Hi Andrew,

Perhaps it's a bad ground or broken wire or maybe the switch that you put
in was a dud.  I suggest you take this query to this forum:

http://www.vwdieselparts.com/forum/

The folks there are super helpful...

Good luck,

Jimmy
Wilmington, NC

On Fri, Sep 27, 2013 at 10:40 AM, Andrew Philbrick <philbrickvw@gmail.com>wrote:

> Friday related question - I have a 1981 Rabbit Diesel with the same problem
> and I'm running out of ideas to fix it.  Same symptoms of no wipers/blower
> motor/radio but everything will work if the high beam switch is held up.
>
> When the problem happened to me, I looked at the X Relay and it was a bit
> corroded so I replaced the X relay with no luck.  Then I saw this thread
> and replaced the ignition switch.  No change.
>
> Is there anything else to investigate?  I've looked under the dash and
> don't see any disconnected or damaged wires.
>
> Thanks,
> Andrew
>
>
> On Wed, Sep 25, 2013 at 9:18 AM, Jim Johnston <inmytree1@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Just to follow up for the archives....
> >
> > My issue was indeed the ignition switch...I had one on hand as I carry a
> > new switch as a spare...took about an hour to replace...not too bad of a
> > job....
> >
> > picture here...
> >
> >
> >
> https://picasaweb.google.com/104110054373682507279/VanagonIgnitionSwitch#5927334803955106178
> >
> >
> >
> > Jimmy
> > Wilmington, NC
> >
>