Club 80-90 Forums

Hi. ive just got myself a 1989 T25 VW California from Germany.Looking to fit a leisure battery behind the drivers seat. The wiring and the relay seem to be there already from when it was manufactured. i have read a few atricles on this but still confused. Their are 3 red wires with a rubber grommit secured over them suspended within the area where the battery will be housed. None of the articles I have read seem to suggest where I connect these up to. Is it the battery or the relay or are they a red herring.
Also I have a leaking skylight. it just seems to be the rubber seeal. Any ideas where I could get a repair kit for this. My fridge doesnt sem to work on gas. i think there is a problem with the igniter. Should it click when you press the button cos at the moment it doesnt....The red panel light doesnt flash also when i press the igniter button..........Any help is appreciated.Thanks.Allan

Not been in my leisure battery box for a while, but it should just have the 2 wires to connect to the battery loose, 1 earth, and the live one from the relay. Also check the relay isn't goosed, as mine was. It's just a standard 4 pin relay that you can get from car spares shops like Halfords and the like for under a fiver. Also you need quite a small-in height- battery to fit in the box. I've got a great leisure battery from my old Fiat camper, but it's a couple of inches too tall to fit, so I've found a small car battery that'll fit instead.
I have a 1981 Westy. I don't know if the fridge is the same as yours but here's the instructuons I have to light mine-make sure the gas is on and the voltage selector is in the zero (mid) position. Turn the thermostat to max, then pump the air pump button 5-7 times, hold it down and push in the ignition button. The air pump is the left hand button on the fridge panel. If it lights you should see the needle on the gauge move across from the white to the green part of the gauge. Keep the igniter button down for 15 seconds or so, and then it should stay lit. I'm reading this from my pidgeon English fridge instruction book with pictures, and trying to relay it without any pictures. There's also a red see through bit in the bottom left hand corner of my fridge. It looks like a dim LED light when the fridge is lit. Hope that helps. If you say where you are, there may be someone local to show you.
And nice one for getting yourself a California. Did you get it yourself? And welcome

Doh-just noticed you're in Paisley

Allan,

visit vwbusshop.de for westfalia parts from Germany.

I don't know FA about batteries but re your fridge, yes it should click when you press the ignite button so that could be your problem by the sound of it!

Good luck.

Thnaks for all the advice. Ive got me head round the battery and skylight for now and going to carry out the repairs......The german website seems to have great stock but does anyone know how to navigate it in English.Thanks.Allan

Allan,

navigation ain't easy. I used a German online dictionary and it took me ages to place an order. You need a paypal account to pay or bank transfer as he doesn't take credit cards. Alternatively phone him, he speaks English pretty well.

GW

Also I have a leaking skylight. it just seems to be the rubber seeal.


Mine was leaking bad, so I waited for a dry day took the seal off and sandpapered all around where the seal goes to clean all muck and attempted past sealers. Bought some clear silicone from B&Q £3 and filld the seal with it, fitted it then built up more silicone from the roof up to the seal ............ its hoofed it down since, dry as the proverbial bone.

I've have put vaseline or grease, in the past, round the rubber on leaking car sunroofs, to seal between the glass opening and the rubber roof seal. The rubber dries out and shrinks a little, and this just helps it to seal.

Hi, I'm new here, browsed a few times, great site.

We bought a California 1990 a couple of months ago and it is fantastic, I love love love it. We have been to Shropshire in it, and Loch Lomond - 1000 miles in 4 days. Perfect drive.

Anyway, we had a bit of working out to do along these lines with our fridge. After a long drive, we found our leisure battery got drained and suddenly, we couldn't get the fridge lit. Eventually we found out that it needs a 12v supply to spark the pilot light. When we went to try to charge the leisure, we realised that the relay had been disconnected from it. We connected it up, and hey presto! Once we connected the relay - it allowed the leisure battery to take some charge. BUT now we know why it was disconnected - when we left it connected, the leisure appeared to drain the drive battery. So at the moment, until I browse these forums a bit more, we are disconnecting the drive battery when the van is parked up for a while (only because it is easier to get to than the drive battery).

I know we will find out more soon.....

Allan
give me call & I'll have a look see whats wrong
I'm next door in Greenock

Cheers George 07909518515

---If your leisure battery is missing--you fridge igniter wont work--

Under the seat in the battery box - red wire loom connected the a battery clamp? goes to the red battery terminal. Brown loom connected to a battery terminal clamp? earth for battery. Standard wiring on the Westy, if you don`t have that lot already connected to battery clamps, then there is a bunch of 6mm ring terminals all connected in a loom that connect to a bolt on leiseure battery clamp-on terminal (could just be the clamp-on bit missing), same on the earth side. The earth leads are screwed to the battery-box wall with a screw as standard. Should also have a silver split-charge relay mounted in the box under the seat, and a white in-line fuse case.

Sounds like your leisure battery is knacked, or has run flat and you have a split-charge problem. see Wiki for testing, some good articles on there about the leiusre battery side of things.

See Wiki for batterys that fit the battery boxes (there is same under the other side seat if you want to double up the batteries, you will need to wire across between the 2 batteries with suitable cable and FUSES, just done mine )

Varta semi traction 60 ah 12v it sticks up a bit so the flap on top of your battery is a little proud product code is...955002000

There are one or two of the correct height that allow your battery cover flap to fit correct. Watch out for the flap shorting the terminals if the batt. is too tall I just got a 70amp batt. for the second leisure battery box, fits perfectly. £45.00 (not a leisure battery though, just a standard heavy-duty starter batt)