JJ is not correct. After starting the car most of the battery juice will have been used. Then all other electrical items would use up the remaining voltage quite quickly if the alternator was not feeding the battery.
The alternator going out would not cause the car to stop running. It could be the cause of the burning smell as well as disconnected wires in the dash. With the limited amount of info you supplied there is no way of answering your questions.
Even if the alternator went out the car would run for quite a while until the battery went dead. It sounds like they shorted something out that screwed up your whole electrical system.
if the Alt. shorted out and burnt the main fuse or associated wiring it would explain the smell. It could be related to other work and could be an isolated occurrence.
About half a mile after leaving a garage where a service had been done on my Renault espace, the car ground to a halt. I contacted the garage and they sent out a mechanic who told me the Alternator had gone.
I felt this information was not quite correct because I smelt burning as the car stopped and did not think the smell had anything to do with the Alternator.
Prior to the service but on the same day the same garage had fitted a UCH unit which blew the other electrics so I was advised that the display unit had to be removed and sent off for repair and the part will be replaced at a further cost.
Does the removal of the display unit have anything to do with the car dying on me and what in your opinion should have been done to correct the problem.
My original problem was the dashboard display did not light up and the indicators were out too, but all the other lights were working ok.
