15), but you'll have to disassemble most of the column to get at it.

I suspect your headlight switch has melted internally and is shorting together several circuits. The red/white wires, for example, if shorted to the red (battery) wires, will power your ignition as they tie together with the ignition power wires at the fusebox.