ok, got my 74 super beetle, it died on the way home. so i was doing some work trying to figure out what is going on. I went to hook my battery back up, and i hooked the red cable to the positive, and the black to the negative of course. Not until about a minute later I realized the cables are reversed color! the negative cable is the red one! But how I realized this is that over on the left side where the cables go into the body, there was a white wiring harness looking thing that started smoking and getting real hot! i quickly disconnected the battery. Before this happened, when i turned the key on, both the engine and the oil light would turn on. now, even when the key is off, just the engine light is on. when i turn the key over, only the oil light comes on.....does anyone know how damaging this could have been and what it might have damaged if so?

 

Good chance you fried the wiring harness. Never seen it happen before so perhaps other members can offer you some help.

-Jeff

 

ok! thanks much![8D]