Starter Relay Wiring

[dgsaz]

First off, lets forgo the whole "bandaid" discussion.

To this point I have:

Two new batteries.
New ground straps at tranny and batteries.
New starter
New battery cable to starter.

I suspect the 50 year old ignition switch, that's next.

As far as the install, I am here:

Terminal 30 to battery power.
Terminal 86 to ground
Terminal 87 to terminal 50 on starter.

QUESTION: What do I do with the wire that was on terminal 50? Cap and leave in place?

Terminal 86 attaches to the red and black wire from the ignition switch.

Question: There is a red wire that shares the terminal with the red/black wire.
What do I do with this wire? Cap and leave in place?

Here are some photos. You can see the new wire from the relay landed on Terminal 50. You can also see the wire that was removed. What do I do with that wire.

You can also see the red/black wire and the red wire that share a terminal. If I join the blue wire (85) to the red black wire, what do I do with the remaining red wire.

I'm working post concussion and sometimes even the obvious doesn't make sense. I'd like to be up and running once I can drive again.

Thanks all,

dgsaz

[EverettB]

[busdaddy]

[olliehank47]

[dgsaz]

Thanks for the well written explanations. I think I have it now.

Here's how I see this:

The red wire from Terminal 50 attaches to terminal 87 from the relay.

The red red/black wire that was on terminal 30 is reattached.

30 to 30

86 to ground

Thanks again for the help, I'm having trouble wrapping my head around this.

dgsaz

[ToolBox]

[dgsaz]

Thanks again for the information. I placed the relay in the engine compartment away from too much heat, etc.

I spent most of the day in the hospital getting CT Scan, blood work, CAT Scan and other fun tests. Fortunately there was no visible dane bramage.

The vertigo will go away, someday, we hope. Yesterday was a trip. Evertime I laid down on the creeper, I had to stop and watch the garage spin around. Getting off the creeper was even better (worse).

If anyone watched me work they might have said, "that guy seams awfully drunk to be working on a bus in the middle of the day". I was hanging on to everything to keep from falling down. Good times.

Hope that explains why I'm so slow on the uptake.

dgsaz

[telford dorr]

While it's true that you can wire the relay coil either way, it's considered proper to wire terminal 85 as ground and 86 as +12 volts. Some versions of this relay come with a back-emf diode wired across the coil, and if you wire it up the other way, you'll destroy the diode (at a minimum). The Germans are pretty consistent with their terminal numbering methodology.

_________________
'71 panel, now with FI
'Experience' is the ability to recognize a mistake when you're making it again - Franklin P. Jones
In theory, theory works in practice; in practice, it doesn't - William T. Harbaugh
When you're dead, you don't know you're dead. The pain is only felt by others.
Same thing happens when you're stupid. - Philippe Geluck
More VW electrical at http://telforddorr.com/ (available 9am to 9pm PST)

[dgsaz]

Finished up today. Put in the key and it fired up like a turbo jet.

No clicks, hesitation, nothing but start.

Thanks again for the help.

dgsaz

[Wheelie Pete]

Is your bus 6 or 12 volt??

[dgsaz]

12 volt, converted from 6.