Hi Group,

I was driving into work today and I saw my Brake and Alternator lights
turn on just before I got on the highway. When I got on the on-ramp,
I could have sworn I smelt burning rubber...the same smell I had in my
300ZX years back when the undercarriage lights shorted and started a
small cabin fire. I pulled over to check under the hood as soon as
there was a breakdown lane and I didn't see any smoke or anything
burning under the hood. The battery felt cool to the touch (it was
only about 3 miles from home at this point) and there were no visible
shorts.

Get back on the highway and the cabin starts to smell like an airplane
when you hit 30,000 ft. That stale, recycled, bottled air smell. The
smell that shoots out of the little vents. Should note that after I
noticed the lights I turned off the HVAC system. The engine sputtered
a little bit when I got on it to get out of the breakdown lane, but
other than that it ran fine. When I got off the highway I saw my rear
window was a bit fogged up so I went to turn on the rear defroster,
but the light didn't light up on the dash. I did put the defroster on
when I left the house, and it was working earlier.

The car got a new battery and rebuilt alternator about a month and a
half ago. The battery came from a AAA truck, the alternator was
rebuilt at a local machine shop that only works on alternators. It's
getting close to 125,000 right now and I haven't put the new timing
belt in yet (coming soon -- I either need to get some more money or
some time off from work...or another car to drive while I do it after-
work over the course of a week).

All the electronics in the car, with the exception of the stereo and
antenna, are original. I had my cell phone charger plugged in to the
CLA but not under a load. The rear window has a large vinyl decal
spanning the back of it and that has been there for the better part of
a year. This is in New England and it was a beautiful morning today.
(Trying to answer any questions before they get asked)

Anybody have an idea of what it is? I'm thinking the wires going to
my defroster may have either burned through or the fuse blown, but
does this car actually light up dash lights when fuses blow? When I
burned out my wiper motor last winter, no lights came on, and no fuses
lasted in that thing for more than a second when I was testing it.
While I'm at it, does anyone know a good write-up on doing a timing
belt in this car? (2000 Sonata V6)

 

So I managed to get the car home tonight, and definitely smelled that
burning-wire smell. To be sure I cleared the car of any competing
odors (namely a fast food bag and an extra pair of work shoes) and
managed to figure out the smell is coming from under the hood.

Armed with this extra bit of knowledge, I took a volt-meter to the
powered-off cars battery. 12.56volts. Well within range for a
battery. So I turned on the car and checked the voltage again.

12.56 volts.

Well, that's not right. Wedged the positive probe down inside the
side of the positive terminal (so it would stand on its own) and used
my free hand to rev the engine and still 12.56 volts.

No charge getting to the battery. I think I know where to look now,
and it'll start with the guy that installed my alternator.