Exact same thing just happened to my Jeep Wrangler tonight. Fire department needed to be called because my kitchen fire extinguisher couldn’t put the flames out. Luckily got garden hose hooked up before trucks arrived. Alternator was replaced like 6 months ago too so new enough that issues should have come sooner.
Glad you were able to catch it before it burned down everything. With some cars it's possible for a dead short through the alternator even when the car is not running. The electronic voltage regulators fail and allow the current to flow from the battery, through the alternator's field winding to ground. The alternator gets hot, the wiring between the battery and alternator gets hot and can melt and, of course, the battery goes dead in a few hours, if you're lucky and the car hasn't gone up in flames that is. I've had this problem with some cars that have separate electronic voltage regulators, although I would think it could happen with integral regulators too. I personally have never had it happen with the old mechanical voltage regulators though. Quite a few newer cars have the voltage regulator built right in to the computer, still a form of electronic regulator.
This is the first Video of yours that I've seen. Great job. Mine is a 1993 Ford F150 300 inline 6. The Alternator did the same started smoking and turned Bright Orange Park inside. Yesterday I started it for a few minutes and did the same. So today I hope to change it after Church. I've never seen anything like that. God Bless Y'all
The alternator on my Pathfinder caught fire Tuesday during evening rush hour. Noticed a odd smell, dismissed it because of stop and go traffic. As we were sitting a red light, smoke started pouring out from under the truck. I whipped it into a parking lot and popped the hood. There were flames coming out of the alternator. Luckily, my wife had a 44 oz ice water that I poured into the alternator along with a bottle of Windex. It's all I had and apparently, all I needed. I got lucky. Had it happened on the highway, I'm sure it would have ended differently.
Ikr?? I thought of that. That would've been horrible if it lit up on the highway lol!! I'm glad I was able to get everything sorted out and she's driving beautifully now! Thanks!
Can we just take a moment to appreciate the thumbnail? I'm honestly so proud 😌😂😂 thanks for watching guys!! This was a crazy experience, and more to come!!
I have the exact same car my alternator just went out so I got a 300 amp alt from js alternators it only took them 8 days to build and ship! Also my rear end squats low when I turn it off but it seems to do OK when I'm driving should I go ahead and replace them with struts or wait until they get worse then replace them is there something wrong with them or does your dad's rear end squat top after you shut engine off
Well...I Google my Cadi went up in flames last week. My car I loved is at the scrap yard. The fire dept. Came n put car out right b4 my garage caught fire. It sat for 2 hours in my drive b4 poof ....flames shot up thru hood n my whole frnt of car burnt. I'm so 😔 sad.
.......oooohhhh MAN :/ you got no luck with your Northstar.....damn !!! When I take a look to my STS I m realy glad that everything is running perfect..... after the replacement from the original converter and the original mufflers....the engine can breath very easy....also I had removed the strange resonator at the airfilterbox ;) The only Thing that broke last year was the "V Belt tensioner"..... take care Bro...BR from Germany, Roger
I have to change the alternator on my 2006 buick lucerne cxs 4.61 v8. I think I will spend a lil more and get a better one . Now I have to see if i can do what you did to change it out wish I stayed up the road from you LOL,
Thank you for the video I bought a 07dts in 2020 and just the other day I had the same problem so now I know it's my alternator that needs to be replaced. Once again thanks and you saved me a lot of money
Hi from the UK , i had same issue on my Renault basically was getting a rotten eggs type smell and hearing a grinding noise, opened the hood and the Alternator was short circuiting causing a minor electical fire reason why this happens is actually simple, the bearings inside the Alternator had worn out anyway, sadly due to the age of the Renault 14 years old im scrapping it as here in the UK mechanics charge a fortune, £400 i was quoted to replace it, anyway good luck with your car hope its up and running again bro.
