Hi all,

I've been experiencing what may or may not be a problem on my '87 Westy.
For reasons tied to it running rough, possibly injectors, and its impending
painting, I haven't been driving it much. It might sit a week or two
without being driven. When I do go to drive it, usually the battery's much
too weak to get it started. I plug in the charger, set it to 10 Amps, and
let it charge for a few hours, after which I can usually get it started.
Once it starts, there's usually a lot of belt squeal. This is odd because I
had both belts replaced and adjusted by a reputable Vanagon mechanic in
Staunton about 1,000 miles ago. The battery is a Diehard and was replaced
within the last year. Thinking I might have an alternator problem, I took
it to Advance Auto and had the alternator tested, in the van. It passed,
but just barely. Under full load, it was putting out just over 12 volts.
With everything turned off, there was still a current draw of about half an
amp. Is this normal? I've been going through the van cleaning all the
grounds and repairing any connections that look at all iffy.

I'm going to tighten up the alternator belt tomorrow and thought I would
give the alternator a spin and see if I could tell anything. Thoughts on
what to look for?

Should the battery normally run down to 7 volts or so in a week or two?

Any thoughts on other things to look for? I don't have a way of measuring
current draw at home, or else I would start disconnecting things and see if
that half amp draw changed.

Thanks in advance for any light you can shed on this!
Marc Perdue