"Robert F. Smith" <file70@charter.net> wrote in message
news:K3yEf.3514$gl3.67@fe06.lga...
> My 1991 Prelude had a power steering leak that basically poured into the
> alternator. The battery light came on and the car eventually stopped.
> After recharging the battery, the vehicle was restarted and ran for about
> 3 minutes before the battery light started coming back on and died (which
> I assume the alternator is now bad). There was also a puff of white smoke
> from the alternator area as it died. The battery is in good charge again.
>
> The question is: now there is no power when the ignition switch is on.
> The dome light does not work but the brake lights do come on. My
> understanding is that the alternator would not cause this because the
> battery runs thru the ignition to the starter and then back to the battery
> with a branch the alternator off of this loop. What am I missing? What
> would cause this? Thanks for your feedback.
>
I'm not sure what is going on at this point, but I suspect the sequence of
events included the power steering fluid (basically an oil) getting on the
brushes and disrupting contact with the slip rings. What I fear happened was
intermittent contact between the brushes and rings (thus the smoke) and wild
gyrations in the voltage.

First thing to check is every fuse you can see. Some of them might not have
survived the ride. After that, it's time to troubleshoot the easiest things
(lights) first. There may be a large "main" fuse for the switched power - I
dunno.

The alternator may even be okay after cleaning and relubricating or it may
have been spiked too much - you won't know unless you remove, disassemble
and clean it up. You may elect to replace it at this age, depending on how
much you fight to get it out and in.

Mike