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T4 Westfalia California Exclusive

460K views 2K replies 104 participants last post by  trojac99 
#1 ·
Hi everyone

Any of you got one of these? If so, would you like to exchange information/experiences? I love mine to bits (had it over 7 years now), but have some niggles.

Would be great to compare notes with other members!

Happy travelling
John T:
 
#1,565 ·
Has anyone has issues with their fridge?

The other day mine stopped working after the battery went low overnight. I thought it would work again after a charge but it hasnt. Also on mains hook up too it wont work. Ive been around a couple of post and also the California forum and heres what ive done so far

> The compressor and fan all seem to be running (see below)
> Ive had the controller set to a range of temperatures but still nothing
> Ive ran the controller self test and its showing a temperature value from the fridge sensor. Ive also measured over the plug which was just over 500 ohms and good according to the german guide
> Shorted out the sensor wires and the controller shows 75 so the wiring back to the controller is ok.

Has anyone had their fridge simply run out of gas? Im wondering if thats all it needs. Ive seen online you can still get hold of the original fridge but its over ¢800 :eek:

Oh a cheers for the help on the last thread kind sir.

 
#1,566 ·
I am looking for instructions for the control panel for Westfalia California Exclusive.

I have lots of questions, one of them is how do you hook up external power so the plug symbol is visible on the panel.
There is a breaker that needs to be flicked on after the van is hooked up the the external source?
 
#1,567 ·
I just purchased Westfalia Exclusive California, trying to prepare it for a trip.
Something concerning, i hooked up outside source, added water to the fresh water tank.
Switched the breaker by the house battery so the plugged icon lit up on the control panel.
Now, few hours later I felt some burning smell from the battery area...
I wondered what could have caused that.
Thanks.
 
#1,568 ·
Hello, vw-man.

The phillips, leisure battery charger that westfalia use is quite prone to burning out, so this could possibly be the source of the smell.

What voltage is showing on the in-cab display when the vehicle is plugged into mains hook-up? It should be around 14volts.

This website is a good source of info, with a T4 section-

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/forums/


This is a good replacement if you do need to change the charger.

https://www.fraron.de/en/a-85859176/
 
#1,570 ·
There are lots of Japanese "Grey Import" campers in the UK but mainly things like Mazda Bongos / Ford Friendee type vehicles with them being RHD. Ive seena few nice a VW imported from over there on eBay in the past but they fetch good money.

FYI there is a test mode you can use on the control panel which tells you if certain components of the system are working or not. I've only just found it out after my Fridge packed in and it dead handy. There is a post on here with a German to English translation.

http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showpost.php?p=2412042&postcount=8

It also gets rather dirty down where the charger is so I might be good to remove the charge and give it a good clean with solvent cleaner.

Untitled by Matt Wilde, on Flickr
 
#1,571 ·
Hi wv_man, my original charger burnt out too, I replaced it with this one TV1220M three stage charger, it is at the bottom of this webpage http://www.travelvolts.com/Battery-chargers-.html.
Does a great job, you don't get the prong symbol but for the price, you just connect it to your leisure battery and plug it in to the same connector as the original.
If you are a light sleeper the fan might wake you up in the night though!LOL:
 
#1,578 ·
I am in France in 38 degree heat in my California Exclusive and there has been a burning smell from the fridge. However I am on a campsite now and I am charging from the mains and it seems O.K. Should I take panels off and look at the charger?.

Also I have just come off the motorway to this French campsite as the engine was running very rough with a loss of powerfrom my 1.9TD engine. I was about to call a breakdown service, but someone else with a diesel has arrived with the same problem, and thinks his engine was just overheating. Perhaps mine is the same I will wait till it has cooled down and try it . Has anybody eese had this problem? There is no loss of water or oil and no warning lights.
 
#1,573 ·
Just stripped out my charger and it is burnt out, I think being plugged into a genny on site for a while to top up the battery may have finished it off.

Has anyone used the charger linked previously from Faron in Germany?

Ideally I would like to keep the original connectors and also show the charge details on the panel in the cab.

Any other suggestions?
 
#1,577 ·
Take off the panel under the fridge and clean up around it, I would also take the unit out and get some aero duster spray and blow any dust etc from out of the pcb area. If there is any signs of Heat build up around the power plug it may need the unit replacing.

Sadly mine is too far gone for that, it had a lot of carbon deposits now instead of components, but my new charger from Faron.de arrived today.
 
