jimijuma
11-15-2020, 11:11 AM
All,
So last night we went out to eat with another couple, who specifically requested we take the Van Wagon (nice change from, "what is that!?" or "this is what you drive regularly, seriously?!"). The other couple live on a very very wash-boardy gravel road. We drive out to their house and park the van. Pick them up and drive to the restaurant fine. After we are finished we go out to drive home. Van is totally dead; no interior lights, no dash lights, no headlights, no nothing, just like the battery is totally dead. So I check the battery connections (battery is new), fiddle around (meanwhile people are getting in and out of the van, opening/closing doors, etc).......all of a sudden we have power. Van fires right up and we drive home. Clock had to be reset, all presets for the stereo are gone. We drive straight back to my house. Park the van and start talking about what might have happened. Lost power again, dead. Then the passenger gets out and shuts his door......we have power again! Fiddle around checking things, dead again. Booooooo! We jump into the Tercel 4WD and I hang my head while driving them home. I am left thinking that something must have rattled loose on that wash board road.
So this morning I read through the fusible link thread and checked everything. Checked the fuses behind the passenger seat, made sure they were all tight. Checked for any loose grounds, check the battery terminals. Checked FL 1.25B and FL 0.5G, all seemed fine. Went to start the van, totally fine, no problems. I am totally stumped. Is there anything else I should inspect? I remember that some of the fuses behind the passenger seat *may* have been a bit loose, but nothing obvious. Maybe it was just that?? My father, who is an original '83 Van Wagon owner, is flying in for Thanksgiving and I would like nothing more than to pick him in the van. However, the airport is over an hour away and I am really hesitant now.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
So last night we went out to eat with another couple, who specifically requested we take the Van Wagon (nice change from, "what is that!?" or "this is what you drive regularly, seriously?!"). The other couple live on a very very wash-boardy gravel road. We drive out to their house and park the van. Pick them up and drive to the restaurant fine. After we are finished we go out to drive home. Van is totally dead; no interior lights, no dash lights, no headlights, no nothing, just like the battery is totally dead. So I check the battery connections (battery is new), fiddle around (meanwhile people are getting in and out of the van, opening/closing doors, etc).......all of a sudden we have power. Van fires right up and we drive home. Clock had to be reset, all presets for the stereo are gone. We drive straight back to my house. Park the van and start talking about what might have happened. Lost power again, dead. Then the passenger gets out and shuts his door......we have power again! Fiddle around checking things, dead again. Booooooo! We jump into the Tercel 4WD and I hang my head while driving them home. I am left thinking that something must have rattled loose on that wash board road.
So this morning I read through the fusible link thread and checked everything. Checked the fuses behind the passenger seat, made sure they were all tight. Checked for any loose grounds, check the battery terminals. Checked FL 1.25B and FL 0.5G, all seemed fine. Went to start the van, totally fine, no problems. I am totally stumped. Is there anything else I should inspect? I remember that some of the fuses behind the passenger seat *may* have been a bit loose, but nothing obvious. Maybe it was just that?? My father, who is an original '83 Van Wagon owner, is flying in for Thanksgiving and I would like nothing more than to pick him in the van. However, the airport is over an hour away and I am really hesitant now.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!