When I took over the car there was a faint odor that I couldn't pin down, sniffed all around the dash and under the hood. About an hour into the shift smoke was coming out of the hood. No warnings at all in the information center. Shut it down, popped the hood again and found the alternator smoking. It didn't stop, in fact got worse. Grabbed my Leatherman out of my bag and it took all my strength to break loose the 10mm negative battery bolt in the trunk.
2012 Dodge Charger patrol car alternator meltdown
- Thread starter IMSA_Racing_Fan
- Start date
Back when I had a 2001 Lexus IS300 I actually had the alternator wire catch on fire while I was driving. Came to a stop, put out the fire (wasn't much). Turned out that wire somehow got loose in the crimped connector that bolts to the alternator, and created enough spark to light the insulation. After little re-crimping (thankfully had my Avionics tool bag in the trunk) it was back to life. Changed that cable same week, no issues afterwards.
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
Is it part of the recall? My grandpa's 14' Grand Cherokee had the alternator recalled for this being a common problem.
A friend of mine who owns a mechanic shop had some car with the Pentastar come in with a melted down alternator. He found it had a recall and called the Dodge dealer who had it towed there and fixed for free.
A friend of mine who owns a mechanic shop had some car with the Pentastar come in with a melted down alternator. He found it had a recall and called the Dodge dealer who had it towed there and fixed for free.
I'll pass this on thanks.
I had a starter where the braided connection between solenoid and motor corroded, until one day it had enough and turned red hot before vaporizing in a stinky, oil-soaked "poof".
I know it was red hot, because I thought, gee that's weird, and had someone hit the key while I went looking for what's wrong.
I know it was red hot, because I thought, gee that's weird, and had someone hit the key while I went looking for what's wrong.
Dodge Charger recall S68
There's actually two separate recall's on those cars, one for the 160A alternator used in most of the civilian cars, and the one above that's specifically for the 220A, police package equipped Chargers. The S68 recall directly calls out "rapid thermal failure of the internal diode's causing a possible short to ground situation". Sounds like what you experienced.
Mopar recall check
You can punch your VIN into that site and see if the recall is still open on your car.
There's actually two separate recall's on those cars, one for the 160A alternator used in most of the civilian cars, and the one above that's specifically for the 220A, police package equipped Chargers. The S68 recall directly calls out "rapid thermal failure of the internal diode's causing a possible short to ground situation". Sounds like what you experienced.
Mopar recall check
You can punch your VIN into that site and see if the recall is still open on your car.
AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
Sounds like this is a problem for his fleet manager.
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