Alternator issue...
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Freshman User
Joined: Oct 2009
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Alternator issue...
Driving home yesterday my alternator stopped charging. Got it home and checked things out and found the alternator side of the 175amp maxi fuse had overheated and melted the plastic housing alittle around where the wire connects.The nut that connects the wire was not tight where I could wiggle the wire alittle, I replaced the fuse and the truck ran fine today. Checked the voltage with meter and was around 14 volts and the wire never got warm today. Could the loose wire have caused this? The truck has not to be overcharging according to the guage and no warning light ever came on. Any thoughts?
Thanks
Thanks
Moderator
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 2,811
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From: Billings, Montana
These alternators can go bad and overcharge at higher rpm's but seem normal at lower rpm's. I've had this happen to me, took it in to NAPA and had it tested, and it tested fine on their bench test but in the vehicle at high rpm's it was overcharging so much at times it would boil the battery. Another indication I had that something wasn't right is when driving at high rpm's, the battery light would come on, if you're not seeing this however you might be all right, just in case though, I'd suggest you check the voltage at higher rpm's to make sure. I'm thinking this could have possibly caused your wire to overheat in the first place.
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Freshman User
Joined: Oct 2009
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I will keep an eye on it... I thought over charging at first when I saw the wire but know battery light on and guage reading normal until it just quit suddenly I hope it was just the loose wire. Thanks for the info
Elder User
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 637
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From: Media, PA
I would definitely say the loose wire & connection caused your melting and charging issue. I work on emergency vehicles for a living, and the number of times I have repaired an electrical system issue related to the charging system has 99% of the time been directly related to a loose wire or connection. I have seen wires and connectors literally burn-up and melt. Major cause of this is the power is trying to pass through the connection to reach its destination. When a connection is good and tight, there are no issues. However, when the connection is loose, the power actually "arcs" between the two points of contact, creating a tremendous amount of heat, thus the connections & wires getting very hot, melting, and eventually failing. I'd be willing to bet your problem is gone now, since taking care of the loose connection.
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