Driving back from work and the hand brake and battery light comes on. Waiting at some traffic lights and I see a small amount of smoke coming from the front of the car and a smell of electrical burning. Pulled over and lifted the bonnet and the wire attached to the front of the altenator is smoldering a little. Left it to cool down and then drover home very slowly with nothing but lights on. No smell on the way home and lifted the bonnet when I got back and the wire was not smoldering.
What does this wire do and is it easy to find a replacement?
Could this be a short from a loose earth point? Ive had the handbrake and battery light come up before but only for a split sec and then back off again.
Any input appreciated!
Cheers guys.

Have you got the helms manuals? Section 4 goes through the electrical charging system with some good flow diagrams.

If I was betting I'd say your alternator was knackered. Easy way to check the charging system is to put a voltmeter over the battery and then monitor the voltage while the engine is running. It should stay steady between 12-15 Volts (13.5 to be more precise) IIRC.

Any less then the alternator is shagged, anymore, the voltage regulator (found on the alternator) is f*cked.

Not to worry if it is though, as an alternator is easy to change.

EDIT - Heres a link to the Helms workshop manual:

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Could be a dodgy earth or a short - get your multimeter out and check as much as you can. I had a dodgy earth on an old triumph spitfire starter motor - hardly cranked over but just enough to start. I only noticed it because one particularly cold morning it took a while to start and I noticed smoke - popped the bonnet and found the plastic topcoat of the throttle cable had melted - I can only assume the starter motor had been earthing through it

Cheers guys, think is gunna be the bad earth as the dash lights have been flicking on intermitantly for a while. Didnt think this would happen though!! Could it be from when I had my clutch done? Ive been told it may be the "main strap" from the alt to the gearbox. I presume this is disconnected from the gearbox when doing the clutch, if they didnt put it back on correctly could this be the cause?

Where would be the best place to get the new wiring? Auto Factors? Does anyone have the Honda part number for it?

Ive had a look on the manual and looking at one of the diagrams its the "B Terminal Wire" that has started to melt. Im gunna print it off and go over the whole system to see whats what.

Im driving my dads Golf estate while this is being sorted it feels like a boat! Although I somehow managed to get the MPG to go up to 200 haha.

Cheers,
Mike

Being that one of the wires has melted through, Will I need whole new engine harness??

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Looking on here it seems to be one piece!!

Cheers
Mike

Hmm, I'd either have a word with a proper auto electrician or Honda stealer as to whether the whole loom needs replacing. Can't imagine that being an easy job or cheap

Engine loom is one big thing, but nothing to stop you cutting and adding in a new bit wire. Just get it done properly and it should be fine. Twist, tin and heatshrink - make sure the wire used is up to the job as well!

Had a proper look at it at luch time and it is just the moisture cover at the end of the wire that has melted a tad. The Wiring is fine just need to find the bad earth point and sort it before I drive it anywhere.