Date:         Mon, 24 Feb 1997 16:11:22 -0500
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Jeff Diebolt <jdiebolt@up.net>
Subject:      Re: stupid, ignorant question

11 volts across the battery is not good. Although that by itself may not be
an indication of something very wrong it is still not good. Even worse is
the 9 volts when connected. Which tells me one of two things, there is a
large draw from the battery even when everything is off. You can tell this
one because there will be a spark near the last terminal connected. The
other possibility is you have no abnormal draw, it is generally measured in
milliamperes for a normal draw. But that would mean your battery is junk.
This small of a draw should not drop the voltage 2 volts. I trust you have
already cleaned the ground at the battery. Don't forget to check the ground
at the transmission. It's underneath near the front of the transmission.
The starter is actually on the transmission. When looking at the engine
from the back it is at about 2 O'clock. You may be able to get your arm in
there from on top, not sure of this, I can do it on my diesel. HTH
At 03:45 PM 2/22/97 -0600, Tonya Pope wrote:
>Yes I'm ignorant (at least about this ...)
>
>Where is the starter on an 87 vanagon?  It finally warmed up enough, and
>wasn't raining, to where I could try to get my alternator working. 
>Connections at the alternator are okay (cleaned them all up anyway), but
>someone told me that the connections at the starter may be causing the
>trouble.  So where IS the starter?  And what does it look like?
>
>Also, on a weird note, the battery has 11 volts across it when NOT
>connected to the engine.  When I connect the ground strap, it has 9
>volts across the terminals.  Back at the alternator (with the key in the
>on position, engine off), it reads 7 volts.  This doesn't seem right. 
>Any ideas?
>
>Brushers on alternator looked okay at quick glance, but wanted to check
>all the connections before I passed judgement.  I've got the battery out
>of the van currently and hooked to a charger.
>
>TIA everyone!
>Tonya
>
>

 Greetings from Michigan's Upper Peninsula
 Jeff & Jean-Marie Diebolt
 mailto:jdiebolt@up.net