1973 VW karman ghia stalls when put in reverse

Saleen4971

New Member
Mar 26, 2003
664
0
0
Setauket, LI
i posted this in the house of pain, but i figured since its electricaa, somebody here might have an idea of whats going on

my friend has a 73 VW karman ghia that he wants to get on the road desperately. the only thing keeping him, is the reverse lights. when you put it in reverse (even still with the clutch in) the car stalls out. doesnt matter what RPM your at, it stalls. the reverse switch is in-line between the coil and the lights (of course theres a fuse also) what is the problem?? anybody have any ideas? also, it doenst stall if you take both reverse light bulbs out of the sockets. we checked the grounds for the reverse lights, and theyr fine. we also connected a test light to one of the terminals on the switch, and touched it to the other terminal, the light went on (in the test light), and the car stalled. if you unplug it from the coil, it wont even start. but if you take one fo the plugs off of the switch, it starts and runs fine, and will go in reverse fine. what gives?
 
  • Sponsors (?)