# Engine Bay Fire!



## NTL1991 (Sep 8, 2005)

I had an interesting situation yesterday. Opened the garage door, remote started my '98 Altima, when back in the house to grab a few things, went back out to the garage and saw billows of smoke coming from the car. I immediately turned the car off by the remote, and opened the hood to check it out. Luckily I had a gallon of windshield washer fluid handy to douse the fire out. The fire was coming from inside the alternator.

I disconnected the cables at the alternator and started the car after a few hours of letting it cool off. The alternator made a huge racket. I removed it and replaced the alternator with a rebuilt unit with a lifetime warranty from AutoZone.

The battery is 14 months old. I purchased it at the dealer. It's an OEM Nissan 84-month battery. I did a voltage test on it last night, and it was sitting at 11.5V. With the new alternator installed and everything connected, I started the car, and let it idle. I tested the battery voltage again, it was only at 12.5V. Shouldn't it be at 14.4V or so while charging with the engine running? The light does go out on the dash, however...

I'm going to put the battery on a charger today and see if I can't get it to at least 12v standby voltage. Then I'll try the car again and see if it'll bring it to 14V or so. Maybe the battery is defective, which caused the alternator to overhead, causing the fire?

Any ideas?

Nick


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

The voltage across the battery should be around 13 - 14.5 with the engine idling. 
- The battery could be bad or maybe it needs a full charge..
- The replacement alternator could be bad.
- Check the 10 A fuse and the 100 A fusible link.
- The wires could be damaged from the overheating.

With the ignition switch in the ON or START position without the engine running, the Charge Warning light should be on. If not on, the light may be burned out or there is a wiring problem.


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## NTL1991 (Sep 8, 2005)

The charge warning light is on with the key on, engine off. As soon as the engine starts, the light extinguishes.

The wiring has all been checked and is fine. I have not checked the fuse and fusible link, however.

I'm going to check the water level in the battery and do a full slow charge on the battery tonight. I have another known good battery as well, which I'll charge and hook up as well and measure the alternator output.


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## NTL1991 (Sep 8, 2005)

Turns out my DMV was reading ~3V too low. I used another I had and after charging the battery and letting it sit for a couple hours, it's reading 12.5V. With the car idling, defroster, fans, lights on, it's putting out 14.4V.

Perfect! I guess it turns out the alternator was just shot.

Thanks for all the help.


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