Make Sure Your Mechanic Knows How To Relpace An Alternator

CL8 · #1 12-31-2009, 04:52 AM

Last August my boss took her Dodge Town & Country to a well known automotive repair shop to have the alternator fixed.

The next day she went to pick up the van but they told her it wasn't ready because it wouldn't start. They took it back in the shop, then said it was fixed.

She was then told to bring it back the next day because there was something else they had to do with the alternator.

She brought it back the next day, they asked her why she brought it back, it was fixed.

She drove the van to down town Portland, about ten minutes away to pick up a drive student.

Before she picked him up she noticed the van was over heating to the point of making the steering wheel hot.

She pulled over, got out of the van, called 911. as she was talking to 911 the van EXPLODED.

Below are some pictures I took of the van once it was towed.

These are pictures of what it did to the hood, notice the paint is gone on the left side.

This is a closeup of the grill on the outside below the windshield.

Here are a couple of shots from inside on the dashboard.
Can you see an image of Mary, or Joseph, or more likely the devil?

This is a shot of the cracked, burned window from the inside by the drivers side.

This is under the dash on the right passenger side.
Notice the melting of the dashboard dripped to the floor on the left side.
(I think I can spot an image of Satan there!)

Here is`what was left of the engine. Notice the Charred parts around the edge.

And this is what the battery looked like.

What if my boss was sitting in the van at the time? She got out minutes or less before this happened.
What if her student was driving the van when this happened???

Do any of you have any idea what that mechanic did when installing the alternator to cause it to explode?

Has anyone here had any thing like this happen to them before?

Moppie · #2 12-31-2009, 07:18 AM

Lots of things can cause an engine fire, it might or might not be related to the alternator repair.

I've been stuck in a car that was on fire, its not a pleasant experience, fortunately I had a fire extinguisher in the car, and have kept one in every car since.

RidingOnRailz · #3 12-31-2009, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CL8

Here are a couple of shots from inside on the dashboard.
Can you see an image of Mary, or Joseph, or more likely the devil?

Has anyone here had any thing like this happen to them before?

I can clearly make out the image of Utter Incompetence(!)

And this happened right after the electrical work you described was performed on the van?

CL8 · #4 12-31-2009, 01:14 PM

Yes it did, in fact someone at the shop made a mention that the mechanic didn't have the alternator connected right at first.

The fire inspector said he could tell it started from the alternator.

So I wonder, how would the wire have been wrongly connected to cause this kind of overheating?

*also it happened around August, not spring.

CL8 · #5 12-31-2009, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moppie

Lots of things can cause an engine fire, it might or might not be related to the alternator repair.

I've been stuck in a car that was on fire, its not a pleasant experience, fortunately I had a fire extinguisher in the car, and have kept one in every car since.

hmm, was the end result anything like the pictures above?

RidingOnRailz · #6 12-31-2009, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CL8

Yes it did, in fact someone at the shop made a mention that the mechanic didn't have the alternator connected right at first.

The fire inspector said he could tell it started from the alternator.

So I wonder, how would the wire have been wrongly connected to cause this kind of overheating?

*also it happened around August, not spring.

The alternator, while one of the most significant advances in auto electrical systems, is also its achilles heal in terms of reliability and in terms of properly hooking up right the first time.

DAMN the things. Damn them!

Back in my used '81 Buick days, I must've gone through a half dozen alternators(new and refurb) over the years I owned that car. Fortunately for me none of them turned out to be a Hindenburg!

J-Ri · #7 12-31-2009, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CL8

So I wonder, how would the wire have been wrongly connected to cause this kind of overheating?

Installing an alternator is fairly idiot-proof, there's one connector that clips in place (the connector is shaped so that it can be installed in only the correct position), and there's a B+ wire that is held in place with a nut. Unless you alter the connector to make it fit a wrong alternator, you can't screw anything up there. Tightening a nut down is a simple task... I'd be surprised if someone screwed that up. The only thing I can think of is if they ran the B+ wire the wrong way (but if I remember right those vans have a fairly rigid wiring harness going to the alternator) and it was rubbing on some metal and sparking and ignited some leaking oil.

RahX · #8 12-31-2009, 05:42 PM

It looks more like the B+ wire shorted out on some metal and made the battery overheat/boil which released a ton of Hydrogen which in in turn caused the battery to explode and start catching all sorts of stuff on fire. Not to mention the B+ wire for the alternator probably got hot enough to ignite just about anything it was touching. My guess is that it was contacting the firewall which would have caused the insulation to burn causing the dash to melt down like that.

CL8 · #9 01-01-2010, 01:27 AM

Thanks J-Ri and RahX!

So would the shorting out of the B+ wire likely be caused by faulty installation?

RahX · #10 01-01-2010, 01:50 AM

No, most likely caused by contact with a metal surface, most likely the alternator body. On a side note, I like how all of the cables around the battery are melted apart.

RahX · #11 01-01-2010, 01:51 AM

Get a good pic of the alternator if you can.

CL8 · #12 01-01-2010, 02:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RahX

It looks more like the B+ wire shorted out on some metal and made the battery overheat/boil which released a ton of Hydrogen which in in turn caused the battery to explode and start catching all sorts of stuff on fire. Not to mention the B+ wire for the alternator probably got hot enough to ignite just about anything it was touching. My guess is that it was contacting the firewall which would have caused the insulation to burn causing the dash to melt down like that.

If you look at the picture of the battery, the battery itself was intact, just badly burned, not exploded.
Also the picture of the hood shows the majority of the impact was on the left side of the hood,
where the alternator was located, not the right side where the battery was located.

CL8 · #13 01-01-2010, 02:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RahX

Get a good pic of the alternator if you can.

That was in August, I don't know what was done with the van since then.

RahX · #14 01-01-2010, 01:55 PM

Very good point CL8.

MagicRat · #15 01-01-2010, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CL8

That was in August, I don't know what was done with the van since then.

I'm certain it was scrapped. They extensive damage would be far more expensive to fix than the market value of the vehicle.
Back when I used to prowl auto dismantlers for parts, there would be several burned cars like this. It's fairly common. Often such fires were the result of fuel or brake fluid on a hot exhaust. I did not think an auto electrical fire could cause such damage.

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