Well as a follow up to my earlier request for help;
Since my last email yesterday, I drove up to the mountains to get
to a condo in Bear Valley, CA (to get it ready for the winter, but I'm digressing...)
Relay noises continued at speeds above 60mph, but below this Westy
was running sweet & smooth.
Just 20 miles from destination, (10pm half way up the 'hill') ) battery & OXS light 
came on and after disappearing briefly twice, stayed on...Time to stop for the night!
So now I'm stuck just above (E of) Arnold, CA, trying to find an altenator ASAP
(as my best guess to the source of the problem). Why didn't I switch the new
alternator out of my '85 before selling it to the recking yard (best answer - laziness?).

Bedtime reading was my Bentley manual, from which my best guess as to which
relay was making the noise is the 'Load Reduction' relay. 
Anybody know what this does and how it could perhaps be an early warning for
alternator failure?
Is this really the alternator or could the relay somehow disable the alternator?

In my '85 Westy, the alternator died slowly over a 500 mile trip from San Diego to the
Bay Area, with red lights flickering on above a certain speed (the speed dropped over
the 500 miles). I didn't notice any relay noises (but then wind and engine noise in
that van was about 10X that in my '87 Westy).
Thanks,
Mike
'87 Westy
----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Michael Hart <mjhart853@YAHOO.COM>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 10:28:26 AM
Subject: Relay Problems '87 Westy

Your previous assistance has been faultless so I'm back for more advice;

This morning I noticed that one of the relays in my '87 Westy was
switching erratically & continuously.
I didn't notice any impact upon the van's behaviour (driving at 65mph
on the freeway), but this doesn't sound 'normal' (is there such a thing
for a Vanagon?). I couldn't figure out which relay was switching (a
little difficult under those driving conditions).
At stationary & idle it doesn't do this (that would be too easy..).
I have the following relays above the fuse array;
top row:       blank  blank   43    blank  53  blank
bottom row: blank    18    blank   19     72   21
(I think it's time for me to figure out what they all do)

Any thoughts on what could be happening?

Thanks,
Mike
'87 Westy

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