Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 12:49:40 -0800
Reply-To: gary hradek <hradek@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: gary hradek <hradek@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: so I had to ask
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
So Loren,
How did you roll the van and how much of a
roll was it? And most important are you ok and how
did this impact you regarding the safety of these van.
gary
Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 10:48:43 -0800
From: "Loren A. Busch" <lbusch@IX.NETCOM.COM>
Subject: Overnight Battery Drain
The 'dead battery overnight' problem can get very
elusive. Try this
one
(never solved).
After an engine replacement in my '85 Westy I drove
the van home and
parked it. The next morning the main battery was
dead. Jumped it with
my always present portable jump start battery. and
drove to the shop
that did the work. They checked out everything they
could, found
nothing. They referred me to a local auto-electric
shop for
troubleshooting and fix (at their expense if caused by
their work). (I
never got around to going there). I got into the
habit of reaching
over
and disconnecting the ground on the main battery if
parked for more
than
a couple of hours. I checked the draw with my VOM, the
system (turned
off) was drawing well over an amp. And when the
battery was connected,
there was a loud click from something in the vicinity
of the drivers
seat. Aux battery had no problem (was on a Surepower
Isolator). One
clue stuck with me: after the install of the new
engine the shop had
to
bleed the cooling system. When I got the van back,
the heater lever
was
jammed to the left. I had had problems with the
heater cable
(jammed/bent wire, was scheduled for replacement) in
the past. Forced
it loose, worked as before. Over the next few months
I found that
SOMETIMES when the heater lever was moved the short
would go and come.
I could tell if there was a problem by listening for
the 'click' when I
attached the ground on the battery. The night I
totaled the van the
problem had not been there when I started up to leave
home. I had used
the heater on the trip, stopped for several hours
(with battery
disconnected), and the problem was back when I went to
leave. I had
reached the conclusion that something under the dash,
near the heater
lever, was being shorted by movement of the heater
lever/cable. Since
I
rolled and totaled the van that night, I never did
have the 'pleasure'
of finding the exact cause of the short.
------------------------------
__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now.
http://mailplus.yahoo.com
|