> I'll bet I tasted a fluid you didn't. ...Couldn't be water either, since
> this Westy was aircooled. So, like an
> idiot, I touched my finger to it and tasted it.
>
> It was battery acid.  Turns out that before bouncing merrily down the road
> behind me, the tread from my tire had punctured the bottom of my bus, the
> battery tray, and the bottom of the battery itself.  Mmm-mmm good!!
>
>
Heh. True, I can't say that I've ever tasted battery acid from a CAR, but
back when I was an electrician, I once tasted it. I was changing battery
powered emergency lights in a hallway and had just eaten a candy bar. After
pulling an old one down I saw on the back of my hand what looked like a
blobby smear of caramel. So I licked it off. Turns out that the acid gel
inside a "sealed" gel-cell battery (as used in emergency lights) can look a
bit like caramel--- the battery was leaking in the unit I removed. It wasn't
enough to hurt my tongue, but it sure was sour...

--
John Bange
'90 Vanagon - "Geldsauger"