I know that there are a lot of electrical issues with the 914. My new project has an issue where the 4 fuses on the left side of the panel have no power going to them. Is this a common problem?
I don't have the fuse cover so I don't even know what these fuses feed. Headlights come up. I have one low beam light that works and marker lights work, and wipers work. and the car starts and runs. Since I am doing an engine swap I am thinking of trashing the entire harness and using an aftermarket 11 circuit harness and just re wire the entire car.
Question. Is it worth it to trace all the factory 40 year old problems out and fix them to just have something else quite the next month or just start over.

I'm fairly good at wiring and reading schematics so I can go either way if I can find legible factory diagrams to look at.

open to suggestions.

In addition to getting a hold of the 8 volume factory service manual & electrical diagrams etc. on CD (sold at Auto Atlanta for about $30-40), the Haynes repair manual for 914 - there are diagrams & tech docs at Jeff Bowlsby's sites' links below....

http://bowlsby.net/914/Classic/

http://bowlsby.net/914/WiringHarnesses/

BTW - there are repro fuse box covers out there, & it's the same as for the other VWs of the period, so you can get them from VW suppliers. In the meantime, the links above include pix of the cover & wiring diagram.

Also, the 914s really don't have any more electrical problems than other 40+/- cars out there. As copper ages, it build resistance, current & vibration from years of used losens stuff, & sitting unused lets problems fester unresolved. It just takes time to sort it all out. Be patient.



Good Luck with your E-gremlins!
Tom
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Hi there WT,

Where to start...

You first state "I know that there are a lot of electrical issues with the 914". That is really an exaggeration and fundamentally incorrect. The 914 is generally very reliable electrically as long as the wiring has not been abused, hacked into or exposed to weather. Many original 914s with ~40 year wiring are still around and doing very well.

Check the schematics for your car, they are available on my wiring harness website at the very bottom of the page. Power enters the fusepanel at the far right side, I suspect if you have no power at the left side, its because the ignition switch needs to be turned to the correct position. Not all fuses are 100% powered all the time.

If you are truly having issues, take the time to trouble shoot each one, clean the grounds, change the fuses and clean the switches, or find a replacement harness correct for your model year and swap it in or buy a new one for ~$3000. An 11 circuit generic harness will not even begin to work, as the 914 has many more circuits that.

Lots of knowledgeable folks here to assist you if needed.

To cover all of the teener needs...what number of circuits?

Dave

The 4 fuses on the left are the headlights and only two will have power IF the headlight switch is on. 2 are high and 2 are low. If you pull the turn signal stalk, the other two fuses will have power and the first two will not.

Thanks for the replies. Didn't mean to imply poor design just problems all 40 year old cars have. Broken plugs spliced wires from previous owners,heat damaged, dried wiring insulation etc. I'll print out the circuits so I can see the current flow and what relays control what and where all the grounds are located so I can clean them.
I just got the car, I'm really just getting familiar with the 914 I have never owned one. It's very different than classic American cars I'm familiar with.
I'll dig in and try to keep the stupid questions to a minimum.

No such thing as a stupid question...the search and classic threads can help you alot.

Mike is very knowledgeable on these cars.

Good luck to you.

Dave