so I had the bonnet up on the car today while the engine was running, and I noticed a smell of burning plastic... the box on top of battery is getting rather hot and starting to melt, the black wire on the left hand side is getting rather hot and wanted to know what this wire is for and what could be causing it? there is also a white powder on the inside of the cover and not sure what has caused this to appear. any help on this would be great

 

 

Very common failure due to a poor crimp connection on the black cable creating resistance. It connects to the alternator. Easiest fix is a new cable from TPS or main dealer. Cheapest fix is to open up & clean the crimp, cut the cable back an inch or so & recrimp.

Edited 14 February, 201412 yr by pauldazzle

thanks for that, trip to local dealer it is then