corofin12345
Member +
replyed above your post again.. its there alright, just whatever way i looked first that it seemed to be missing... eyes playing tricks.. well my earting points off the negitive is the front frame and big earth to gearbox
are any of the earths on the inlet manifold burnt out? can you see the terminals on the back of the alternator? how do they look,
your gearbox will be fine, only thing that would make a grinding noise is the alternator, if you was closer i would sort this lot out for you.
A short circuit within the alternator is a likely candidate, the brake lines and gearbox earth burning out is a good give away that the short is a component grounded through the engine and gearbox. As your using a shock and spring suspension setup I'm guessing your still using the rubber insulated top mounts? The lower arm bushes are rubber, and the steering rack has rubber mounts, so the only conductor linking the suspension and brakes to the body of the car are the braided brake lines, the driveshafts will be making the link between the gearbox and suspension/brakes/brake lines. As the earth strap on the gearbox melted the engine/gearbox would have been earthed by the brake lines, which is why they also melted.
If the alternator isn't the cause then the fault could be a little more tricky to find, but the first thing to do is get the multimeter out. Next remove both the negative and positive terminals from the battery and with the multimeter set to the 200Ω range measure the resistance between the positive battery terminal and a good clean conductive part of the engine, make a note of the reading. Then remove the wiring from the back of the alternator and again measure the resistance between the positive battery terminal and the engine. I don't have a meter here with me so I'm unable to offer any example readings, however if the resistance measured with the alternator connected is only a few ohms or less then that will suggest the alternator is faulty. If the readings with and without the alternator connected are the same or very similar but still only a few ohms then the fault could be elsewhere.
If it is the alternator causing the short then I would be a little concerned as to why the fuse didn't blow, so that may need checking before replacing the alternator. It would also be worth checking around the starter motor as the heavy cable that connects it to the positive battery terminal isn't fused and would be the last thing to melt if it's shorted out.
Fuck that's a new one...
My guess (not being very good with electrics) is that whatever has gone wrong has sent a voltage down the brake pipes and the braided lines have burnt the covering off. Scary stuff indeed!
A short circuit within the alternator is a likely candidate, the brake lines and gearbox earth burning out is a good give away that the short is a component grounded through the engine and gearbox. As your using a shock and spring suspension setup I'm guessing your still using the rubber insulated top mounts? The lower arm bushes are rubber, and the steering rack has rubber mounts, so the only conductor linking the suspension and brakes to the body of the car are the braided brake lines, the driveshafts will be making the link between the gearbox and suspension/brakes/brake lines. As the earth strap on the gearbox melted the engine/gearbox would have been earthed by the brake lines, which is why they also melted.
If the alternator isn't the cause then the fault could be a little more tricky to find, but the first thing to do is get the multimeter out. Next remove both the negative and positive terminals from the battery and with the multimeter set to the 200Ω range measure the resistance between the positive battery terminal and a good clean conductive part of the engine, make a note of the reading. Then remove the wiring from the back of the alternator and again measure the resistance between the positive battery terminal and the engine. I don't have a meter here with me so I'm unable to offer any example readings, however if the resistance measured with the alternator connected is only a few ohms or less then that will suggest the alternator is faulty. If the readings with and without the alternator connected are the same or very similar but still only a few ohms then the fault could be elsewhere.
If it is the alternator causing the short then I would be a little concerned as to why the fuse didn't blow, so that may need checking before replacing the alternator. It would also be worth checking around the starter motor as the heavy cable that connects it to the positive battery terminal isn't fused and would be the last thing to melt if it's shorted out.