Having just completed a 2.1 conversion on my Automatic 84 Westy, Blaine
brought up an interesting point which I checked out this morning.  When
pulling the literally blown-apart 1.9, my Alternator cable was not
attached with a tie-strap to the Air Box as Blaine's was.  When attaching
the cable onto the Alternator after installing the engine, I did notice
that it was far enough away from the Throttle Body so that it would not
jam into it's innards.  So I didn't think much of it.

Upon reading Blaine's observation, I went out to the vehicle just to see
how mine was routed and discovered that the cable had been slightly
re-routed by a previous mechanic to "thread" between the radiator supply
and return hoses to keep it from moving.  Not a bad idea (I thought)
until I noticed that the cable itself (behind the hoses) made a sharp
turn against the firewall edging of which there is not rubber nor other
soft material for the cable to rest against.  Further inspection showed
that the "Outer Convering" of the cable was starting to become a little
chewed due to the covering rubbing against this edging, but had not
broken through it's skin to reach the insulation of the cable.  Proper
repair will be of course to "unthread" it from the Radiator Hoses,
electrical tape the slightly damaged covering and tie-strap it to the Air
Box.  Of course, remove the Battery Ground Strap before doing this -
don't need any sparks flying around.

Blaine - Thanks for the tip :-)

Jim
Sherwood Automotive * The Old Volks Home
PO Box 176 * Palo Cedro, CA  96073-0176 *  (916) 221-5342 (Voice & Fax)
oldvolkshome1@juno.com
84 Westy 2.1 * 62 Beetle

Blaine Bachman writes:

 Second, a warning.  The dealer (accidently, I'm sure) caused me an 
     almost meltdown over the weekend.  I had the car in for the F.I. 
     recall ("SV", I believe) last week along with other work needed to 
     pass the smog check.  Some of you may have noted that the large red 
     wire from the alternator passes under some hoses and then over the 
     throttle body inlet on its way to the terminal on the starter (and 
     thence to the battery).  The wire is strapped to the throttle body 
     with a nylon wire tie.
     
     When I picked the car up last Thursday, the accelerator pedal seemed
a 
     bit stiffer.  I dismissed it as just an illusion caused by the 
     different feel of the pedal vis-a-vis the '66 bus I had been driving

     while the Vanagon was in the shop.  It wasn't.
     
     Yesterday, while accelerating from a stoplight, there was a loud pop

     and the van died (and the dashboard died too).  I coasted through
the 
     intersection and tried to start the car.  It started, but died 
     whenever I pressed the accelerator too far.  At "idle", the revs 
     easily peaked past 3500, so I put it in "D"rive and headed up the 
     hill.  I had to ride the brake to maintain the speed limit.
     
     At home, I started looking into a possible F.I. problem.  Then I saw

     it.  The wire tie was broken and 3 inches of the red cable was
fried.  
     Evidently the throttle arm had been slowly eating into the
insulation 
     over the last three days (aha! that's why the pedal was stiff!) ,
and 
     had finally struck pay dirt.  Disconnecting the battery ground, I
took 
     the cable off the alternator end so I could rerout it and
temporarilly 
     repair it with about five layers of electrical tape (it was too late

     to look for a suitable after-market replacement - and besides, I'm 
     gonna try and get it out of the dealer - rotsa ruck!).
     
     So, a warning, and a question (or three).
     
     Keep an eye on this cable and the wire tie that's supposed to keep
it 
     out of harm's way where it passes next to the throttle body.
     
     Why was this routing chosen anyway?  Has anyone moved their cable to
a 
     "safer" location?  Are their different perils to be encountered
along 
     other possible routings?