so I was going to get the truck washed, but 2 blocks down the road smoke out of the engine bay.

pulled over popped the hood and the alternator is on fire. extinguished it self out but the burnt electrical smell.....sheesh..

anyways, could I potentially drive the truck to the dealer, or will it catch on fire again????

 

I would get a tow, 75.00-150.00 now can save you a ton of headaches down the road!

 

i would not drive it. something cuased the fire.

 

Yah.....appearantly the 200 amp alternators are notorious for catching fire. The internals fail, and cause a ground to power short. Taking it in for warranty repair. Hopefully they replace all the cables and the batteries.

BTW........if this should happen to someone else, try and disconnect both batteries ASAP. After alternator stops smoking, fire is out, and it's cooled off, disconnect the power cable that goes into the alternator (or in a extreme cituation, cut the red cable and wrap/insulate the world out of it). U can safely drive to nearest shop/dealer for repair. Remember, you are now driving on just battery power, so turn off all electrical components that are not essential to driving, and count your blessings the whole truck didn't go up in flames.

 

Yikes. How do you identify a 200-amp alternator?

 

By the smoke . . .

 

And flames

I think you have 3 options.....a single huge 200 amp, double 135 amps, or a single

 

Stop it, you're killin me.

 

If you have supplemental rapid heat option. And/or. Extra heavy duty alternator.

Sent from my Sprint PC36100 using IB AutoGroup

 

Freaking dealership is not willing to replace batteries. They are saying since the batteries charged back up that they are good. How could this be? The batteries where making a whining noise after the alternator fire.........

Help please

 

I don't think the dealer spent the time testing the batteries.
What you can do check level and Specific Gravity with a hydrometer then cranking amp test. Have a Pep Boy or someone do cranking amp test.

 

Be careful to not hurt your ECU by continuing to drive. Dealer may blame you for not towing even if you take the precaution you mentioned.