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Subject:Re: Strange Idea about retrofitting early Headlight Switch onto late model Vanagon
From:forum email
Date:Thu, 16 May 2013 17:17:50 -0400

Ken got lost in the email thread
So you still need a switch?
I have a bunch of switchs in a box I can look to see if any are a T if you
still require. If you don't I will save myself a trip to the garage.
On May 16, 2013 9:33 AM, "kenneth wilford (Van-Again)" <kenwilfy@comcast.net>
wrote:

> As many of your know the late model Vanagon (90-91) used a different
> headlight switch than all of the earlier years.  Not sure why VW waited
> until the last year of production to address a wiring issue and change the
> switch that had worked the entire life of the vehicle but that is beside
> the point.  If you have a 90 or 91 Vanagon, at some point the headlight
> switch is going to go bad.  Since there is no longer any being made (as far
> as I know) the source for good used ones is small, I am thinking that we
> need a work around.
>
> So I was looking at a 91 Headlight switch this morning that is on a
> customer's van.  I held it up to a "normal" Vanagon headlight switch and
> you can see that the prongs on the back are different.  There are two extra
> prongs one of which does nothing on the USA Vanagons and the other one
> supplies power to the interior lighting, and cluster lighting circuit (any
> thing that you can dim with that dimmer wheel on the switch is powered by
> this extra wire).  Anyway, I know folks were talking about splicing in the
> harness and plug from an earlier Vanagon, but I think I have come up with
> an even simplier idea.  I think if you had the old, bad late headlight
> switch, and a new early headlight switch, you could probably, just pop the
> rear off, clean the circuit points inside, and swap it over to the new
> "early" switch.  That way you have a new dimmer, face and contacts, but the
> rear of it with the plug in part, stays the same.  This would mean a ready
> supply of new switches as long as someone has the patience to pop these
> apart and do the swap.
>
> I would like to volunteer to check this out for folks.  But I need a 91
> Vanagon headlight switch to use as a donor.  It should be bad to make the
> experiment a real test.  It just needs to have a good back on it.  Pmail me
> if anyone is interested in helping out with this projects.  The part number
> ends in "T" for the late switch that I need.
>
> --
> Thanks,
> Ken Wilford
> John 3:16
> www.vanagain.com
>

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