With Wings As Eagles: Craig P. Steffen's Blog

zen engineering

2008 February 15 00:26

When you start working on something in a vintage car, you will most likely be doing something beneficial, but often now what you set out to do.

I worked on my beetle tonight, with the goal of testing the brake circuit warning light. I couldn't get to the back of the light to test it, but I did find out why the washers don't work.

Here's the back of the trunk before I started.

Now here's the same area with the ventilation box partially removed. Notice the end of the hose that I've highlighted at the left of the photo. That's part of the hose that delivers the fluid to the washer sprayer.

Now test the hose by pulling on the washer lever on the steering column, and voila! That's where the washer fluid was going:

I can't get to the back of the brake warning light just yet, but it's interesting to go through the wiring (kind of a rat's nest) and find the corresponding places in the wiring diagram. This attachment point is where a lot of the grounds connect to the body

And here's that spot in the wiring diagram

So I'm not going to be able to test the brake warning light at the moment; I'll have to find another way to get at it or at least its wiring.