Thanks for your suggestions.  I finally found the problem,  Ground from cluster to the forward grounding crown.  After 32 years the brass got brittle and my futzing about up there moved it enough that it wasn’t making contact. Cut the old spade connector off and replaced it.  Everything works. (Except the stereo. But rather than chasing that down, I’ll wait and get a new modern bluetooth head unit.

All better now.

Thanks again.

Jim

"Moderate giftedness has been made worthless by the printing press and radio and television and satellites and all that. A moderately gifted person who would have been a community treasure a thousand years ago has to give up, has to go into some other line of work, since modern communications put him or her into daily competition with nothing but world's champions."
-- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

On Sat, Apr 30, 2016 at 9:26 PM, Jim Arnott <jrasite@eoni.com> wrote:
> 
>> ’84 Vanagon
>> 
>> It started with the wipers not working.  I pulled the fuse box down and
>> ditzeled with fuses and relays until I noticed the ground wire loose.
>> Reattached ground wire and had wipers. THEN aux gauges weren’t working.  No
>> power to the fuse that I scabbed them on to years ago. Than led to the
>> failed load reduction relay.  Replaced it and the aux gauges are working.
>> But NOW… the fuel and temp gauges go full scale. Everything else is
>> functional.  I’ve taken it all apart and put it back together a couple
>> times so far with no change.  I have the GoWesty instrument wiring, I’ve
>> sorta ruled out the actual cluster wiring. Someone suggested the voltage
>> stabilizer but I haven’t changed it yet.  I have replaced the 27 load
>> reduction relay and the 43 temp gauge relay.  No change.
>> 
>> Ideas?
>> 
>> Jim
>> 
>> 
>> “All journeys end when we reach our destination but the journeying remains
>> a thing apart, unique unto itself. Most of us make life’s journeys without
>> understanding that the journeying is a separate thing.”
>> Bob Hoover - The Grendel Saga
>>