smoking alternator 12 volt negative ground

["Dick Benjamin" <dickb@xxxxxxxxx>]

I'm surprised to hear your 56 has an alternator, but I guess that doesn't
change the answer to your question.

Take the following steps immediately:!!

Turn off everything in the car, and close the doors.  Disconnect one battery
cable (it doesnt' matter which one), then touch it to the battery post it
came off to see if any spark occurs.   If there is no spark, you're short
has gone away.  With the battery disconnected, tap on the face of the
ammeter.  It may be stuck from having been driven totally off scale.
Tapping may bring it back to center.  If not, you may have to replace it,
but since you don't have a spark when you tap the cable on the post, you
don't have a short, and you can safely drive the car that way - your ammeter
is simply stuck and therefore its reading can be ignore.

IF< on the other hand, you do see a spark when you tap the cable (if your
clock works, one spark on the first tap is OK, but that should not recurr
for a few minutes when the clock needs to wind again), the spark indicates
something is drawing current, and you should leave the battery disconnected
until you find the short - leaving it connected will at the least ruin the
battery, and at the worst, ruin your whole day by burning up the car and
whatever building it is parked in.

Dick Benjamin
----- Original Message -----
From: Tim Hulse
To: Imperial Mailing List
Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2003 8:52 PM
Subject: IML: smoking alternator 12 volt negative ground


To whom mite know whats happening. I put my kick board back in place on the
drivers side of my 56 imperial. There was a heavy gauge wire that grounded
to the frame for a short while. I noticed the ammeter went way off of the
discharge side of glass. I then looked in the engine compartment to see
smoke coming out of the alternator. I moved the wire from where it was
grounded and the ammeter stays on the disscharge side even when I rev the
engine. Have I fried something?

Thanks
Tim