smoked my alternator...literally

[MROLDV8]

Just put front brakes on, changed the thermostat and antifreeze, and changed the trans filter and fluid. Fired it up ('90 2 ltr.) and ran it for a while until the temp came up. All of a sudden the alternator started smoking...a lot. The hood was closed and we thought the engine was on fire it was smoking so bad. Turned the key off and it still smoked. Let it cool down and started the engine. All kinds of lights came on on the dash. Went and bought a new alternator, and put it on. The car runs perfectly, but the alternator is pretty hot...even when the engine is cold.

Let me give you a little background. Just bought the car the other day. It has 198K on it & the trans was replaced maybe 70K or so ago. The car is rusty. I noticed a number of things weren't put back quite right under the hood...as though whoever changed the trans was in a hurry. The car had a brand new alternator on it & the battery is very new also.

Is it possible that a ground wire wasn't put back correctly when the trans was out? Could the engine gorund not be making good contact due to the rust? If so, where is the engine-to-chassis ground wire/strap on this car? Could this be making the alternator run hot? If not, what else should I check?

Thanks,
MR

[atobe]

check the + cable on the alternator. and test how many V you get when the car's on compared to when car's off.. there's a few ground.. but there's only 2 that connects to the - on the battery itself.. to the driver side fender near the fuse box.. and another to chassis below the battery.. the rest is engine head to chassis.. and tranny to chassis... might want to check the V between those points with the battery and see also

[MROLDV8]

Well, I wire-brushed the terminal ends on the engine-to-chassis cable and now the alternator runs cool. We'll see what the drive to work tomorrow brings.

MR

[MROLDV8]

I didn't hane time to test the voltage, besides everything was working fine..until yesterday afternoon, that is. On my way home from work the 'charge' light, the 'brake' light and the 'lights' light all came on. I returned the 'lifetime guaranteed' alternator to the store and they tested it. It was dead. They guy said it looked like the regulator was done for. They'll give me a replacement today, but I'm wondering what caused these last two to go out? I hate working on electrical systems. HELP...HELP

MR

[wiccanferret]

Crappy alternators. My Grand Am used to eat Autozone alternators until I got a good one. Went thru 3.