Earth terminal fire and alternator smoking

[Andy]

Just been bleeding the coolant up on my 205 gti and i noticed the alternator smoking and making a sizzling/crackling noise,turned the engine off then the earth terminal at the battery started sparking and then caught fire.
Would the alt sh1tting its pants cause the earth wire to set on fire??

[swedge]

is your alternator over charging? is it earthed? check the voltage coming off the alternator

the small black box thing on the alternator stops it overcharging i cant remember what its called though

[Andy]

Not got a multimeter to try,its fukked the earth terminal connection so i need a new one of those before i can try anything

[swedge]

id get the voltage checked asap once your new cable is fitted

do your lights get brighter when you rev?

[Andy]

not got them wired up,its just engine bay stuff thats on atm.

[swedge]

check all your other earths as well and make sure they are good

i had this problem and it was the regulator (black box thing) that was buggered so was over charging

is your alternator earthed?

[Andy]

Theres not an earth that bolts to the bracket on these like vaux's.

[swedge]

surely theres an earth on it somewhere?

[Andy]

They dont have them.