distributor smoking?!

[tomothy94]

for some apparently random reason my distributor started smoking today after installing an alternator. anybody have a clue as to why this might have happened?

[bmcecosse]

You haven't installed it correctly! Did you follow the alternator wiring diagram EXACTLY ??

[kennatt]

even wired wrong,can't see how it would effect the dizzy,theres no direct link to it unless you have wired somthing to the dizzy circuit have you or a lead from the alternator shorting out on the dizzy body.

[autolycus]

I suppose that if the alternator change also involved a polarity change, and IF it the distributor has got electronics in it, the smoke might get let out. Bit unlikely.

But since the OP hasn't told us anything about his car, or the distributor, or the alternator, or whether it happened within seconds or weeks of changing the alternator, we're bound to be guessing.

Kevin

[bmcecosse]

There is a previous thread - and the car was confirmed to be -ve earth..... Can't see a direct link myself - but I don't believe in coincidences......

[mike.perry]

I believe in co-incidences and fairies at the bottom of the garden where Morris Minors are concerned.
For instance I ploughed through a deep puddle in my Traveller and the engine started coughing and spluttering. I naturally thought that I had flooded the plugs and that they would dry out if I kept the engine running. However the engine eventually died when I had to stop at some lights. I did all the usual tests with no success until I noticed that there was almost no points gap. Reset the points and cured the problem. Co-incidence- the points had decided that they would close up at the same time as I hit the puddle.

[bmcecosse]

I doubt it.....the dampness just showed up the poor spark from the tiny gap......

[PSL184]

for some apparently random reason my distributor started smoking today after installing an alternator. anybody have a clue as to why this might have happened?

Smoking is very bad for the health and should be discouraged at all times

[bmcecosse]

To get to the problem.....exactly HOW did you connect the alternator? What did you do with the various wires ?

[tomothy94]

i connected the thin yellow and brown wire to the other thin brown and yellow wire as i was supposed to, and connected the two thicker wires to the solenoid... i left terminals f and d plugged in as when i unplugged them, the fuel gauge did not function for some reason. everything else was as it should be. it turned out to be the lower tension wire but i just cant understand why it would burn out at such a time - it was running fine for about half an hour and then started smoking. perhaps it was on its way out already and the increased voltage was the last straw?

[tomothy94]

also it's a normal run of the mill distributor - not an electric one. it happened about half an hour after installing the alternator - for the first 20 or so minutes it worked fine, then suddenly it started smoking, and now it doesnt start because the low tension wire has burnt out. so there is no direct link? :/

[tomothy94]

okay. put another wire in its place and now it starts - yay! just gotta find out how to take the damn thing out so i can fit the wire properly as at the moment its just hanging onto the threads of the old wire -.-

[bmcecosse]

Ahh - so it wasn't a direct result of fitting the alternator as was suggested at the start.............

[tomothy94]

got it wired together using my good old friend electrical tape - it appears not to have been. at least i can drive again now- yay!