Oh no! Sometimes I think these vans should have been been called Vanagony.

On Mon, Aug 22, 2011 at 3:21 PM, John Rodgers <inua@charter.net> wrote:

>  Well, if it's not one thing, it's another.
>
> I was tooling down the road, enjoying my newly opertional air
> conditioning, and my smooth running engine, when of a sudden - the
> engine just quit. I immediately put it in neutral, turned off the AC,
> recycled the ignition switch, but nothing happened. None of the panel
> lights came on. It was like the battery had been disconnected or
> something. I left it out of gear and pulled to a stop off the road. Then
> I realized that with the ignition off, the engine was still running,
> rough, but still running. I jumped out, popped the hatch, and smoke was
> everywhere. Engine was kicking over, but barely, and roughly. I pulled
> the coil wire out of the distributor cap and the engine stopped. At that
> point I saw a wiring harness that had really gotten hot and melted the
> insulation.
>
> The wires in question came from the high voltage electronics box on the
> left side of the engine bay that has the two relays in it. The
> insulation was melted and fused on the wires on the relay marked 53
> PN#141 951 2538 and PN# 321919505A. From there, the wiring cover - the
> long flexible plastic cover through which all those wires go, was melted
> along the bottom, all the way from the ignition box across the front
> (towards the front of the van) over to the the point it disappears down
> and behind air filter box and AFM. I moved the wire harness where it
> passes over the top of the box with vacuum line layout, and got a click
> over where the starter is. Sounded like the solenoid clicking. I
> immediately went and disconnected the battery. Got AAA to come and get
> the van and take it home. That is as far as I have gotten. I'll spend a
> bit more time later today when it cools off. I have no idea what may
> have cause this, but to be sure - it will take some time to trouble
> shoot and fix.
>
> I haven't yet started tearing it apart to troubleshoot and fix this.
> Haven't even looked at Bentley yet.
>
> But has anyone any ideas??
>
> Thanks.
>
> John
>
> --
> John Rodgers
> Clayartist and Moldmaker
> 88'GL VW Bus Driver
> Chelsea, AL
> Http://www.moldhaus.com
>