Could have been really bad....

Had a plan today to drive into Houston from Beaumont so my wife could do some shopping for her birthday and visit her daughter....best laid plans....

So, while she was getting ready, I took the car out, gave it a quick rinse, gassed up and waited for her to return....no issues.....yet....

We headed out about 1pm driving through Beaumont towards Houston on Hwy 90....then it happened. About 10 miles out of town, just past the corner of nowhere, headed towards someplace....cruising along, minding my own business, I noticed this little light flickering randomly....WTF....why is the battery light doing this???

Oh crap......quick check of the mirrors, don't see anything or smell anything. Everything feels fine....must be okay, right? Okay, keep thinking that. So, I pull in to Bob's Farm and Feed station. Shut the car off, and wait. Hoping that the random flashing light will go away....wrong.....it's back.

Head back into town, watching....sniffing.....looking. Light never went steady and never stopped flashing. Pulled into AutoZone since I they were the largest parts store around and I managed several stores in my previous life. Told the clerk that I needed a 12v tester that plugged into the cig lighter...don't have one. How about a DVOM that I can use...don't have one. Pop the hatch, nothing smells funky, can see the belt turning....maybe just a bad alternator....wishful thinking.....

Head to the next autoparts store and they have what I am looking for....12v tester that plugs in and gives battery and charging system status.......single red LED showing on the battery....damn.....Drive the 15 miles back home and park it. Checked voltage, 11.0 something.....check fuses, check voltage at the battery....all the same....double damn.....

Jack it up, drop the rear belly pan.....oh crap.....surprise surprise surprise!!

WTF is that????? How did a friggin' bird get there???? Car was serviced in November, so somehow a bird got trapped between the belly pan and the car between then and now....

Oh yea, why am I here....lets look at the alternator......another oh crap....this could have been bad....

Like it has happened to others, the cable leading from the alternator, broke. It did not short out thank God, but it did separate from the lug. I split the heatshield and what I believe used to be the flexible cover over the wire had turned into hard/charred plastic.

Cable looks pretty bad IMHO. There is enough material there to attach a new lug and wrap the cable but with the way it looks, I'm not sure that is such a good idea. I am considering following the cable back until I get good wire and splice a new section in.

Thoughts from those that have had this issue or know about it.....splice new lug onto existing cable or go back and find good cable and splice a new section?
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So, I have seen. What was your fix? cable end or replace cable?

Betcha didn't have the bird though!

 

Thanks for the advice....Battery was changed out last year already. Original was SLA type that had been in for several years. New one is a AGM type that goes on a maintainer each night since the one before that started to give me issues.

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I'm right there with you on the bird situation.....

Just lucky again in the fact that birdie didn't die under the manifolds, convertors, back box....that would have been an interesting conversation with the insurance adjuster....

 

Started the repair process at 10am yesterday morning, out buying parts and stuff....car was on the ground as of 2am this morning......no pics....someone left there phone at work....

Debated on four methods after looking at threads detailing my issues.

1. Cut cable back and splice new section of cable to alternator
2. Replace harness going to starter/junction box
3. Cap loose end and run new feed to starter
4. Clean exposed cable, apply heat shrink and crimp new end

Option I choose is #1. That seemed the most logical/economical repair as long as the splice was up to par. Option 2 was really a last resort, Hail Mary kind of thing. I didn't see the point in replacing the harness if only a small portion was damaged, especially since I did not have a need to pull the intake, interior etc. Option 3 was really my second choice and I was prepared to do this if my first choice ran into issues. Option 4 was the first thought that crossed my mind after removing the charred insulation. It was never really a method that I considered unless I would have been stuck in the middle of BFE and that was the only option.

First was gathering components for both Option 1 and 2.
10' of #2G welding cable or cut up some high quality jumper cables ($10 vs $50....)
5/8" Heavy wall heat shrink (Lowes/Gardner Bender HWT-0020)
Splice/Reducer 2 STR-14AWG (Lowes/Thomas & Betts ASR0214-B2)
2G lug w/ 5/16 hole
Spark plug boot insulators (Accel #170086)

As I said, Option 1 was my first choice as long as I found good wire. From the lug at the alternator back about three inches, the insulation was burned off the wire under the Fiberglas braid. Pulled the alternator belt and alternator to locate the wire and start probing back to find good wire. About three inches from the clamp, I was able to find good wire with red pliable insulation rather than black crispy stuff. I trial fitted everything and it looked good. Next, installed the splice, cut the new wire a little long so that instead of the wire going horizontal across the back of the alternator, I elected to have it dip down making a "U" shape going up to the battery lug. This way, the splice was not under stress by bending and the wire is further away from the heat. Another benefit is if the wire were to fail again, it should fall away from the alternator onto the undertray, away from any metal. Crimped a new copper lug on and installed heat shrink over the splice and lug. From there, I slid the boot protectors over the line (2 boot protectors cover the line from where it goes through the cable clamp just behind the right bank timing cover)

Reinstalled the alternator and properly tensioned the belt per WSM and my trusty iPhone guitar tuning app.

Ran it, no noises, no smoke, no problems......Installed the undertray, off the stands, off to bed at 2am......up at 6 am for the Beaumont Cars & Coffee....