So this evening my wife tells me the alarm on our 2001 E320 keeps going off in our driveway. I go out to check and there is a bad burning smell and no power, engine won't turn over. I open the hood and surprise, there is a small fire which appears to be coming from the back of the alternator. I fire extinguish it out, but am seriously perplexed how this fire started approx three hours after it was last driven.

I had the alternator replaced almost a year ago, battery was replaced at the same time, no problems whatsoever since then. I am guessing there is a fault in the electrical (duh), but am still perplexed.

WTF? Any ideas or other reasons how this could have happened? What now?

 

Did you figure anything out?