So my friend has this 86 Camaro she wanted to get rid of, and I figured it was worth picking up since the engine sounds really solid and the body doens't have that much rust.

I went over there this weekend to check it out before I decided for sure. The car's been sitting this winter and the battery was dead so I jump-started it off my car and let it run for a bit. My friend and I went inside to finish things up since by then I'd made up my mind to take it, then we went back outside to start it again to see how it started now that it had run for a bit before.

It was completely dead again, so I went to re-boost it, but once I connected the jumper cables, a copper ground wire from the back of the engine to the firewall started smoking. I removed it since there is supposed to be a second ground and I thought there might be some crap on the wire that was making it smoke.

When I rehooked the jumper cables smoke started rising from the alternator. At this point I figured I'd either completely fried the whole system or there was something wrong way over my head. Does anyone have any ideas what happened and what I could do?

 

Smokin wires Not good. That strap you disconnected was a ground, again not good. Without seeing it and trouble shooting it... kind of like making a monday morning call after the fact. Does it have battery anywhere else?

 

Yeah, disconnecting that strap was a bad idea. Are you sure you had the cabled hooked up right?

Well I say try replacing the alternator, make sure the battery is good, then pray the rest of the electrical system is ok.

 

Wadebryant, no, it doens't have any battery anywhere else, which is why I'm wondering if I didn't do serious damage somehow. I'll try it with a new battery next time I make it over there, though I'm not sure if I should throw the money into it for a new alternator when I probably won't take the car if the electrical is screwed that bad (I still have the option of backing out of the deal (let's not mention I may have had a hand in screwing said electrical))

I put the ground back on it as soon as I knew it wasn't the main problem. Thanks for the replies guys!

 

Check the fuse panel if you dont have battery anywhere. Hopefully, you didnt burn any fuseable links. They're a little more trouble. You could also remove the altenator, battery and take them in to be checked or replaced if needed.

 

I doubt you damaged much besides the charging system.

 

It's not like you can damage the engine doing what you did, check all the fuses in the fuse box to be safe... I bet you just need a new alternator and possibly a battery.