Replace wiper switch on a 68 VW Bug

This windshield wiper switch replacement was a discovery process for a Chevy guy like me. Someone had replaced the wiper switch with a plastic toggle switch, and mounted the toggle switch in the dash where the wiper switch should be. I’m guessing the switch was bad, maybe it wouldn’t turn off so the toggle switch was inserted between the old wiper switch and the power buss. The toggle switch became brittle over time and broke off.

The new wiper switch came from West Coast Metric, a supplier and manufacturer of VW parts in California. The new windshield wiper switch is a direct replacement complete with all the terminal markings needed to identify each connection. Armed with my Chilton VW service manual, I was able to decipher the wiring connections behind the ball of spaghetti under the dash.

A few of the wires between the old wiper switch and the wiper motor were disconnected, but enough remained that I was able to figure out half of it before going into the Chilton’s manual. The beauty of these old VW’s is that you don’t have to disassemble half the car when you are trying to trace colored wires or numbered connections in order to figure out what is at each end of the wire. Everything you need seems to be right in front of you once you go under the hood and remove the back cover from the dash.

It’s kind of amusing when you realize the dash is really the firewall. BW pointed this out last Saturday when we were doing a once over inspection and attempting to troubleshoot why the horn wasn’t working. You could hardly call it a firewall though. All the openings in the dash kinda make fire safety impossible.

After I was finished installing the wiper switch I documented the final wiring connections that resulted in a working set of wipers. The wiper switch wiring diagram I created is for the 1968 VW beetle. I don’t know what other years of VW bug this diagram will work for, but since the repair manual lists 68-70, I’ll have to assume it is suitable accordingly.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 5th, 2007 at 3:10 pm and is filed under Automotive day. The entry is tagged under You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.