Smoke from alt

[blue74]

My wife woke me at 5:30 this AM because our car (90 GT) wouldn't start. So I boosted it and sent her on to work. She calls me 10 mins later saying it was smoking and died on the hwy. Had it towed back to the house. Put the cables back on it to try a restart and saw smoke from the area of the alt output. I've pulled the alt at this point to have it checked. Anyone got an idea where my short may be if the alt checks good?

 

[FoxChasis]

The alternator has probably shorted internally, which is not a good thing. Be damn glad it didn't start a fire. Same thing happened to the alternator in my '86 GT and it DID start a fire. The fuseable link did NOT break when the wire overheated (due to the alternator's internal short) so the battery's full ampacity was sent through the stock (8GA) charging wire.

I promptly upgraded the 60A 2G alternator to a 130A 3G alternator and included dedicated charging wire (4GA welding cable) and an inline fuse (125A). The 3G alternator is a superior design and the dedicated wire and fuse eliminates the possibility for a fire due to an internal short. You should consider upgrading too.

My 2G alternator story and upgrade to 3G alternator
3G alternator upgrade article 1, 2
The RIGHT way to wire a 3G alternator

 

[LarsD]

I just did this upgrade, and all my electrical componets love the extra amps. My lights don't dim at idle anymore, and my power windows go up and down a lot faster now too. I would do it again in a heartbeat.