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"You Left The Lights On Dummy!" Alarm
I have never been good at remembering that I've left the headlights on and so have wandered back to my van more than once to find the headlights past dim and the battery near dead. I needed an "you left your lights on dummy" alarm to alert me to the fact, at least when I shut off the ignition.

I followed Matt Bennett's lead with a different twist. I placed a buzzer inline in the fusebox that would go off every time I left the lights on but shut the ignition off.

NOTE: The part number for the initial buzzer I used is shown on the right as found on the www.digikey.com electronics catalog site. They are available in most electronics parts shops.
The vw door chime I later installed is usually available in a salvage yard or through the vw dealer.

However, I got tired of it scaring the bejeezus out of me every time it went off. Felt quite a bit like a rat failing my shock treatment.

Finally, I got another of the door chimes that come with the Vanagon to replace the buzzer and the result has been very nice. Even threw a noise muffling strip of duct tape over the chime to quiet it down a bit more. Nice, quick and easy fix which probably doubled the value of the van!!
Here's how I did it:

  1. Buy the door chime.
  2. The chime comes with the following(8) wires coming from it:

    • Black
    • Gray/Black
    • (2) Brown
    • Yellow/Red
    • Gray/Red
    • (2) Gray
  3. Splice into the Black wire (this will be the ground)
  4. Splice into one or both of the Gray wires (this will be your hot, or energized wire)
  5. Now, connect your Black wire to your Vanagon's #18 Circuit in the fuse panel
  6. Connect your Gray wire to the #7 Circuit in the fuse panel
  7. Test your chime....
    • Ignition Off / Headlights Off = chime silent
    • Ignition Off / Headlights On = chime sounds
    • Ignition On / Headlights Off = chime silent
    • Ignition On / Headlights On = chime silent
  8. Finally, snug the chime assembly behind your fuse panel somehow so it won't rattle on you
  9. Now, if you're really hurting for excitement, turn on your headlights, turn off your ignition and open your door. Stereo chimes. If you wait awhile youll begin to hear what sounds suspiciously like "La Cucaracha" played by the dueling door chimes.

    Note: I'll probably get pooh poohed for this but I just stuffed the wires that I connected to the fuse box in behind the fuses, using the fuse to trap the wire. You should really connect it in a better manner than I did.

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