k20
3/4 ton status
Alrighty, well, this morning, going to class, pulled out of the neighborhood, and my belt started squealing like crazy, figured it was just cause it was damn, cause I hosed out the engine compartment yesterday, and it was cool/damp all night. Then I glanced down and watched my dash lights go dim, then out 
.
So I pulled into a side road, stopped, then the whole interior was full of smoke . Switched it off, grabbed fire ext, looked in through the fender, didnt see any flames, popped the hood, nothing. The alternator pulley was really hot though. I figured the alternator had locked up, and the smoke was from the belt. Started the truck, nothing, turned around, nothin, then as I was headin back for the main road (to go home, I hate electrical gremlins) the belt started again.
So I stopped, and as I did, I saw the source of the smoke, it was rollin up from behind my seat (notice more each time). So I pop the hood, (have the 5lb fire ext in my lap), nothin under the hood, look behind my seat, and see a wire that the insulation has melted off of. It provides switched power for my cb. I had run the wire into the fuse box behind the t/l ctsy fuse, and had a fuse on it. The fuse on the wire was fine.
So I went to the fuse box, the t/l fuse was blown, the wire (where it ran into the box), the insulation was bubbled up, and generally nasty lookin. Unplugged it there, ripped all the accesory fuses behind my seat out, drove home with no lights, window down venting smoke, and no squealing belts.
What do I need to check to see if I screwed up? Also, why would that wire melt, and the fuse on it, not blow? Only thing I can figure is the other day I hadta slide my seat forward cause I dropped a pen behind the seat, and when I slid it back, that I might have gotten the wire trapped in the track.
My, o chit I almost burned up my truck, factor is still pegged, so this might not make any sense, but what all do I need to check, and what exactly makes a wire melt the insulation off? And why if one little (12 or 14awg) wire is shorted, would it make the alternator(140amp powermaster) beastify, and lock down and make the dash lights dim out to nothing?
Thanks. Chris.
. So I pulled into a side road, stopped, then the whole interior was full of smoke
. Switched it off, grabbed fire ext, looked in through the fender, didnt see any flames, popped the hood, nothing. The alternator pulley was really hot though. I figured the alternator had locked up, and the smoke was from the belt. Started the truck, nothing, turned around, nothin, then as I was headin back for the main road (to go home, I hate electrical gremlins) the belt started again.So I stopped, and as I did, I saw the source of the smoke, it was rollin up from behind my seat
(notice more each time). So I pop the hood, (have the 5lb fire ext in my lap), nothin under the hood, look behind my seat, and see a wire that the insulation has melted off of. It provides switched power for my cb. I had run the wire into the fuse box behind the t/l ctsy fuse, and had a fuse on it. The fuse on the wire was fine. So I went to the fuse box, the t/l fuse was blown, the wire (where it ran into the box), the insulation was bubbled up, and generally nasty lookin. Unplugged it there, ripped all the accesory fuses behind my seat out, drove home with no lights, window down venting smoke, and no squealing belts.
What do I need to check to see if I screwed up? Also, why would that wire melt, and the fuse on it, not blow? Only thing I can figure is the other day I hadta slide my seat forward cause I dropped a pen behind the seat, and when I slid it back, that I might have gotten the wire trapped in the track.
My, o chit I almost burned up my truck, factor is still pegged, so this might not make any sense, but what all do I need to check, and what exactly makes a wire melt the insulation off? And why if one little (12 or 14awg) wire is shorted, would it make the alternator(140amp powermaster) beastify, and lock down and make the dash lights dim out to nothing?
Thanks. Chris.