I went through 3 alternators from Autoparts till they finally gave me a working one, many years ago for Infiniti I35-was one of the worst experience I had (first one Lights flickering, second voltages will not stay constant, the third one finally I noticed the Alt looked very NEW with new Pulley, etc).
has anyone mentioned, that the alternator that caught fire was a reman--- AND THE NEW ONE HE REPLACED IT WITH WAS ALSO A REMAN. I have zero confidence in any over the counter parts these days- it is entirely hit or miss any direction you go. The only benefit to buying locally is you can drive there and take it back-
I replaced my alternator when it failed right after I drained the coolant to use blue devil head gasket repair. I thought maybe I spilled coolant on it and shorted it out. I replaced the alternator with one from Amazon and went in a road trip. On the way the car overheated from air in the cooling system. I got the air out and the cooling system is working but now I just noticed the battery voltage is down to 12.7 instead of 14+ like before. I wonder if it's just a crappy alternator or if I got the new one wet too or if the high engine temp killed it... So frustrating. Any ideas anyone?
Yep, just my luck as always! Lmao jk. I'm so glad I caught it before it got way worse, and she's driving beautifully now. The card that failed on me was I think PNY brand (Walmart crap lol), I'm running SanDisk Ultra Plus's now, they seem to be well liked for the money. Thanks for the comment dude!
Unfortunately you get bad parts from time to time, that's just the way it goes. Good news is nobody got hurt and the car didn't go up like a roman candle. I came across your video because I'm gonna help a buddy replace the alternator in his Caddy . I'm gonna make sure he gets quality OEM parts and apply some of the lessons learned from your previous video, so thanks for that. Oh, and one piece of advice, if you haven't already figured it out. Be sure to have an ABC rated fire extinguisher nearby at all times, water and electrical DONT MIX.
About an hour ago I was driving my 1992 Ford Mustang and I was going home and I smelled something and noticed smoke coming outta the hood so I got out and opened it saw fire and immediately called 911 and my sister called my dad I had no clue what to do and luckily someone stopped and put the fire out and the car is good and just needs a new alternator and some wires
Crazy, same exact model year and color and trim man, I had the same thing happen to me with the smoke and smell and all that, except I didn’t know what it was at the time so I got a new car :( wish I could of seen this video before
Wow!!! I'm really glad that you caught that in time before further damage set in. Rockauto hasn't been a great source for parts for myself or another friend of mine. I've bought a few parts from them few years back and turned out to all be defective. Needless to say I'm not buying from Rock auto again especially after seeing this and what it caused you! Unbelievable!!
Bro if that was a brand new alt..... that’s messed up man.... that alt coulda killed you or burn down your garage or house... not to mention the car... they should be sued
This is why you should only buy quality car parts. Buy cheap buy twice. A quality rebuilt alternator will forever be better than a poor quality no name chinesium alternator.
Just went through that, had same thoughts going through my head, for some reason i keep fire extinguisher in my van, came in handy
Exact same thing just happened to my Jeep Wrangler tonight. Fire department needed to be called because my kitchen fire extinguisher couldn’t put the flames out. Luckily got garden hose hooked up before trucks arrived. Alternator was replaced like 6 months ago too so new enough that issues should have come sooner.
Glad you were able to catch it before it burned down everything. With some cars it's possible for a dead short through the alternator even when the car is not running. The electronic voltage regulators fail and allow the current to flow from the battery, through the alternator's field winding to ground. The alternator gets hot, the wiring between the battery and alternator gets hot and can melt and, of course, the battery goes dead in a few hours, if you're lucky and the car hasn't gone up in flames that is. I've had this problem with some cars that have separate electronic voltage regulators, although I would think it could happen with integral regulators too. I personally have never had it happen with the old mechanical voltage regulators though. Quite a few newer cars have the voltage regulator built right in to the computer, still a form of electronic regulator.
Wow scary man. I'm glad you caught it in time, it would have been so sad to see the DTS burn up !! Keep the videos coming and Happy New Year !
This is the first Video of yours that I've seen. Great job. Mine is a 1993 Ford F150 300 inline 6. The Alternator did the same started smoking and turned Bright Orange Park inside. Yesterday I started it for a few minutes and did the same. So today I hope to change it after Church. I've never seen anything like that. God Bless Y'all
The alternator on my Pathfinder caught fire Tuesday during evening rush hour. Noticed a odd smell, dismissed it because of stop and go traffic. As we were sitting a red light, smoke started pouring out from under the truck. I whipped it into a parking lot and popped the hood. There were flames coming out of the alternator. Luckily, my wife had a 44 oz ice water that I poured into the alternator along with a bottle of Windex. It's all I had and apparently, all I needed.
