i am trying to figure out a problem on my moms 2007 gt mustang.

I haven't looked at the car yet but last night I get a phone call about there car having a burning smell with the traction control and abs light on.. My dad sent me a picture and text this morning saying he doesn't think the alternator is charging the battery after testing it with a multimeter. But there is melting by the terminal cover. Can a alternator do this? Or is there something else going on.

Thanks.

 

There can be 3 causes for that, one is over charging, 1 of the others is not charging and running off the battery and the 3rd would be the cable is loose or dirty and making a bad connection.

 

Most likely caused by a bad or loose connection at that nut. Amp draw through a bad connection will cause it to heat up and burn, and this is how you end up with electrical fires. Replace the cables and connectors as the copper strands under the insulation will also be burned near connection.

 

That looks like it broke through the rubber and contacted the hood. Is the ground strap still intact? The braided one? I made a mistake once while I was trying some aftermarket battery posts and the positive contacted the hood. It wasn't pretty. Ground strap melted and negative cable bolt sheared clean off the strut tower. Luckily it didn't affect anything else.