Club 80-90 Forums

Excuse my ignorance but I'm going round in circles trying to find an answer. I have side lights and full beam but the main beam is not functioning. I am led to belive there may be a relay at fault( bulbs appear in good order) however I cannot determine the location of said relay. I have removed the bullet style fuse box and there are three relays one for the indicators, one for the intermitent wipers and the third? (big 24 printed on it 4 terminals 30,85,86,87) the information I have is this is for the horn or may be multifunction? Is this the relay in question?  I've looked up a number of different suppliers none of which appear to list a headlight relay for this vehicle. I would really appreciate any assistance you can offer thanks.

steve

Hi Steve,

So you have the "early" torpedo fuse fusebox with 12 fuses across the bottom.

It is highly unlikely that you will have a relay for the lights, as they were never factory fitted.

It is often recommended to fit a relay upgrade, due to voltage losses on the long and old cables in the van.
And to prevent the contacts in the light switch from burning out.

If you have side lights (and tail lights),
And you have high / full beam, but not
Dipped beams...

Both dipped beams - then this infers a fault with your light switch. (Burnt contacts).

Only one dipped beam is likely to be a blown fuse.

Relay 24 is the X-Contact or Relief relay.
In later vans this was replaced by either a No 18 or No 100 relay.
They all do the same thing.
(It cuts the supply voltage to the high current devices during cranking.
Such as headlamps, wipers, heater fan and rear window demister. )

I will post a link to my early fusebox thread...

viewtopic.php?p=8319108#p8319108

For clarity, I think Robey is referring to the hi-lo stalk switch, not the on-off dash rocker switch.

Before you go buying any parts it would be worth giving the earth crowns, and associated connections, a clean - a poor connection here can often prevent the headlights switching into main beam.

Thanks for your replies folks. Never considered it might be a switch issue. Time to dig out the multimeter. I'll check my earth's and both the dash and stalk switches and post an update if I find the problem. Again thank you Steve.

The earth crowns would be shared by both high and low beams, so...
It is good to clean the crowns and the spades attached to them.
Probably one of the first jobs you should do on any van.

But in this scenario, the high-beams are not affected, therefore it is more likely to be due to the stalk switch.

---------

Again as said above, you are quite correct. (And my omission).
The main light switch feeds both high and low, so again if high beam is not affected, the main switch is okay.

It would indicate burnt contacts on the high/low beam flasher stalk switch.

Many thanks again to everyone who replied, I did a bit of investigation/tinkering today to try and pinpoint this issue without a great deal of success I'm afraid. Earth crowns were in good condition, readings from the dash and stalk switches didn't make a lot of sense to me so I gave them a scoosh of contact cleaner. The stalk switch didnt respond well knocking out one of the full beams (there is a relay somewhere as I can hear it click when the full beam is engaged but the loom is in such a mess it impossible to properly trace (also I'm loathed to disturb anything in case I create more problems ). Anyway I have sourced replacements for both the stalk and the switch, since the dash dimmer stopped working last year anyway, and should get them in a couple of days hopefully this will resolve things. Fingers crossed.
Steve

I don't know how long you have owned your van. But it's possible a previous owner has done the headlight upgrade. Have you checked under the driver's seat for a relay?

stevecon wrote: ↑03 Apr 2023, 18:04 (there is a relay somewhere as I can hear it click when the full beam is engaged but the loom is in such a mess it impossible to properly trace

I am sure that it is not unheard of, that operating the high-beam on the stalk will "back feed" the
X relief relay.

Try removing relay "24" and see if you can hear the relay click again.

If you can, then maybe the previous owner has done the relay upgrade.

If you cannot hear a click, then it sounds like the relay 24 back-feed that I mentioned above.

R0B wrote: ↑03 Apr 2023, 18:14 I don't know how long you have owned your van. But it's possible a previous owner has done the headlight upgrade. Have you checked under the driver's seat for a relay?

Normally a relay under the seat is for a split charge circuit, (or starter relay on petrol vans).

Often the supplementary relays are stashed behind the headlamp grille. As close to the fusebox or each headlamp unit as possible.

Again thanks to everyone for all your help. I've had the van for about eight years and the seats and grilles have been off many many times  definetly no relays there. It does sound like its clicking on the 24 as suggested by Robsey, I'll pull it tomorrow and check. Seems like I have another dilemma I was checking the delivery status on my stuff and happend across something on the brickwerks ( I didn't order the stalk from brickwerks though) site that says the main beam switch is actually on the wiper stalk??? Can anyone confirm this for me. It was in relation to a T3 but the parts are the same. Does the main beam switch on the indicator stalk mechanically trigger an electrical contact on the wiper stalk?

Steve

Yes - that is correct.

Stalk selects either
high beam or
low beam.
Pull the stalk towards you until it clicks to switch between the two.

Main switch positions are-
0 - off,
1 - side lights
2 - main headlamps

Position 2 of the light switch feeds voltage to the stalk.

T3 is the correct name for the Transporter Version 3
It is only called the T25 in the UK, because the part numbers usually begin "025"
And in America it is the Vanagon.

Thanks for the info Robsey I never knew they were different names for the same vehicle all very confusing. Replacement stalks should arrive tomorrow, hopefully they will actually be the OEM replacements ordered unlike the dash switch I received today

Steve

I've come to a conclusion that my electrics are just goosed. Replaced both stalks today  I now have full functionality on one side and nothing bar side lights on the other, the blue LED is on with dipped headlights and goes off on full beam and also noticed the relay 24 no longer clicks when engaging full beam. Losing the will to live right about now.

We’re the headlights working correctly then the fault appeared for no apparent reason?

Yes Angelo although I cannot say for sure when exactly as the van is only used when we go on trips. Weirdly it was last month driving home from the MOT early evening I noticed the dipped headlights were out and wondered how it had passed?? I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and set about tracing the loom from the lights at least back to the dash switch for any faults.

Steve