I've owned a '90 Westy automatic for 1 month. It's my first experience with a Westy, but have lurked on several forums before buying. I'm very deficient in my knowledge of battery and electrical technology, so I need to ask a few very basic questions. I've been having battery problems. I started using my Westy locally for short errands, and on the 10th day, the main battery went dead. I replaced the main battery with a new one, and it, too went dead on the 10th day! It's now recharged, disconnected, and is holding the charge. (The first one didn't hold the charge while disconnected.) Luckily, both times the battery went dead in my driveway. The auxiliary battery sticks out of the cavity, so it's probably the wrong one. I have the P.O's receipt from Kragen Auto Parts dated Jan., 2006. It is a deep cycle battery. This battery is connected, but only registers 5.8volts. I plan to replace it with a battery that fits in the cavity, but before I do, I need to know exactly what the Westy's auxiliary battery is supposed to do, and why it is useful (or unnecessary) to have one. I am wondering if it could cause the main battery to drain, and if I should just disconnect the aux battery and not use it until I replace it with a correctly fitting one. I 've downloaded some instructions from this forum's archives on how to install an auxiliary battery and relay system, but am not quite at that level of knowledge, yet. At this point, I just want my main battery to stop draining every 10 days. Once that happens, I'll try to find out by reading if the aux battery has been installed correctly. I will be very appreciative of any simplified explanations you can offer me. TIA for your patience. Patti |
Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of
Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection
will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!
Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com
The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.
Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.