The 2004 discovery was towed in to the dealership. The service advisor and the technician inspected it on the spot. They told me the smokes and burning odor came from the alternator; it was burned. The question is: might it be linked to something else: the shaking, the knocking noise? Is it normal for a 2004 Discovery with 84,211 miles to have a blown alternator?

 

What shaking and knocking issues?????????????
I had to have my alternator replaced while still under warranty, anything mechanical can fail.

 

Thanks for the commernts. I have been having some problems with these issues: shaking and a knocking noise after having a Head Gasket job performed.

 

Guess what? The dealer called me up and told me that after all the altenator was good. It was rather the starter that had gone bad. Now the question is: is it normal for starters to catch fire and burn? I strongly believe that it must be porvoked by something. My problems began after the dealership performed a Head Gasket job on the car. The car has been shaking and making knocking noises since...

 

no, but its entirely possible the ignition switch stayed on and burned up. Seen that a few times.

 

my truck was one of them...... (46K on it)
it happened as i was doing induction cleaning and the starter fried... smoke and smell coming from the right side of the engine.
it cost me 600$ to have it replaced with an aftermarket starter. (Brithish Atlantic certified mechanic).
just curious to know what the dealer will charge. let us know how it goes.