At 04:03 PM 12/12/2001, Malcolm Stebbins wrote:
>So what am I missing here.  I'm not stupid (Ph.D.) but I
>know LITTLE about electricity.   Can someone help
>me???  What am I missing here???  Malcolm

Better drugs?  As you describe it the situation is...well...impossible.  So
something is different than you think it is.  Hook up your good test motor
to battery, then while it is not running, measure the voltage across its
terminals with a voltmeter.  I expect you'll see zero or something near
it.  Use the voltmeter to find out where the missing 12v is.  Dirty battery
terminals can have a surprisingly tenacious non-conductive layer...

And of course nobody would actually do this, but *if* someone grounded to
the plus terminal of the battery instead of minus terminal then the results
would not be of the finest. <g>

good luck
david

David Beierl - Providence, RI
  http://pws.prserv.net/synergy/Vanagon/
'84 Westy "Dutiful Passage"
'85 GL "Poor Relation"