vr commodore wiring fire. what happened????

[Chris-05]

my car has been running fine and then today it stalled and had no power at all so pushed it into a car park checked battery connections. seemed ok. so tried to start it again as soon as it had power to it the battery started smoking from positive terminal and started glowing red then there were flames all in a couple of seconds and while i was putting flames out it started smoking from around the alternator. so i disconnected the battery and now every time i connect the battery it sparks like crazy and heats up. needless to say my car is still in that car park.... any ideas what the problem is and how to fix it.
all help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Jxfwsf]

a) the alternator has shat itself and is in a dead short state.
b) the main charge wire from the alternator has done the usual commodore trick and burnt out and is shorting against the alternator chassis.

either way if the positive terminal on the battery got to the point of being red hot then the main charge wire and/or all main negative cables to the engine block and/or car body have also been compromised and all 3 cables will need to be replaced along with the alternator possibly


The problem with the wires is they are made of copper, unlike alot of metal's copper is a bugger to work with when it comes to high heat, unless it is smelted to liquid and set properly it doesn't hold it's properties, it has good electrical properties and is a excellent conductor of heat, but it has it's limits.
If you heat it till it's red hot but not to melting point and it cools down it becomes brittle (has a pinky look, snaps if it's bent and the outer layers flake off)

A dead short of a battery will allow thousands of amps to be let lose, count your blessings that the hydrogen gas being released by the battery under this load didn't ignite from the sparks, causing the battery to explode and covering you in sulfuric acid. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CONNECT THE BATTERY TERMINALS UNTIL YOU HAVE FIXED THE ISSUE, I've had a battery explode within arms length, luck (or possibly good reflexes) my clothing wore the flying acid and not my skin or eyes.

 

[Chris-05]

thanks mate i think i have a spare alternator and wires out of another vr so ill change it all over and let you know how i go.

 

[Chris-05]

changed the alternator and all three wires. started first pop and runs perfect again, thanks mate

 

[Brocktrovato]

changed the alternator and all three wires. started first pop and runs perfect again, thanks mate

Hey mate I’m having this issue now, how hard was the process to change the loom

 

[vc commodore]

Hey mate I’m having this issue now, how hard was the process to change the loom

That person was last on 25 August 2013, so doubt he'll answer you

 

[EYY]

Hey mate I’m having this issue now, how hard was the process to change the loom

Charge and start loom is separate to main loom. You could just assess damage and replace wires as necessary. Run a new charge cable inside some conduit and zip tie along the factory loom.

 

[RWD4ever]

I saw an old Landcruiser where most of the harness burnt up. Those things had glass fuses and some ******** got tinfoil out of a cigarette packet and wrapped it around a blown fuse....

 

[wildfiremaint]

Hi , something to note - there is a splice inside the loom tube for the battery positive cable.
A thickish wire splits off and goes to the main fuses in the engine bay.
So would need thick red battery to alternator and another not so thick from
battery to main fuse box.

This is how I did it in my 304.