Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 08:58:57 -0400
Reply-To: "Jack R." <jack007@COMCAST.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: "Jack R." <jack007@COMCAST.NET>
Subject: Re: Stuck in Alturas with electrical mystery
In-Reply-To: <1caa4b9df9564a70a2458be8b766a8dc.dhanson@gorge.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
If you put a meter in the Alternator, you should see voltage in excess of
13.5V, if so, your Alternator is ok... and proceed to check your ground
straps, esp. the one near the tranny.
Good luck!
Jack R.
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
dhanson@gorge.net
Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 1:32 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Stuck in Alturas with electrical mystery
Not sure if this will get through from my motel with wifi..since it's not
my normal method.
But..As I was headed home up 395 along the east slope of the Sierras, my
alternator and my O2
sensor lights started flickering..then the flickering became on
intermittently..Let me elaborate..If
the vehicle is running along at half speed the indicator (alt and O2)lights
will flicker a bit, at
full rpm, they stay on steady. At idle...they go off.. Now here it gets a
bit strange. If you
switch on the headlights, which I was using at the time..nothing with the
idiot lights
change..Electrical load seems to have no effect on the indicator
lights..only engine rpm...
I smelled a little strange mixture from the exhaust, at times on this
trip..at least I think it
was my exhaust..but I never saw any O2 lights..The vehicle has been running
super, still is..except
the battery went dead and left me whizzing down 395 in utter darkness! So,
I took my coach (aux)
batt and swapped it into the engine position to make it back to Alturas,
Ca...With the warning
lights on steady at 70mph and off at about 20..flickering from 20 to 30-35..
I was thinking it might be the O2 sensor wire shorting out somehow..I
replaced that a while back
with one from the bus depot with the connector kit..2 wire for the digifant
II system on my inline
rabbit motor...
Checked the obvious...alternator belt is fine, water is circulating..The
dead battery read 12.2
volts and the coach was at 12.65 on my cheapo meter.
So, here I am in a motel waiting for light to start digging around
looking. In a pretty small
town with just a few mechanics..and a long way from any where else..Anybody
have any suggestions as
to where to start looking? I didn't bring my Bently book, dang! Could it
be the alternator, with
the lights going out at idle and coming on at about half speed? Doesn't
sound like an
alternator..Could the brain have a "tumor" and be shorting somehow? The
exhaust smells fine at
idle, not rich..but I have caught a few whiffs of exhaust that smells a bit
"musty" at odd
times...The motor has no emissions equipment and a straight through
Magnaflow muffler..
My tentative game plan is to check the alternator output, somehow..I have
the digital tester and
I recall our Bosche VW alternators are around 35 amps...anyhow, I will see
if it is putting out
anyting.. second, I plan to go through the O2 sensor connections again to
make sure there are no
shorts...though I understand the power involved with the O2 sensor is very
low..so that is probably
not causing the battery to die in about 1/2 hour's driving time with the
headlights on..I noticed
no low battery indicators before the lights flickerd...Van was starting
great, cranking strong...
Mileage didn't drop off at all recently either...
anybody? Help! I don't want to have to call home, get the SO to come
down with her truck and my
old tow bar, rig up a way to latch the bar onto the van and tow all the way
back across Oregon..it's
about 7 hrs driving time, one way...
please respond..Oh, I have limited battery time and no charger for the
computer, either...but I
can probably find a library one..
Don Hanson
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