Dennis,
thanks for the reply.

There is a ground wire to the stereo...
The funny thing is that the dash lights go out even if the power to the
stereo is off.  Thus it seems to me that the ground from the dash lights
is going (backwards) through the ground to the stereo, and then out into
the metal touching the stereo.
What do you think?
Thanks,
Wes

Dennis Haynes wrote:
> Your tape deck needs to have it's own ground. Is there a dash connected
> light in it? If so, when the deck loses the ground connection, the
> return path is now fighting its way through the dash lights. Add a
> direct ground wire the tape deck. There should be a connection for it.
> Also, the antennae should provide a ground circuit.
>
> Dennis
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
> Of Wesley Pegden
> Sent: Monday, February 13, 2006 12:17 AM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: dash lights out when stereo not grounded?
>
> I'm trying to decipher a strange ground issue: if I shift my (not
> original) tape deck so that it's not making contact with the metal
> around the dash, the back lights for the dash go out.  I don't notice
> any other symptoms.  I checked all the wires going into the "star"
> ground connectors behind the fusebox, and they seem okay.  I didn't
> unscrew the stars themselves, because I couldn't get good access with
> all the wires to put enough torque on my stubby screwdriver.  Do these
> sometimes need a good sanding?  And how can I remove them?  (Or: what
> else might my problem be...)
>
> Thanks very much,
> Wes
>
> '84 1.9l manual
>
>
>
>