Date:         Wed, 28 Jun 1995 12:17:32 -0700 (PDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Alistair Bell <ui775@freenet.victoria.bc.ca>
Subject:      RE: Embarassing moment: '79 westy on fire



I have to include my story...

Last year Margaret and myself plus the 2 dogs took a trip in our '82 westy
to Nemiah valley. When we got to our "approximate destination" which was
about 3 hrs from paved road and a further 2 hrs from any town (Williams
Lake), we scouted out campsites. We found a nice one by a lake but decided
to check out another forestry site up by another lake on an escarpment
about 1000' above the first lake. The road up was very narrow and steep
(about a 6 on the open end DerekDrew scale) and had deep ruts and potholes
wheree it flattened out on top. We got up ok and looked at the site. Very
pretty sparkling lake with Mt. Nemiah in the distance. But there were 3
other campers and the choice spots were taken. So we turned around
(thought the van was going to tip over, very uneven campground) and made
our way back along the road. About 100 meters along the just died and in
that split second which expands in these incidents, I noticed that the alt
light was on but very dim and that the oil press and volt gauges were out
and Margaret somehow noticed smpke coming out of the rear air scoops. So I
told her to get out fast (with the dogs) and aI ran back to the rear
hatch, opened it and flung out some junk and lifted the access lid. The
insulation on the pos wire from the alt to the battery and the battery
ground wire was on fire. Now I do have a fire extinguisher but my first
reaction was to blow the flames out, it worked! When all the panick
subsided it discovered that the positive battery post had come in contact
with the underside of the metal access lid (I now have one of the light
and wonderful plastic versions), directly shorting the charging system. I
did have a bit o' plastic over that post (its not a stock battery, it
stands higher), but it had worn through.
I was worried that the alt would be shot. I did have a big spare battery
and I thought that it would power me in the daytime to Williams lake. But
it was not needed, when all the wires were cool the car started up right
away. I thought I could hear a bit of a whine from the alt, maybe bearing
noise?
The the same alt and battery is still in the van. The whine is gone. The
battery is secure. The posts are covered. I've learned my lesson on that
one, but whats next :)

Alistair