The new fuse box looks very similar to the 85 Jetta style, if not the same, which is also
notorious for problems. My old Jetta used to slowly drain batteries over a week or two. After
tracing many circuits the problem was finally solved by swapping the entire fuse block. It was
fine for many years after that though. They *seem* fairly robust in appearance, but like many
VW electrical designs, they may just suffer from poor execution/quality control.

On 26 Jan 2005 at 19:25, Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@OPTONLINE.NET> wrote:

> Not only is the new style fuse box somewhat complicated, it is prone to
> many failures. Especially for those circuits where the fuse box is
> basically a connection point to get from one harness to another. The
> Pins and sockets on those connectors occasionally overheat, or corrode
> or otherwise go bad. My favorite is the ignition circuit. It goes from
> the key switch into one of the connectors, then out through another to
> connect to the coil and ECU in the back. In and out, and it doesn't even
> go through a fuse! I almost got stuck at a truck stop in North Dakota
> with this. A jumper took care of it. The temp gauge and oil pressure
> sensors also do this trick.
>
> Dennis
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
> Of Richard A Jones
> Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2005 7:01 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: model year differences?
>
> One difference that I haven't seen on any of lists posted
> is the change in the fuse block.  I think it coincided with
> the change to the 2.1 in '86.  Before--simple fuse block
> with the old-style ceramic fuses; after--very complicated
> fuse block with modern-style fuses and wiring harness plugs
> on the back and relays on the top.  (If you don't believe
> it is complicated, open one up!)
>
>                         Richard A Jones
>                         Boulder, Colorado
>

--
Shawn Wright
I.T. Manager
Shawnigan Lake School