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Tue Sep 22, 2015 2:27 pm

I have a stock 86 Westfalia. I received the Gowesty auxiliary battery kit as a gift, I know not the best option. I have power from the alternator blue wire to the relay #86 pin. The problem is I don't have power from the relay #30 pin to the solenoid with the new blue wire provided in the kit. I bought a new relay, still no power. My OXS light is on and when i unplug the alternator blue wire from #86 pin the OXS light goes out. Not sure if the two are connected. Any ideas what the issue could be? Thanks

Tue Sep 22, 2015 6:24 pm

Need a little more information than "I have power from the alternator blue wire". What is the voltage with the engine running? Does revving the engine help? Check the voltage at pin #30 on the relay when you do this, as well. Verify that you either (1)have enough voltage to power the relay and it is not functioning or (2) you do not have enough voltage to operate the relay. You will probably find this very useful...

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=606057&highlight=oxs+circuit

If you do additional searches for "aux battery", "OXS sensor" and "blue alternator circuit" you will find lots of information about this topic.

Tue Sep 22, 2015 7:47 pm

I have 10.80 V from the blue wire to the relay #86 when the engine is running. I connected a 12 gauge wire straight from alternator to relay,with this I had 13.04 V at the #86 pin and the relay clicked and charged the auxiliary battery. I have 12.74 V at the #30 pin. Revving the engine doesn't help. When I put power straight to the relay my OXS light went off. I also removed the black and red wire and put in a direct ground. This did not help. What should my next step be. Thanks for the help.

Tue Sep 22, 2015 9:46 pm

"Furry little otter" is in your town.
cranky guy, but has great skills, you might reach out to him.
The GW kit is problematic...I junked mine and went yandina, you should consider this

Tue Sep 22, 2015 9:56 pm

either Yandina or SurePower are good....

Wed Sep 23, 2015 9:16 am

If I am understanding you correctly, when you connect a 12+ wire to pin 86 on the relay, everything works as intended. When you connect the blue alternator wire as the power source to pin 86 you get about 10.8V and the relay will not engage.

I would suggest you carefully inspect the connection of the blue wire at the alternator. If all is good, it may be time for you to look at the alternator. You could either have it checked out by someone, or you could inspect it yourself. Take out the brush/regulator assembly, slightly stretch the brush leads and put it back to see if it improves. Or, just go ahead and replace the brushes if you are going to the trouble of removing them.

This thread may provide you with more information...

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=569002&highlight=bat+oxs+light

Wed Sep 23, 2015 4:14 pm

It's a new alternator. The folks at Gowesty told me that the relay only takes a couple volts to click. I have two relays and they won't click with 10.80 volts. I'm thinking that the blue wire from the alternator is compromised, but it still gets 10.80 Volts to pin#86. Maybe the van has a wiring gremlin!

Wed Sep 23, 2015 4:27 pm

Duff relay (unlikely) or duff ground on the relay coil (on pin 85 - my prime suspect with your description).

Wed Sep 23, 2015 4:36 pm

Did you measure the blue wire voltage on relay pin 86 while the other pins on that same relay were properly hooked up? Perhaps that would show much less than 10 volts. If so, then look for a problem with the blue wire from the alternator. Inside the engine wiring box is a connector in the blue wire path. That connection could be weak.

Mark

Thrill707 wrote: It's a new alternator. The folks at Gowesty told me that the relay only takes a couple volts to click. I have two relays and they won't click with 10.80 volts. I'm thinking that the blue wire from the alternator is compromised, but it still gets 10.80 Volts to pin#86. Maybe the van has a wiring gremlin!

Wed Sep 23, 2015 8:20 pm

I did some more tests and I have the 10.80 V when the blue wire is not hooked up to 86 pin. When the blue wire is hooked up I have 1.50 V. Inside the engine wiring box I have 12.79 V on both sides of the blue wire connection in that box.