At 08:41 AM 8/21/98 -0800, YauMan Chan wrote:
>The ground point of the battery
>much have a ZERO resistance to the ground point of the
>alternator.  The floor pan of the van or any cars for  that
>matter is not usually a good ground.  Trying running a ground
>strap from the battery's negative terminal directly to the
>engine ground (like the alternator mounting bracket.
Nonsense. The floor pan of a Vanagon is indeed a good a ground source. Why
would it not be a good ground source? It's steel and solidly welded onto the
rest of the frame members. The stock battery installation is grounded to the
battery box under the passenger seat which is welded to the floor pan. All
electrical consumers are tied back to battery ground through the frame.

>2. #6 awg wire may not be thick enough to carry the
>amparage required if the wire is longer than 4 or 5 feet.  You
>should try a #2 or even #0 awg wire. (Resistance is directly
>proportional to the length of the wire and inversely
>proportional to the cross section area.) Touch the wire
>immediately after you start the van.  It it feel warm, even
>slight, it is now thick enough!
#6 wire should be fine between the alternator and battery. The original
poster did not say what size wire he ran between the battery and the
starter--that's where you need the mondo wire.

-Mark