> Mondeo (1994) Alternator, burning out the main wire

[ERU]

I'm on my 4th alternator now as all the others have died.
The first one was overvolting the battery
The second was from a scrapyard but the main power lead actually melted out from it.
The third one went last night in almost the same manner. I was driving and smelt burning. Stoped and put my hand down to the lead and it was wobbling. Tried to tighten it but the thread broke. It seems it was not the wire connection but the actual alternator assembly that was loose. It also had lots of burn marks on it.


Does ANYONE know what on earth is doing this? It is obviously some kind of overvolting but what? Any ideas foldks?

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[5lab]

it'll be overCurrent, not overvolting. sounds like the power lead is giving too much resistance, possably cos its frayed at one end. replace it and it should work fine.

[ERU]

You mean the main lead that is melting off?

[5lab]

yeah, replace that. and any other wiring that leads to the starter motor or battery

[Jiff Lemon]

I'd be tempted to replace the wiring from the alternator. Fords were notoriously bad for their wiring on the charging circuits. I'd suspect the lead has actually broke down, giving high resitance back to the battery. Alternator then goes into overdrive trying to push the current through leading to knackered alternator.

Depending on the where the components are, you could possible just a link wire from the alternator +ive to the starter +ive.