Its a 1988 fiero formula and it won't charge. The alternator and battery are both tested and work. Normally I can usually figure mechanical problems out but with the electrics I have NO clue. There is a red light on the volt gauge when its running and shows it isn't charging. Multimeter on the battery confirms this. We took the alternator out and tested it at O'Reilly's and it works too. When my brother put the new alternator in the first time he put the battery in first and when he tried to attach the small loop connector (the one covered by a rubber boot) ZAP! Blew the connector apart. He replaced the connector, took the alternator out and had it tested (still works)but it still won't charge. I am stumped. Could the wire just be fried? Blown fuse? I'm really out of my element.


I know its a lot to ask but would anyone be willing to walk me through this? Tell me what to look for and test stuff to isolate the issue? Then tell me how to repair it? PLEASE?

Have you tried charging the battery when it's out of the car? I had a problem with mine where it wouldn't charge because the headlight motor was acting up. I was able to charge the battery out of the car and drive it until the headlight motor killed it again.Once I got the headlight fixed, the problem went away.

Alternator plug
Terminal L - brown - 12v when key is on (this is probably ok as the charge light is glowing)
Terminal S - red - 12v from battery (if no voltage check the fuseable link at the battery junction block, it probably blew when the arc occurred)

If these wires have proper voltage at the proper time, the alternator should charge.

If the battery is completely dead, the system won't charge.
There has to be a certain "minimum" voltage on the battery before the alternator will turn on. This is to prevent a current surge and damage to the alternator (among other things.)

Battery is fully charged. Is the battery junction block the thing on the frame rail opposite the EGR solenoid?

From your earlier post you stated that the large terminal fried when you connected the alternator.
The fuse link wire at the fuse link connector(yes the terminal block across from the egr solenoid mounted near the battery) has several fuse link wires to it. It will be the connector with the largest wires going to the battery except for the large wire going to the starter.One connector goes to the battery(unfused), One(fused link wire) to the alternator, And at least Two (fused link wires) to the fuse box.
These wires have the same metal inside as fuses. They are designed to burn away to keep the harness from going up in smoke. The inside can burn away without the shielding burning off. If you pull on the wire and it stretches, the fuse link wire inside is burned away.
If the fuse link to the alternator is burned, the alternator will not charge the battery. Due to having no connection to it.
However you stated that the connector at the alternator burned away while trying to reconnect it. With engine off it should not have had that much current through it unless the alternator diodes or windings were shorted. Or it was running and the output wire was shorted to ground.(kind of hard to do). With it not turning there shouldn't have been anything strong enough to short that terminal.
First with everything disconnected from the alternator. Turn key on/engine off. The alternator light should be out. If not the brown wire is shorted to ground somewhere. If the light was out. Key on engine off. Jumper the BROWN wire only to ground at the alternator connector. The alternator light should come on. If not no power to bulb, blown bulb, or wiring between bulb and alternator.
If that is OK. The smaller red wire at the alternator is supposed to connect to the battery via a wire going to the starter. If it is not there, it may have been routed to the large alternator terminal. Either way it needs to be hot not grounded with key off.
If you got that straight. It is time to inspect the large alternator wire from the alternator to the fuse link terminal block.
You said after the original frying of the terminal, when you had the car running, the alternator was noisey. Sounds like that wire is shorted to ground. And the alternator is trying to output to a shorted wire.
Find the short. Follow the wire from the alternator to the terminal block. A good place for them to short out is at the alternator bracket. Look for the wire being pinched between the bracket and the timing cover.
If you find the short the fuse link at the terminal block is also fried and another will have to be spliced on there at the terminal block before the alternator will work.

[This message has been edited by cmechmann (edited 12-27-2013).]

Thank you so much you guys are awesome! I'll try all this tomorrow morning.

So I found a blown fusible link on the 8 gauge alternator wire near the battery terminal. Could I just replace this with an inline fuse? Would seem to make much more sense.

It's quite rare for the fusible link to go bad. It is possible that vibration did it but it is more likely the alternator diodes are bad. If you replace or properly fix your alternator it will be highly unlikely your replacement fusible link will go bad.

Yes you can replace with an inline fuse. The problem will be finding an inline fuse that can take more amps then your alternator.
Make sure you know what took out the original. Or you might end up just replacing the new one.

quote Originally posted by RilesOfSmiles: When my brother put the new alternator in the first time he put the battery in first and when he tried to attach the small loop connector (the one covered by a rubber boot) ZAP! Blew the connector apart.

This might have something to do with it......