Hi New to forum. Got restored 1976 VW Camper a year ago and recently broke down. Headlights have been flashing wildly and battery running down to the extent that no power at all and had to be towed. I think alternator is only a year old and bloke I took van to says he doesn't think it is alternator. At his suggestion I took it to specialist auto electrician who said he thought the headlight switch was the problem. Have just changed this and lights still flashing. Does anyone have any ideas? Is it likely to in fact be the alternator or has anyone come across this before and know the answer? Thanks a lot.
Hi dude, I'm no expert but last time my van exhibited signs of a Christine moment it was the fuse box getting leaked on from windscreen seal, this also fills up the relays beneath the fuses and causes lights to come on by themselves.
Sounds like you could have a number of faults Is this a fault which has only just started happening or has it been like that ever since you got it? Do your lights flash when on and off when you have then turned on, when you have them off or when you operate something else (ie they flash when you use your indicators?) Does it do this once in a while or constantly? (will be easier to trace if the fault is always there) For the headlights, as beakey said - check the fuse box and all the connections, also check the relay and make sure every thing has good connections. Also worth checking the earths to the headlights It is possible the alternator circuit might be the problem (but not necessarilly the alternator it's self) is it is producing current erratically then the lights will be erattic also (but so would all the other electrical systems on the bus at the same time) So worth checking all the connections to the alternator and regulator. Was a brand new loom fitted during the restoration? if not then check all the connections where the wires go into the crimps as they may be broken but this is not immediatly obvious. check all the connections to the battery especially where the battery earth wire connects to the bus body work. Might be worth unbolting and cleaning it off making sure it is making a good connection to bare metal (as during the resto it might have been sprayed and the paint not removed to make the earth connection) I've done a post on fault finding and using a tester in the how to section which may help http://thelatebay.com/index.php?topic=5352.0 it covers most fault finding and looking for drains on the battery etc so might give you a few other areas to look at
if it the headlight switch it wouldnt cause all power to be lost if it was a switch more likley be the ignition switch faulty these do fail i had one go on my last late bay there about £5 from gsf, have you checked the battery is secure and the earth strap is in good condition and the battery conections are tight? electrical fault are hard to diagnose without seeing the van could be loads of little cheap faults but might take hours to find