I got lucky. Had it happened on the highway, I'm sure it would have ended differently.
At least your dad wasn't out on the road when this happened. Glad you was able to fix it and it didn't do any more damage to the car.
Ikr?? I thought of that. That would've been horrible if it lit up on the highway lol!! I'm glad I was able to get everything sorted out and she's driving beautifully now! Thanks!
I advise you to buy ABN Serpentine Belt Tool Kit or something similar to the front engines
Dude your story telling skills is underrated😂👌🏾 nice video
Can we just take a moment to appreciate the thumbnail? I'm honestly so proud
😌😂😂 thanks for watching guys!! This was a crazy experience, and more to come!!
Channel C.G.E. That thumbnail is awesome😂
I have the exact same car my alternator just went out so I got a 300 amp alt from js alternators it only took them 8 days to build and ship! Also my rear end squats low when I turn it off but it seems to do OK when I'm driving should I go ahead and replace them with struts or wait until they get worse then replace them is there something wrong with them or does your dad's rear end squat top after you shut engine off
I have a 2006 DTS and the stock alternator just started whining and smoking. Now I know not drive it any more until it's fixed.
Well...I Google my Cadi went up in flames last week. My car I loved is at the scrap yard. The fire dept. Came n put car out right b4 my garage caught fire. It sat for 2 hours in my drive b4 poof ....flames shot up thru hood n my whole frnt of car burnt. I'm so 😔 sad.
Was it remanufactured?woah scary this why I go to local stores and make sure it says lifetime warranty
Yeah I'll be going to locals for this kind of thing from now on too! Lol this was nuts. Yeah it was a reman
Get a Lexus ls430. I’ve seen them with 250,000+miles original alternator and starter.
My PT loser was just too much bs last year ..now have a corolla over a year now never any issues 😂🤷
.......oooohhhh MAN :/ you got no luck with your Northstar.....damn !!! When I take a look to my STS I m realy glad that everything is running perfect..... after the replacement from the original converter and the original mufflers....the engine can breath very easy....also I had removed the strange resonator at the airfilterbox ;) The only Thing that broke last year was the "V Belt tensioner"..... take care Bro...BR from Germany, Roger
you got to put orange coolant in The Cadillacs it will run a little hot unless you put the orange
I have to change the alternator on my 2006 buick lucerne cxs 4.61 v8. I think I will spend a lil more and get a better one . Now I have to see if i can do what you did to change it out wish I stayed up the road from you LOL,
Thank you for the video I bought a 07dts in 2020 and just the other day I had the same problem so now I know it's my alternator that needs to be replaced. Once again thanks and you saved me a lot of money
I should get a fire extinguisher in my garage. AND tighten up my alternator belt a little more.
Yeah that's not a bad idea, I should do that too lol
Hi from the UK , i had same issue on my Renault basically was getting a rotten eggs type smell and hearing a grinding noise, opened the hood and the Alternator was short circuiting causing a minor electical fire reason why this happens is actually simple, the bearings inside the Alternator had worn out anyway, sadly due to the age of the Renault 14 years old im scrapping it as here in the UK mechanics charge a fortune, £400 i was quoted to replace it, anyway good luck with your car hope its up and running again bro.
“All-inader”
Same thing happened to me on my ‘68 Lesabre. Horrible smelling smoke! Crappy cheap product. Glad your Caddy didn’t go up in flames!
I had an alternator that was wound backwards! Actually I had 2 I had to return it was out of Orange County CA
That's crazy!
I went through 3 alternators from Autoparts till they finally gave me a working one, many years ago for Infiniti I35-was one of the worst experience I had (first one Lights flickering, second voltages will not stay constant, the third one finally I noticed the Alt looked very NEW with new Pulley, etc).
