Okay, I'm a little confused. I ran Muir's test for ignition switch 
failure and decided that yes, I have the problem: hot wire from voltage 
regulator to coil; engine doesn't run with hot wire removed.

I think what's happening is that the part of the switch that received
current from the battery via the solenoid is fried. This conclusion is
based on resistance tests on the switch and various wires. The black and
red wire is the one that's suppose to be feeding current, but even with
the key turned on, I can't seem to get any resistance from this to any
other wires. There's a three-wire set that shares a common connection 
with the key on (the black, the red, and the yellow). When the jumper 
goes to the coil, the black wire then feeds back current to the other 
two. There's a brown wire too, but I don't know what that's for. I tried 
looking at the wiring diagram in Bentley, but I haven't figured it out yet.

Okay, the part that confuses me is this: without the jumper running from
the regulator to the coil, I can turn the engine over just fine...though
it won't start...makes sense; no fire to the coil.  But, when I do install
the wire to the coil, if it's cold out, or if the timing's just a little
off, the engine turns over a couple times and then sloooowly over once and
then a couple more times...like a really drained battery. Also, I can see
sparks connecting the jumper, so I know there's a short. I'm guessing it's
in the faulty switch, since I don't see any sparks connecting the battery
without the jumper. I'm wondering what's causing this drag...Any ideas?

BTW, Bentley says you have to remove the steering wheel (which I did) in
order to get this switch out. I disassembled the entire steering column,
per Bentley. I see no benefit to this, however, since the switch itself
seems to be impossible to remove from the assembly to which it's attached
(on the '71) and the electrical component (which is where my problem is)
can be removed by disconnecting the switch wires, loosening the set screw
on the bottom, and then carefully pulling at the wires with a pair of
needle-nosed pliers.  

My edition of Muir ($4.00 sticker price, I believe) makes note of a '71
bus sitting in his yard with a faulty switch because VW claimed you
couldn't remove the switch from the assembly and he was stubbornly
refusing to pay $34? for the assembly. My local FLAPS wants almost $30 for
the electrical part of the switch alone. Same frustration...different
times. 

Re-installation of the electrical component takes a little finesse, but
it'll require that with or without the switch still on the steering
column. HINT: Watch carefully how it comes out; it'll have to go in the
same way. Removing the steering wheel was a real pain...too bad I didn't
try getting the electrical part out first. 

Thanks! Joe

----------------------------------------------------------
Joseph F. Fournier II <jfourni@comp.uark.edu> 501.575.7353
<a href="http://comp.uark.edu/~jfourni/"> Joe Fournier</a>
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