Alternator Wiring Problem

[elektric_head]

Hi,
I have a 96 VS Commodore Equipe and lately the 10mm cable that runs to the bottom of the alternator is burning out causing the car to die. It has happened about 4 times over the past 6 months. The alternator is only about 1 year old and has probably done about 4000kms
Is this a common problem and does anyone have any suggestions as to overcoming this annoyance?

Cheers

[Zuicider]

check the earths , battery terminals and general tighteness of plugs. could also be the wire shorting out on the frame. loose conections will cause arcing

[ephect]

i would be replacing the alt cabling, its a known fault that the cable comes loose and can cause a fire.
i'll try find the thread.

EDIT: here it is, sticky at the top VS v6 owners check this out

[hako]

The entire cable from the alt to the battery should be replaced - what happens is the connection at the alternator has to carry quite a high load - in excess of 80 amps sometimes which causes the cable to overheat at the connection - this causes the copper wires inside the cable to degrade - the copper actually crystallises - this increases the resistance of the cable resulting in more overheating etc and the cable eventually snaps off. If you cut the cable back a few cm and rejoin the connector the wire can still fail again as the damage extends along the cable for quite a distance from the alternator.
So the proper fix is to trace the cable back from the alternator to where it joins the fusible link and replace the entire cable with one of equeal or greater thickness. On my car the cable goes straight to the battery but mine probably failed before it came into my posession.
It can cause a fire if the cable shorts out plus damage the electronics and also kill the battery if you do have the dead short.
Good Luck.