Most of the relays that I have all are labeled the same way. I don't know if
this
is some german standard or just a Hella thing. I actually have one Hella relay

with the wiring diagram on the side...

Anyway here is what they are:

Terminals 85 and 86 apply power to the solenoid to the relay These would go to
your switch
Terminals 30 and 87 are for the switched device and are controlled by the
solenoid. These go to your switched device.

85-86 should have continuity and resistance

30-87 should have no continuity until you run power through 85-86.

Todd
'88 Westy

Matthew Pollard wrote:

> I suppose you could test it by applying a voltage across two leads (the
> ones on the short axis) and check the resistance across the other two
> leads. I never tried with vw relays, but you can often pry the top off the
> relay and physicially watch it work. These relays are a mechanical switch
> where you can see the two halves of the switch come together to make the
> connection when a small voltage has been applied.  Another way to test
> them is just to have someone turn on the ignition and listen for a 'click'
> in the relay. if it clicks, then it is working, but the contacts may be
> dirty and not making a strong connection.  Hope this helps
> matthew
>
> Matthew Pollard             http://www.uidaho.edu/~poll7356
> Dept. of Chemistry               http://www.chem.uidaho.edu
> University of Idaho                   http://www.uidaho.edu
>
> On Fri, 26 May 2000, Chris Stinson wrote:
>
> > Is there any way to test whether the various relays in the Vanagon
> > electical system are working... other than having a new one and
> > swapping it with the questionable one?  Resistance tests?
> >
> > Chris
> >