auxiliary battery post ?

I bought a '94 buick roadmaster about 6 weeks ago. Unfortunately, I've been so busy, I haven't had time to register it yet so it's been sitting in my driveway.

About once a week I've been starting it up and letting it run a little just to keep it fresh - I expect to finally get it on the road this week. After running it for about ten minutes today, I opened the hood and noticed a little smoke coming from a plastic cap that covers what appears to be some kind of auxiliary power terminal. Upon inspection, it was the cap melting against the terminal post which was obviously hot. The post sits outside a fuse box. I guess my question is whether that post is supposed to get hot, and if so, is the plastic cap supposed to be insulated from the post? - the way it is now, the plastic rests directly on the post.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance

 

pictures would sure help

 

auxiliary power feed

found this on another forum

 

Makes sense as aluminum has been banned from being used for wiring in Oregon for the same reason.

 

You will probably find a dirty connecton creating resistance. Take the connecton loose, clean it good and dab a little contact grease on it. Put it back together and good chance that will be the end of the smoking problem.

 

This is a well known problem in the 91-96 GM B-body community, cars burn up and down from that thing overheating, has to be replaced.
I'd disconnect the battery in the mean time just to be safe myself.
The post is zinc, not aluminum BTW. There is a Nov. 1994 GM technical service bulletin on it and it was the '94 and early '95 models that they used the zinc post on IIRC.
RMS has the kit to repair it and also has a link to the TSB which explains the problem and how to fix it.

http://www.rmsautoparts.com/proddetail.php?prod=12176639

Hamilton Chevy and maybe other GM dealers have the kit too but it doesn't include the buss connectors like RMS.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Impala-SS-B...=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item

 

BlueVista is spot on. Change that out asap, and disconnect the battery in the mean time. I had weird electrical problems with my '94 BRMW a few months after buying it in '07, and guys on the Impala SS forum clued me in on this issue. Upon further inspection I could see where the plastic post mount had melted a little bit, and the zinc post itself was a bit deformed. I replaced it, and the problems were gone.

I got my Brass post, and the whole fuse/relay box at a junkyard, cost me $5.00, and I got a few extra fuses and relays.

This is what will eventually happen if the zinc post is not changed out. This is a Caprice sedan that suffered a battery post failure.

 

This does look like a problem. That car may be difficult to restore.

 

It's just sitting in the driveway. Does the battery need to be disconnected?

 

I had already ordered from Hamilton Chevy. Will that work? Or, should I go for the other supplier. Also, would it be safe to drive a short way to a repair shop. I don't think I want to try this myself.

thanks for your help!

 

Sitting with the battery connected is fine. Just make sure the post is not ready to fall off..... And more than likely you will be fine getting to the repair shop as well, but keep a fire extinguisher with you.

Hamilton is fine, the pricing is a bit on the high side, but Mike is a good guy to deal with.

Just know that if even a small fire starts, or it gets real hot and melts, the fuse box is a pain in the butt to replace.

Mike

 

If you want to give it a try, here are the directions for replacing it yourself.
http://www.impalassforum.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=237690

If you want to drive it to a mechanic, pop off that plastic cap and take a good look at the post before you go. It should look like the one on the left.