David, I'm a little confused.  Is this a situation where VW simply did not put a fuse in the circuit?  Does it apply to all Vanagon models?  Is this something we all then need to address?  For me, that would almost certainly mean going to an auto electrical shop or to some capable pro to address, but if it's a serious failure waiting to happen, then that's where I am headed.

Thanks David

---- David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET> wrote:
> At 08:31 AM 6/14/2010, John Meeks wrote:
> >Do you have any idea how/where the bad current originated?
>
> That entire harness is powered from the 30 terminal post in the
> wiring box on the firewall (for people following the regulator
> external sensing thread, it's the wire that needs to be removed from
> there and fed instead from a source that's not between the alternator
> and the battery).
>
> It seems more than likely that the P/S pressure switch lead was
> involved (very "clever," they're feeding a signal input straight from
> the ECU relay output) since that lead was burnt clear to the
> switch.  How or what it shorted to is a mystery to me.
>
> The Vanagon Guardian Angel saved my butt by having this happen 0.82
> miles after a 700 mile trip and six days before a 1500 mile trip, and
> only charged me the cost of a harness for the lesson that fusing the
> 30 lead is like a tetanus shot -- it's not likely to be needed, but
> the consequences if you need it and don't have it are dreadful.  And
> it's not as though I didn't know about it, just didn't have a round
> tuit.  Well I got one, stuck where the sun don't shine.
>
> Yours,
> DAvid

--
David McNeely