You haven't given much info to go on but the melting alternator wires
are a common problem with the waterboxers until mid 86. VW changed the
alternator wiring then and beefed it up even more in later years. I have
fixed the wires on a few 84/85 vanagons by installing the later model
alternator sub-harness. I always saw the damage after the owner incurred
it so I don't know what caused it for sure. I suspect jump starting to
be a factor in some cases. Since VW did not put any kind of fuse in
either the main charging or engine power wires, various problem can
result in visible wiring damage.

Mark

Jefferson adams wrote:

>help!
>i had to leave my 85 van broken down in a little town
>1 hour northeast of tulsa, oklahoma (vinita).  i can
>get back to tow it home to austin, texas ( about 500
>miles) in a couple of weeks.  no one i've spoken with
>in vinita, ok, seems to know much about vw's.  anyone
>nearby who can help or reccommend where to look for
>it.  i'd rather return to pick up a repaired van, and
>the fellow at the shop hasn't even looked at it ( in
>the week its been there) to tell me if he thinks he
>can fix it.
>its the electrical system.  either the alternator's
>out and/or there's a short somewhere.  and at the end
>of the fiasco, the new battery i tried burned off the
>insulation from some of the major cables that travel
>just behind the engine box.
>in way over my head,
>colby
>
>
>
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