Alternator Fire

[saleen49]

The other night i was driving home from work at 3am in my 1992 F-250 4x4 5.8 radio blasting windsheildwipers on i reached over to turn on the defroster when i heard a thud and the charging light came on, i quickly turned of the radio, defrost wipers and dash lights as i knew i was running on battery and was on an expressway and wanted to limp home, soon i started to smell smoke so i pulled over and popped the hood but didn't see anything wrong and it was really dark so i pressed on, about ten minutes later i was getting close to home and noticed the smell of smoke was now smelling like metals when they are melted down i rolled the window down and headed for a fire station i knew was just ahead, pulled in there drive and opened the hood to see my alternator and wiring harness was all red hot and on fire so i ran to the fire house and started beating on the door and screaming, finally got someone to come look and see what was going on and they put it out with some water, next day and a 100 dollar tow later i started to disassemble the wire harness to discover the connector which had burned off had been replaced once before and the alternator i had been using was a reman about 18 to 20 months old that i installed a while back, what i would like to know is how can this be prevented from happening again?

 

[Justshootme84]

While there was never a recall I'm aware of, there was a TSB [bulletin] on the alt power connector shorting out. Go to any alternator shop, and they will fix you up with the newer-style connector. If you have a hi-power stereo or other accessories, you can opt for a stronger alternator, too.

 

[saleen49]

I did a google search on ford alternator fire help and found this has happened to newer 02/03 cars, Ford Rangers, F-seires trucks with as little as 30k miles on them i have owned this truck since 97 when it had 80k on it and have gone through a couple alternators and i use it to plow snow it now has 135k trouble free miles on it this is the first time it has ever been on a tow truck that i know of, i did pick up a new plug/pigtail at a Carquest outlet and it looks just like a factory plug but haven't gotten around to soldering it on yet and my carquest dealer even warrentied the burned alternator even though it was a year and a half old,

 

[Guest]

What i am finging out is on any Ford that uses the big three wire plug to alternator plug must be in perfect shape and must be 100% seated down or it is possible that the plug can become an electrode and arch like a welder at the alternator, this has been known to occur on new vehicles my guess that they might not have been seated from the factory or may have been removed and then reconnected during some type of work to the engine but in any case the plug is said to be a one time use and should be cut off and replaced, I had the same plug on two different alternators and did have a fire on my truck, I read about it happening on Ford Mustangs, Rangers and other Ford products, today I installed a new alternator and plug and other damaged hoses and all is good again but i will install a fire extiguisher in cab for now on,