Date:         Fri, 29 May 1998 19:15:38 -0700
Reply-To:     Tom Young <young@SHERLOCK.SIMS.BERKELEY.EDU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Tom Young <young@SHERLOCK.SIMS.BERKELEY.EDU>
Subject:      Can rain cause this problem? (electrical)
Comments: To: VANAGON@gerry.sdsc.edu, type2@bigkitty.azaccess.com
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

 Hey all:

 Today my '81 van died going westbound on the San Mateo bridge.  (Made
 it over the hump and drifted down the other side, for those familiar
 with the bridge!)

 The battery died on me.  I knew I was having problems on the run up
 to the bridge; the wipers were slowing down, the radio was going in
 and out of tune, and turning on the lights made everything worse.
 From the time I pulled over until the time I was towed home, it
 seemed like the battery continued to drain; although the dome light
 came on and the clock was ticking when I stalled out, by the time I
 got home the clock was dead and the dome light was gone.

 Everything looked OK: alternator belt was tight, connections solid,
 alternator and battery are of fairly recent vintage, etc., etc.  The
 only thing anomalous is that there was moisture on the sheetmetal in
 front of the fuse box, below the dash.  We've been having *lots* of
 rain the last few days.

 I grabbed my amp meter and tested the current flowing from the
 negative terminal to ground: 25 mA, even after I pulled all the
 fuses!

 I charged the battery for 3-4 hours, and the sun came out and the
 weather turned warm.  After the charge-up, the current drain
 fluctuated between 3 mA and 7mA, keeping time with the clock.  This
 is the normal state of affairs.

 So I'm thinking (hoping) that rain water leaking in past the
 windshield was the cause of my problems, and that a few days of dry
 weather will make things all right.

 And yet.....and yet......I'm not sure I really believe this.  Anybody
 have any thoughts on the matter?

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom Young               young@sherlock.SIMS.Berkeley.EDU
Lafayette, CA  94549    '81 Vanagon
---------------------------------------------------------------------