yea just like it says, driving to work, saw some smoke pull over and the battery connection on my alternator is burnt right off. I'm going to find a 70amp alternator replacement from a scrap yard this week, as well as splice in a new ground wire. but what would have caused the alternator to over heat like this? i was thinking maybe it was a bad ground? any sugggestions on where i could run a new ground too? and what gauge wire i should use?
Re: alternator ground Burnt off This is what i plan to do to re ground the alternator (using 4awg wire) 1. Locate where the negative battery cable attaches to the vehicle chassis. Remove this bolt and the OEM battery cable, and clean the mounting area of the chassis using scotch brite and/or a wire brush. Make sure there is no dirt, rust, paint, undercoating, etc in this location. You want bright shiny metal. Connect both your new ground and the OEM ground back to the chassis. NOTE: Some people like to create a new ground location by drilling into the chassis and using a bolt with star lock washers for the new ground cable. Route this new cable back to the battery and position it to be attached, or connect it to the negative terminal. Do not reconnect the battery yet. 2. Secure the negative cable using cable ties every 6-8 inches. Again, don't tie it to anything that moves or that gets hot! 3. Disconnect the engine ground strap at both ends. Using the wire brush or scotch brite, clean both the engine block and the chassis as you did for the first ground strap. 4. Line up the lugs on both the OEM ground strap and your new ground cable, and use cable ties to secure them to each other. This is much easier to accomplish in your lap or on the floor than it is while lying under your car or hanging upside down in the engine compartment. Reinstall both cables at the same time using the factory bolts. NOTE: Realize that the "absolute ground" of the electrical system is not the battery negative terminal or the vehicle chassis, but is the case of the alternator itself. This is why perhaps the most important cable among the Big 3 is the engine ground strap, as this is what connects the alternator ground to the vehicle's chassis. Be certain the resistance between the alternator case (the engine block assuming the alternator is properly bolted to the engine) and the battery negative is minimized. (Thanks to the12volt for pointing this out!) So the OEM engine > Ground strap goes from the alternator bracket to a bolt that secures the P/S reservoir right? can you think of a better spot to run this ground?
Re: alternator ground Burnt off looks to me like the ground strap isnt the wire that burned. that looks like the main wire feeding the charge to the battery. maybe the ckt that regulates the voltage isn't working. maybe your overcharging.
Re: alternator ground Burnt off well glad i didn't do anything yet, so what does ckt stand for? and is it part of the alternator or is it located somewhere else? If i just replace the alternator, could that fix the problem? could a bad ground have caused the problem?
Re: alternator ground Burnt off I don't know enough to help much, but I do know that "ckt" means circuit . --Teran
get a tester... start testing. the fact you roasted some 10g wire. means something shorted somewhere.
Well after spending my work day researching (maybe i should have tried working) i came to the conclusion, that the Ground on my Battery isn't solid enough or the voltage resistor in the alternator is shot. I picked up a used alternator form a camry (70amp) so i will be installing it on Wednesday, i am also going to be upgrading the "big 3" at this time as well. I'll use 4awg wire to ground the alternator mount to the frame, as well as to redo the Battery ground to the frame. lastly i'll run 4awg wire from the alternator positive to the positive battery terminal. I'll also be testing the volts on teh grounds For the wire running from the alternator to the + terminal, do you think i could run it behind the front grill? i would go look but my car is parked at work =(
the alternator positve wire goes to a lot of things. links to that 100 or 80 amp fuse in the box. i would not do a direct feed.
I was going to keep the original wiring as well as adding the new one with a 100amp Fuse, but when it comes to the 4g celica i'll take my advice from you guys on the boards, as you know more about these cars then anyone thanks for the heads up :thumbsup:
I don't think you need to re-wire, the white ones maybe as it looks like your alt 12V pole wasn't insulated properly and was arcing like crazy, you could run them across the grille but make sure they are well protected and fused. The fuses are to protect the battery in case the alt melts/wires short and prevent a fire Fuse rating should be lower than wire rating or the wire may burn before the fuse does (done that before banghead ) and start an engine fire The front harness actually runs out the firewall, across the grille and back into the firewall on the other side, doesn't look like it as much of it is under the fenders Earth both sides of the motor and add a strap from block-head, you can't expect the head bolts/ manifold braces to do all the work
i had this problem...turns out the bolt on the main feed from the altenator was loose and it got hot with the current...
Well i think the problem is fixed Put in a new alternator, and added a new ground from the alternator mount to th chasis. Started it up and it was charging an aceptable amount (14.70v) no "extra" heat coming from the alternator, or wired sounds. drove it for 30 km and car didn't die, and no fire in the engine bay :wink: thanks for all the help guys. I think i will still look at completing the "Big 3" upgrade in the future but fornow i am just glad to be back on the road
tell me about it. i'm forever changing the way i wire things. always better ways to do stuff. look at GT2. he's gone mad wiring.