#1,584 ·
I have the same problem with the water pump running all the time . left the van and found the sink tap had leaked soaking bedding etc and emptying the water tank. I traced it to a faulty kitchen sink tap. The tap is disconnected now and that solved the problem and allowed me to use the toilet sink tap and the toilet flush. However I started the van today and the water pump ran constantly. So I took it to Autoeleck in Eltham and they have disconnected the pump, however the micro switch for the toilet flush is now not working. Auto elck are ordering new taps (Reich I think) and will trace any faults in the wiring possibly next week. So I am now having to use bottles of water to flush the toilet and not use taps until they fix it.

Autoelck have asked me for a Westfalia California Executive Exclusive electric wiring diagram for my 1996 Long Wheel Base toilet and sink/kitchen area. Does any one have one they could post up for me?
I do not have a wiring diagram in any of my German manuals.
 
#1,582 ·
Eberspacher F33 error code
My heater is coming up with this fault code, I can hear it click but it does not come on anymore, was working perfectly well. Has anyone else had this fault or any idea what will rectify it? Many thanks, all help much appreciated! Cheers!
 
#1,586 ·
sorry change of tack from Rims....sorry no good on that or load bearing capacity.
Have posted elsewhere but have had agreed value last year and wondering whether it's worth it and risking market value , although recognise it's a rare beast.
Any comments/experience advice welcome...sorry about change of tack again!
 
#1,588 ·
Please refer to the very first post on this thread.

I'm no good with electrical stuff (as a lot of you appear to be), and until recently I've not had the money to fix the multiple problems with my van. As my German's quite good, I did some searching and found an independent guy in Germany who used to work for Westfalia. Entirely coincidentally he lives within 30 minutes' travel of one of my friends, so I was able to stay there while I had the work done.

My guy's put in a new gel battery, a FraRon charger (the original Philips literally went up in flames in 2011), a new central electronics unit, fixed a wiring fault and fitted a new multiplug for that unit, replaced the gas hose and regulator, and repaired the tap/plumbing to the washbasin. I honestly believe there's nothing he doesn't know about Westfalias (and other campers and caravans for that matter).

I'm now a very happy bunny. The fridge and Eberspächer are now working perfectly, despite not being used for years. It's like having the van for the first time all over again.

Thanks to traversd and boswell for their suggestions for a garage in Sheffield. I found a good one (The Garage), who are independent VW specialists very near where I live. I've had three bits of work done by them, and am very happy. In fact, they're as good as the excellent Vee-W Services in Bristol. Just need to get some rust repairs done now (windscreen needs to come out, I fear), and despite her 250k kilometres, she'll be as good as new!
 
#1,589 · (Edited)
Please refer to the very first post on this thread.

I'm no good with electrical stuff (as a lot of you appear to be), and until recently I've not had the money to fix the multiple problems with my van. As my German's quite good, I did some searching and found an independent guy in Germany who used to work for Westfalia. Entirely coincidentally he lives within 30 minutes' travel of one of my friends, so I was able to stay there while I had the work done.
Where is this chap based ? Any details ? Mate in Stuttgart could use him if he is close enough :)
 
#1,590 ·
He's based in Sassenberg, North Rhine-Westphalia. It's very close to Rheda-WiedenbrĂĽck (you'll have heard of that!) The nearest City is Bielefeld.

Unfortunately for your mate, it's about 300 miles from Stuttgart. It could be well worth the trip, though. Not only is the bloke very professional, he's very friendly as well. Let me know and I'll give you the details.
 
#1,591 ·
Safeguard insurance. I've been with these for most of the 14 years I've had my beloved bus. I remember reading something in the small print a while ago about them not covering vehicles over 20 years old for breakdown. I called them and they confirmed that this is the case. Mine's May 1996, so I asked if I was covered for travel this summer. The reply was that as it was under 20 years old at the time I took out the policy (December 2015) it would be covered until the end of the policy term, but not beyond.

So, new insurer/breakdown cover needed! I fell out with Saga a while back, so they're out of the equation. Anyone got any good recommendations, or ones to avoid? I travel in Europe a lot, so that cover is essential. Is it best to have combined insurance/breakdown, or can they be done separately?

I'd definitely be up for meeting some of you guys - I guess we're looking at next spring/summer now?

Cheers
John
 
#1,594 ·
So, new insurer/breakdown cover needed! I fell out with Saga a while back, so they're out of the equation. Anyone got any good recommendations, or ones to avoid? I travel in Europe a lot, so that cover is essential. Is it best to have combined insurance/breakdown, or can they be done separately
My breakdown is with Footman James, which is a rebadged version of Axa breakdown, but specifically covers over 20 year old classics which the Axa version doesn't.

Insurance is with Adrian Flux, but I later found their breakdown cover has to be bought with the policy. At the time I was prepared to take the risk of a UK breakdown, but with a French trip planned later I took the FJ cover with Europe cover.

Can't recommend as - so far - nothing has gone wrong. :)
 
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