Zoltan,

Whoa, that sounds nasty.

The PO of my 85 Westy had a voltage regulator fail and the battery was
overcharged to the point of boiling the acid.  No explosion but the case
heated up and expanded so much he had to bend the edges of the battery
compartment up and pry the battery remains out.

The oddest thing was he didn't notice the trouble from the driver's seat
until the engine died presumably from the unregulated voltage being fed to
and shorting the ECU.  How he didn't notice the smell of the battery cooking
is a mystery because when I bought the van a few months later it still
smelled a bit like battery acid inside.

I'd sure what to know what cause your battery to actually explode!

Andrew
Suquamish WA

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Zoltan Kuthy
Sent: Saturday, May 31, 2008 7:01 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Battery explosion

Just as I turned the key, booom, smoke and chaos.
Apparently, the battery exploded under the pass. seat.  One cell leaked out
completely, the others partially.  The plastic of the battery fell apart at
places.
Today, I was cleaning the whole thing up, POR 15, bedliner spray, cleaning
ground, fitting with stainless bolt.
Otherwise all is well.
Zoltan