My alternator wiring caught on fire yesterday with the key off.. this is an 87 camaro. There are three wires going into the connector, two black and one red. All three were fried so I need to rewire them, I've traced the wires back to near the smog pump in the wiring harness, but I can't see any difference in the two black wires. Is there any? My positive battery cable also caught on fire.. what could have caused this? Could I have mixed up the two black wires when I extended them(moved the alternator because of serpentine swap)?

I don't want to make another mistake, so please help me so I don't catch my car on fire again Could a bad alternator have caused this? The one I got is not new, it came in a serpentine kit.

 

It does make a difference, if you mix them up, the alternator will not charge.

Also, are you sure they are both black? One should be black and the other should be brown.

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S/D TPI retrofit including functional PassKey,
22# injectors,
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JET AFPR, Ported Plenum,
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SSM SFC, KYB Shocks, Boxed LCAs, Wonder Bar,
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Corvette Servo,
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'97 Bonneville SSE

 

They are both the same color, black or brown. I've had four people look at it and none could see a difference. Is there any way to tell which is which? I don't really want my car to catch on fire again