Hey guys,

I just got back from my first long trip in my 85 Westy from Orlando to Chat= tanooga.  The camping part was fun (but cold!), the driving part wasn't= .  I have some questions.  I'm gonna check the archives, but thoug= ht I 'd post here in the meantime, cause my computer takes forever to load t= he archive files.  Please respond directly as I'm on digest.

I installed an auxilary battery through the relay in the battery compartmen= t behind the drivers seat before the trip.  The day after installing it= , I drove for three hours, with a 2 hour "lay over" half way. &nbs= p;After stopping the car after the entire trip, I could not start it.  =  No noise at all when I turned the key.  After trying for awhile, = I was able to jump the main battery from the auxilary battery.  I drove= another 10 minutes to my house and was able to start the car time after tim= e without a problem.

Then on my Tennessee trip, on the way up, I had to get a jump everytime I s= topped to get gas (man, that tank is small!).  When I reached Chattanoo= ga I stopped, got jumped, drove for five minutes, and then stopped at Auto Z= one to get the battery tested.  The battery had enough voltage and cran= king amps, and started up when I tried.  I disconnected the auxilary ba= ttery and rewired everything back to the original way.

I did not have any problems all week while making short (5 mile) trips, but= had the same problems on the drive home.  Then when I got home, I stop= ped the engine and tried to start it again, and it started right up.

Any thoughts?  Also, why are you not supposed to push start these vans= ?

Thanks,

deb