Brand new alternator is smoking
Brand new alternator is smoking
A couple nights ago I heard a whining coming from under the hood and thought I smelled something burning. I was following a big dump truck so I didn't think too much about it. My driver side head lamp had gone out which caused some mild irritation as I had replaced the entire assembly a little over a year ago. The next day the car seemed fine, just the slight whining still, but no burning smell. Later that night the whining became much more noticeable and there was a strong burning smell (electrical). I opened the hood and determined that the alternator was shot, which pep boys later confirmed. I assume I had been running on batter power as my battery was covered in corrosion and the positive terminal was almost eaten away. I purchased a new alternator and installed it (correctly) and when I started the car it began to smoke after 5 seconds and was making an audible whining noise. The smoke was obviously visible. Does anyone have any ideas? All I can think of is that I have a short somewhere? Could the headlight be a cause of it? The car is a 2002 Nissan Altima 4cyl
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laughingdog
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Mon Feb 10, 2014 11:21 am
- Car: Altima 3.5SE
Re: Brand new alternator is smoking
This is a 02 2.5 so I am going to assume it doesn't have HID dipped beams.
Since the two things occurred pretty much together, I think it is highly likely that the lighting circuit is the cause, but why hasn't the lamp fuse blown?
First, the lights were presumably OFF when you had Pep Boys install the new alternator. This probably rules out my thoughts that possibly the lamp filament has broken and collapsed across the support wires thus drawing a very high current.
The fault is probably in a circuit that feeds the headlamp on that side. I would disconnect the battery, then use an ohm meter (digital multimeters cost almost nothing) on the fuses to do with the lighting circuits. These should read about 3 ohms for the dipped beam.
One approach would be to put a clamp-on DC ammeter on the main battery terminal and without starting the car, turn the lights on and see what happens. Be prepared to switch off quickly! Dipped beams should pull about 4 amps each, say 10 amps with the side lamps on, if you see a lot more than that, you have a short. If so, you are lucky you haven't had a fire and a battery explosion. Proceed with caution. Be very ready and able to disconnect the battery instantly.
Since the two things occurred pretty much together, I think it is highly likely that the lighting circuit is the cause, but why hasn't the lamp fuse blown?
First, the lights were presumably OFF when you had Pep Boys install the new alternator. This probably rules out my thoughts that possibly the lamp filament has broken and collapsed across the support wires thus drawing a very high current.
The fault is probably in a circuit that feeds the headlamp on that side. I would disconnect the battery, then use an ohm meter (digital multimeters cost almost nothing) on the fuses to do with the lighting circuits. These should read about 3 ohms for the dipped beam.
One approach would be to put a clamp-on DC ammeter on the main battery terminal and without starting the car, turn the lights on and see what happens. Be prepared to switch off quickly! Dipped beams should pull about 4 amps each, say 10 amps with the side lamps on, if you see a lot more than that, you have a short. If so, you are lucky you haven't had a fire and a battery explosion. Proceed with caution. Be very ready and able to disconnect the battery instantly.