Dunno if you tracked this down yet, but it certainly sounds electrical.

         - First check should be any new wiring added (I know you've been
working on adding a second battery, so I'm sure you've already checked there).
         - Second check would be anything that is getting a workout for the
first time... I suspect you've had the heat on, and I can tell you (from my
own experience) that the heater blower switches on mid-late 80's VWs are
too weak to handle the load. I went through two in my '87 Fox, (while it
was still new). They just heated up and melted from running the fan too
long on "high". My '85 Vanagon uses the same switches, but your van is
newer than mine.

Tim

At 04:48 PM 3/22/2004 -0500, you wrote:
>Hi all,
>
>I finally got out of Virginia to begin my grand life living in my van.
>Well, I got as far as Chapel Hill, 280 miles.  The last 15 miles or so my
>van started to get a nasty smell that reminds me of pipe smoke, acrid pipe
>smoke.  (My friend whom I'm visiting thinks it's an industrial smell but
>couldn't pinpoint it.)  It's handling fine.  The engine light did not come
>on.  Nothing seems to be hot or smoking or anything like that.  The smell is
>inside the van, not particularly outside it or near the exhaust or engine.
>I checked the coolant and when I opened the reservoir it came bubbling out -
>not steaming, but kind of flushing out. I quickly closed it again and
>screwed the lid back on with no trouble, so there wasn't a whole lot of
>pressure there.
>
>What's going on?????  I thought I'd make it more than one day before I ran
>into van trouble!!!
>
>
>
>Joy
>
>++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>Joy Hecht
>and Matilda, 1989 Burgundy Vanagon
>and Henrietta, sad-eyed orangutan who waltzes with Matilda and me
>and Bicycle and Kayak, who ride on Matilda
>and my 2002 green Prius, waiting for our return from the vanadventures
>For musings about life and the vanadventures:
>http://users.rcn.com/jhecht/gypsy
>++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++