Date:         Tue, 25 Oct 2005 13:13:06 -0700
Reply-To:     Mark Drillock <mdrillock@COX.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Mark Drillock <mdrillock@COX.NET>
Subject:      Headlight relays, was: 758227.jpg
In-Reply-To:  <20051025193229.72775.qmail@web60316.mail.yahoo.com>
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One relay is for low beams and the other for high beams. I have
installed several of these from various sources. The best of these kits
used wire colors that match the colors you  splice into. The hi/lo
dimmer switch has a wire coming out for each circuit, high and low. From
there the 2 wires go to the fuse panel where each splits into 2 more
with an individual fuse for each of the now 4  bulb circuits, 2 high 2
low. The relays are spliced into the 2 wires as they leave the hi/lo
dimmer switch and head to the fuse box.  A new power lead is connected
to each relay power input and the relay power output connects to the cut
wires that then lead to the fuse box. The other side of the 2 cut wires
are then used to turn the relays on and off. Very simple and clean.

By the way, these relay kits are not Vanagon specific. The same kits are
used in Golf/Jetta/Quantums for all the same reasons. VW long ago began
standardizing circuit wiring across platforms, including colors.

Mark


TJ Hannink wrote:

>>From what I read in the installation instructions, there is one relay for each low beam headlight but maybe one of the vendors can enlighten :>) us further.
>
>In the Bentley, the low-beam headlight wiring is a single wire from the fuse block, through the ignition switch and to the headlight switch. It splits into two separate circuits once it leaves the back of the headlight switch before going to the dimmer switch and fuseblock, then to the headlights. The relay instructions call for cutting the wires in the steering column; there should be a wire for each headlamp at that point.
>
>So that brings me back to my original question - why do you need two 30-amp relays to switch two 55-watt (or 80-watt for that matter) bulbs?
>
>AFAIK, the high beam current doesn't ever go throught the headlight switch, adding an additional set of relay contacts doesn't make any sense.
>
>Tim
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