>Maybe I'm naive, but I wouldn't think that a simple dash short (the
>jiggle wire kind) would drain the battery in a few minutes.

The battery itself could be shot. You can charge one all day (with your
bus or with a plug-in AC-powered battery charger from Sears), put it in
your bus, hit the key, and nada, senor. Battery won't hold the charge.
If it's old, that is. SOmetimes batteries get this way if you run them
flat several times, by leaving your headlights on all day after shutting
down at work. A complete discharge is real hard on a lead-acid car battery.

Got a voltmeter? Test the voltage right across the battery terminals,
both with the engine off and with the engine running. The "running"
voltage should be 13-14 volts, while the "off" voltage should be a
volt or two lower than the "running" voltage, whatever it is.

And, when you are cranking the engine over with the key, the voltage
at the battery terminals should stay above 7 volts.

If the "running" voltage is 13 or more, then your gen/alt and regulator
is probably OK. If it's OK but your "cranking" voltage is way below
7 volts, then your battery is probably history-- or, at least, the
battery needs distilled water in one or more cell to wake it back up.

BTW, ever notice the "zero maintanence" stickers on some new batteries
nowadays? I found that this doesn't mean they don't need maintanence--
batteries will often need some water added if they get weak, maybe thru
being way discharged last time you left your lights on all day.

The sticker merely means, that you can't maintain the battery, whether
it needs it or not. Something to keep in mind next time you're shopping
for one...

Steve Maher   smaher@gi.com   '80 V6anagon w/new batt w/caps
                              '71 VW Transporter