Had the same problem tuesday of last week, you have to swivel the seat so it
faces the rear of the van (entirely!). Then push the seat all the way
forward. This should allow more than enough clearence for the compartment to
be opened.

Sean

>From: Sean Reifschneider <jafo@TUMMY.COM>
>Reply-To: Sean Reifschneider <jafo@TUMMY.COM>
>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>Subject: Getting to the battery (Swivel seat in the way)
>Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2000 23:11:33 -0700
>
>Hiya there...  I just recently killed my battery (the problem with leaving
>through the side door instead of the front -- no "hey stupid" warning
>chime :-), and ran into a problem...  I can't seem to get to the
>battery.
>
>I know it's under the passengers seat, but...  This 87 Vanagon Syncro
>has a swivel passengers seat...  The manual says to move the seat
>forward.  The seat moves forward, but the swivel mechanism stays in
>place, covering the front part of the battery compartment.  I can't
>seem to open it...  Even swiveling the seat doesn't help.
>
>Any ideas?  I finally got it started by attaching to a "remote start"
>relay the previous owner had installed to cure a "sometimes doesn't
>turn over" problem that I've since seen sporadicly.  That one I'm
>guessing is the starter switch, but it doesn't happen often enough
>that I'm concerned.  I can just keep trying and it usually starts in a
>few tries.  Anyway, the point being that the remote start provided a
>good place to get to high-current positive...
>
>Thanks,
>Sean
>--
>  /home is where your .heart is.  -- Sean Reifschneider, 1999
>Sean Reifschneider, Inimitably Superfluous <jafo@tummy.com>
>URL: <http://www.tummy.com/xvscan> HP-UX/Linux/FreeBSD/BSDOS scanning
>software.

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