Came home from work one day and started smelling something hot. I've fried my fair share of electronics in my career and this smell seemed a little too familiar. After sniffing around the cab for a few minutes, I popped the hood and saw smoke rising out of the alternator. I hauled ass to disconnect the battery and after letting things cool a bit I disconnected the wires from the back of the alternator and tested continuity between the positive post of the alternator and ground. Whaddaya know? 0.00 ohms. A dead short. Damn alternator shorted out and damn near burned my van down. Scariest thing i've experienced yet. I can't imagine what would have happened if that would have shorted out in the middle of the night while I was sleeping or when I was in the middle of the highway with no tools to disconnect the battery! Not good!

alternator dies after driving through rain

The alternator on the Dodge Grand Caravan is beneath the engine, down near the road surface. We drove through a rain storm with water splashing up under the van. A few hours later, the alternator died, very possibly from moisture. This happened late at night, so it could not be looked at until the next day and would have dried out by then. I would have to say this probably makes the van unsuitable for areas where there is rain and puddles on the road.