Hi all.

In repairing the wiring harness on my Jetta swap, getting damaged
wires out of the plugs was initially a mystery. I can't see for sure
in my Bentley if the Vanagon uses these plugs, but likely they have
the same type of contacts.

Found this page on releasing wires from VW wiring harness plugs:

http://4130-products.com/step/wiring/index.htm

Some neat pics and info. Here's the type of tool to use:

http://4130-products.com/ebay/05.jpg

Haven't read the page entirely yet, but one thing I found useful, was
to push the wire in so the wings were easier to compress.

A while back I had tried the proper tool at my parts place. I asked my
parts guy and discovered that the tool was pricey. So I ended up using
a paper clip to remove these types of contacts. It was a kludgy, but
with a careful hand it worked.

But today, ran into a snag replacing the 4 wires in the coolant temp
sensor plug.

Even after removing the little silicone plugs 3 wires didn't come out.

As a LAST RESORT, with wires snipped flush, I inserted my fetid paper
clip tool, held the plug firmly to the bench, and lightly tapped out
the contact with a suitably sized nail, point filed flat. (I'm sure
there is a more eloquent drift one could use!)

Yes the wings likely scraped the plug on the way out, (I had called in
advance to see if I could get a new plug) but even with this
butcher-like technique, I found that the new contacts "clicked" into
place and stayed put.

Neil.

--
Neil Nicholson '81 VanaJetta 2.0 "Jaco"

http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/

http://groups.google.com/group/vanagons-with-vw-inline-4-cylinder-gas-engines