Hi All,

So this weekend while working on my 85 Vanagon I was not able to start the van. Which is strange since the battery was only 4 months old. I jump started the van and it ran for 20 minutes, After the 20 minutes I disconnected the negative wire from the battery and the van shutoff. I turned the van back on and disconnected the negative wire again and again the van shutoff. Now I knew this could be the alternator. So I changed the alternator and ran this test again and again the van shutoff.

I bought a voltmeter to test the battery and alternator and the new alternator reading was 11.40 volts and the battery reading was 12.4 volts so I knew the new alternator was not working properly. I reinstalled the old alternator and tested and the reading was 13.98 volts which means the alternator is working properly.So I went back to the battery and disconnected the negative wire and the van shutoff.

Please help! What should I be looking for? Something is draining my battery.

Thanks

Randy