>howdy
>
>i have an 83.5 westy in western wisconsin.  it's been cold, but the van has
>started every time.  once its running and i turn on a few of the electrical
>gadgets like the heater fans and headlights, the electrical system seems to
>overload.  a symptom of this is if I turn all the doohickeys on at once, the
>radio will turn off.  also my analog clock slows or even stops in these
>conditions.  checking the volts at the battery while the engine was running
>read around 13.
>
>is this the sign of a weak battery?
>are there other things I'm missing?
>is this normal?

Sounds like a bad ground strap. These tend to show up in the winter, as
we keep our lights on longer and use the heated rear window (and
mirrors!).

If the voltage is high at the battery, this would show that there is
probably
a drop across *something* in the circuit. Check the ground strap at the
battery, between the gearbox and the chassis and between the lefthand head
and the engine bulkhead. Check also the long positive lead from the
battery
to the starter and alternator ....

Pete C

--
Peter Cassidy,                   pcassidy@apple.com
Sr. Dev. Engineer                 +353-21-4284316
WW Operations Engineering
Apple, Cork, Ireland.