Alternator Troubles

[SkweekyEvil]

Heya all
Recently i have been having a lot of trouble with the alternator in my AW11 S/C.

Firstly I'll share what has learned for the benefit of others, followed by the mysterys yet to receive an answer for from the diagnostic dice.
When all lights on the dash stay on after start-up (including the supercharger light) but not including the check engine light or the hand-break light, this means your alternator is not working =)
There are a few things to check the two that have given me trouble are the positive on the alternator its-self has fallen off and the belt is slipping.
So to start off with the old and tired positive rusted off and was discovered and replaced with an insulated lug (I wasn't happy with the connection but was in a rush so left it).
When it fell off again there was a lot more effort put into fixing it with an un-insulated lug and heat shrink, this also revealed the the insulation on the cable was in a very poor condition but due to the new heat shrink that covered most of the cable I wasn't worried.
Tonight on the way home the tell-tail lights letting me know the alternator had stopped (again) showed there red faces top a torrent of abuse. Investigation revealed that the lug just melted at the point of connection with the cable! Pics soon to follow

So I am wondering if the heat produce by the exhaust manifold coupled with an positive temperature-resistance co-efficient of the metal causes current and heat to build to melting point... Hope not but that is my best guess at this stage.

Anyone had more experience in this than me and care to shed light on the situation?

Cheers

[Benckj]

Had the same thing happen to my landcruiser except on starter. Lug melted so bad it engaged the starter and wouldn't release. Wife drove the truck over footpath and onto handrail before she manged to stop it. Diesel starter motors have alot of torque!

[Redmist]

Normally if a lug melts off in the way described its the result of a crap connection. Resistance plus current equals heat and stuff melts.
John.

[SkweekyEvil]

This connection was good. Im a sparky by trade and have the tools and experience to put on a lug

[Grrrrrrr!]

Did you clean all the oxidation off the lead before you crimped the new lug on? If not John is spot on the money, no matter how well you crimp the new lug on if the conductors all have a nice layer of high resistance oxidation on them it will get hot. BTDT... Usually just pulled some extra wire and took the end off to get some clean copper to work with. (24V 100-160A DC motors)

[JasonFriday13]

^ what they said. If it still gives problems then it could be something else drawing alot of current. Also, have you checked the voltage with the car running? It should be around 14.5 volts.