Alternator power wire.

[[ion] C2]

Status: FIXED

Somehow I screwed up the wiring for my car and the Alternator has 0 voltage from its power wire to the negative terminal on the battery. Starter has 12 volts and the car starts, it just runs on battery power.

Does anyone have a diagram tracing the wire from the alternator back to the battery?
I haven't torn into the wire loom yet to find the disconnect, but I'm assuming either:

1. The wire from the starter loom area to the alternator is melted/broken from the short I caused a few days ago (I had the power/ground for the starter switched).
2. I have some wire crossed at the ground area or starter.

I will open the loom tomorrow and see if anything has been damaged but is there anything I could possibly be missing? Is there a fuse from the starter to the alternator?

[a.graham52]

there is a fusible link on the alternator cable (circled), between the alternator and starter. just because the schematic shows it down near the starter DOES NOT mean its down near the starter. could be closer to the alternator.

[[ion] C2]

Edit: Actually.... I don't have the 2nd smaller wire connecting to the starter solenoid.

Wow I'm dumb. I connected that wire to the grounds. So it basically does nothing. Lol. That's the alternator wire. I just need to connect it.

[Nas Escobar]

Yeah, I was going to say... You're not supposed to connect the alternator to the ground.

Glad it was just a minor mistake.

[a.graham52]

Originally Posted by Nas Escobar

Yeah, I was going to say... You're not supposed to connect the alternator to the ground.

Glad it was just a minor mistake.

Never says he connected the alternator to the ground. Just checked voltage between the alternator and ground. If everything is perfect you should have battery voltage present.

[[ion] C2]

Originally Posted by a.graham52

Never says he connected the alternator to the ground.

I technically did though because the green wire that I connected to the ground is the positive source wire for the alternator. So right now the alternator is just grounded and not doing anything.

[a.graham52]

I see. They way you said it in the op i just assumed you checked voltage like that ( which is a valid test)

[Nas Escobar]

The way I read it, there was one cable going from the + of the alt to the - of the batt.

[[ion] C2]

Originally Posted by Nas Escobar

The way I read it, there was one cable going from the + of the alt to the - of the batt.

Essentially. Cable going from the + of the alt to the - engine block bolt. All better now, easy to mistake when you don't label anything or use a multimeter when you do an engine swap. lol