--- Martinez <mart1nez@PACBELL.NET> wrote:
> Took my new (to me) 85 Vanagon Weekender (no fridge)

It came with a portable Dometic fridge from the
Westfalia factory, its probably in the original owners
garage working as a deep-freeze now. Check my website
or the Wolfsburg_Camper Yahoo!Group for more info on
your particular model of Vanagon Camper, see my
signature for the links.

> So my question are:
>
> Could it really have been a bad battery (I've never
> seen one fail like
> that)?

Yes, but it isn't the one you replaced.

> My bus has two batteries (the smoker was under the
> drivers side) does that
> info help in the post-mortem?  Which is the main and
> which the auxiliary?

The main battery is under the passenger seat, the
auxiliary battery is under the drivers side. If you
smoked the auxiliary battery, the main battery is
probably shorted out. They are electrically connected
when the van is running by the isolation relay under
the drivers seat.

> Any words of wisdom clues as to what to check?

If you don't use the auxiliary battery, put the new
battery under the passenger seat and disconnect the
negative terminal on the aux battery. If you remove
the aux battery entirely, make sure you disconnect the
positive wiring from the relay. If you want to use the
auxiliary battery, you'll need to get another one.

=====
TJ Hannink
Goldibox - 1987 Vanagon Camper, Wolfsburg Edition
Winter Park, Florida
http://home.earthlink.net/~tjhannink/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wolfsburg_campers
http://photos.yahoo.com/tjhannink [Vanagon] Album

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Calendar - Free online calendar with sync to Outlook(TM).
http://calendar.yahoo.com