@@DennisRivera-Gamer i have the same car im on the second reman alternator going to take it back for a replacement tomorrow hope it works.
has anyone mentioned, that the alternator that caught fire was a reman--- AND THE NEW ONE HE REPLACED IT WITH WAS ALSO A REMAN. I have zero confidence in any over the counter parts these days- it is entirely hit or miss any direction you go. The only benefit to buying locally is you can drive there and take it back-
Please do a DTS update recap vid on the overheating issues
I replaced my alternator when it failed right after I drained the coolant to use blue devil head gasket repair. I thought maybe I spilled coolant on it and shorted it out. I replaced the alternator with one from Amazon and went in a road trip. On the way the car overheated from air in the cooling system. I got the air out and the cooling system is working but now I just noticed the battery voltage is down to 12.7 instead of 14+ like before. I wonder if it's just a crappy alternator or if I got the new one wet too or if the high engine temp killed it... So frustrating. Any ideas anyone?
That’s some bad luck! Glad you noticed in time. Please let me know the brand of memory card that failed, I’d like to avoid that.
Yep, just my luck as always! Lmao jk. I'm so glad I caught it before it got way worse, and she's driving beautifully now.
The card that failed on me was I think PNY brand (Walmart crap lol), I'm running SanDisk Ultra Plus's now, they seem to be well liked for the money. Thanks for the comment dude!
The DTS is a tough cookie...
She sure is man!!!
Unfortunately you get bad parts from time to time, that's just the way it goes. Good news is nobody got hurt and the car didn't go up like a roman candle. I came across your video because I'm gonna help a buddy replace the alternator in his Caddy . I'm gonna make sure he gets quality OEM parts and apply some of the lessons learned from your previous video, so thanks for that. Oh, and one piece of advice, if you haven't already figured it out. Be sure to have an ABC rated fire extinguisher nearby at all times, water and electrical DONT MIX.
Is it true you still tornadoes
About an hour ago I was driving my 1992 Ford Mustang and I was going home and I smelled something and noticed smoke coming outta the hood so I got out and opened it saw fire and immediately called 911 and my sister called my dad I had no clue what to do and luckily someone stopped and put the fire out and the car is good and just needs a new alternator and some wires
Crazy, same exact model year and color and trim man, I had the same thing happen to me with the smoke and smell and all that, except I didn’t know what it was at the time so I got a new car :( wish I could of seen this video before
Thanks man your vids help alot !!!
Wd40 essentially dries the belt out once it dries causing it to crack and tear
Looks like the diode pack I think went to ground
Agreed
mine is doing the same thing right now so I guess I shouldn't get a cheap alternator
Wow!!! I'm really glad that you caught that in time before further damage set in. Rockauto hasn't been a great source for parts for myself or another friend of mine. I've bought a few parts from them few years back and turned out to all be defective. Needless to say I'm not buying from Rock auto again especially after seeing this and what it caused you! Unbelievable!!
It's not so much a Rock Auto problem, but rather a cheap part problem - you can buy an AC Delco alternator from them too - for more $$$
Baby powder work best on belts... wd40 not good...
YOUR A GOOD SON.
Haha thank you!! I try my best ;D
My dads f150 caught on fire last night and tonight my alternator caught on fire in my truck i think i got it out in time (hopefully)
Wow scary things happen. And you do get bad parts sometimes.
They sure do! I've never seen anything like this but now I know
They literally have prestone belt conditioner 😂
I'll have to get some!
Most likely a shorted diode tree.
Yikes dude.
Ohh ok so it was just the crappy alternator. Good to know!
Picking cup the pt loser today thermostat or radiator or both haha
Oh jeez lol, hope she's okay!!
Bro if that was a brand new alt..... that’s messed up man.... that alt coulda killed you or burn down your garage or house... not to mention the car... they should be sued
That car hates you
I'm going to say this was a cheap brand of alternator. Just get OEM or a brand that everyone knows
Yeah it was a very cheap one lol, I learned my lesson
AC Delco or Delco remy is the ONLY way to go. Can't go wrong with OEM parts.....
This is why you should only buy quality car parts. Buy cheap buy twice. A quality rebuilt alternator will forever be better than a poor quality no name chinesium alternator.
Gypo Chinese knockoff. Pay me now or pay me later round eye!!
You have the worst luck!!