ok so a few days ago i posted on how my car almost caught fire. here's my original post

"so i'm driving and i notice the volt meter is 18.
now i knew i had a bad ground, but instead of usually draining the battery, it did much more.
anyways im driving and the volt meter was at 18, then it was pegged, so was the temp gauge. the tach dropped and the car was sputtering. i quickly pulled onto a side street as smoke emerged from the gauge cluster, right by the volt meter soon followed by the tach.
i pop the hood and the battery was smoking pretty bad.
i disconnected the cables and let it sit."

so today i finally started pulling some things apart and i noticed some stuff. right when i pulled out the gauge cluster, the burnt smell was undeniable.

i smelled it particulary here

[IMG]file:///Scarlet/Cluster.jpg[/IMG]

and here

[IMG]file://localhost/Scarlet/Connector.jpg[/IMG]

i smelled it on the other side of the gauge cluster but i dont think it was as much.

i unplugged the connector that goes on top of the alternator, then sniffed the alternator, it smelled burnt plus i looked inside and saw the other part of the connector was burnt.

so now i know either the alternator had a play in it, or it was just a casualty.
the alternator is about 2 years old btw.

i couldn't dig any further today, i may tomorrow.

any ideas so far?

someone mentioned the fusible links, i dont know what those are
could someone explain?

 

pics are not showing. try reloading them or something.

 

As I in the other post, Maybe the voltage regulator. I havn't had a chance to check my alternator or anything else. Hope you have better luck with this post.

Heres a bump for you .

 

heres the two pics. i really could smell the burn on the gauge cluster where the picture is showing

 

Yeah, same place but on the speedo side. Also right above the location of the cluster pic was like a box with prongs, which is the back of the speedo, smelled burnts also.

Looks like we have the same problem, but on the opposite sides of the cluster.

 

well on the other side of the cluster i smelled it too, but it wasnt as bad. and like i said i looked at the alternator and on the plug on the inside, it smelled burnt as well and had the obvious looks of being burnt.

i'm hoping i could find out more before i take apart the entire dash.

oh btw as i was looking around about left center of the dash, looking down from the top, i saw a few wires with butt connectors and i was wondering what they were.

 

Looks like maybe speaker wires.

 

i'm thinking it could have been the alternator that went bad and caused all of this.

now would i need a new wiring harness? the gauge cluster smelled burnt and same with the connectors.

 

Have you had the alternator checked?

I wouldnt think the harness would have to be replaced, just the cluster. Unless you found burnt wires under the dash.

Im no electronics/wire guru, maybe someone else will post.