Been there, done that.

My alternator crapped out several miles west of Nashville on I-40.  By
jumping from the auxiliary battery I was able to coax the van something close
to 40 miles, in the rain with real s-l-o-w wipers, to the nearest AutoZone
where I bought their only rebuilt Vanagon alternator.  That was a year and a
half ago and that cheesy rebuild is still working fine.

Chuck
'85 Wolfsburg Westy - 'Roland the Road Buffalo'

In a message dated 11/3/01 11:04:01 PM, LISTSERV@GERRY.VANAGON.COM writes:

<< Date:    Sat, 3 Nov 2001 23:15:53 -0500
From:    Carl Hansen <carl_hansen@IEEE.ORG>
Subject: Re: can vanagon run w/out alternator?

15 miles, then dead.

well, not sure how "up" the battery was to start with, but it started
normally, so I'm assuming it was OK.  Lots of corrosion from sitting for a
year with little use, cleaned up the brushes and ?stator? and I may have
even replaced the regulator/brushes assembly.

YMMV

Ch

Carl Hansen

609-268-8595 - home
856-866-6387 - work
carl_hansen@ieee.org - personal
carl.hansen@lmco.com - work

In a perfect world without walls or fences........
  .....................why would we need Windows or Gates?

**** SNIP FROM ORIGINAL ****
My question is if the alternator fails on a vanagon can you keep the
engine running assuming you don't need headlights or any other accesories?
I know that on some cars the EFI uses electricity so if the alternator
goes you have a limited amount of time>>