Date:         Mon, 17 Apr 2000 10:05:22 -0500
Reply-To:     Chris Smith <chris.smith@AQUILA.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Chris Smith <chris.smith@AQUILA.COM>
Subject:      HELP! Loss of Voltage.. Am I thinking right?
In-Reply-To:  <931A0C57EC93D211999E0000F863375D02847896@ammobile.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

This one goes out to Vanagon owners that have been through this before...

The problem:

I have an '82 Westy that is loosing voltage throughout the system.  At the
alternator output, there is 13.8v.  Just perfect, but at the battery I'm
only showing 12.2v and when testing the heater the battery was at 11.8v but
the heater was only seeing 10.4v with the van off, and 11.7v with the van
running.

There has been no problems with starting the van, or with getting enough
time for accessories out of the battery.

The alternator was replaced last year and has 17,000 miles on it.

The battery is only a few months older and has only a few more miles on it.

When the motor was replaced, there were numerous loose connections at the
starter.  All the terminals were cleaned to a bright, shiny gleam before
reconnection, but alas no improvement in lighting brightness.  The really
weird part is the lights don't seem much dimmer when the wipers and gas
heater are running.

My proposed solution:

I'm thinking that I need to replace the following items..

The wire from the alternator to the starter
The wire from the starter to the battery
The battery terminals
Install a headlight relay
Install H4 Headlights

Does this sound right?  also, if anyone has done this before, please share
any pitfalls, or let me know if I'm missing something.  the T.U.R.D. has
become my daily driver for a while, and not having enough light coming out
the front is not going to work.

Thanks
Chris Smith