Hi all, So i have been running my pickup with a alternator that likely has a diode out as the charge light would come on when ever i turned the headlights on or was at low rpms, however it always kept the battery charged and everything running as it should. So i have another 79 that i wrecked several years back but had a fairly new engine and everything so i thought why dont I swap the alternator over since it should be good before my current one finally lets me down? Seemed like a good idea so i did that the other day...i got my old one out and my new one out and was about ready to put the new one in when a brilliant idea crossed my mind...let me make sure it spinns!!!! well yeea it didnt.....i tried a little harder...waallla it started turning as all the mud wasps homes crunched and broke apart!! so I thought i would get adventurous and take it apart clean it up and check it out and put it back together...no prob as i am an electrician so while i wire homes not cars I figured i could handle it. I took it apart and two of the wires broke off the ?(double medal plate where the wires soldier up and it bolts to the frame of the alternator and the diodes are on it) so I cleaned everything up and soldiered the wires back on and put it back together. I finally got it in the truck, started it up and man it purred like a champ!!!

2 days later....

OK here is where the problems start. I started my truck up to leave work and I noticed the charge light on...not ok!!!! then when the rpms were really low it died on me like it was sucking the life out of my truck!!! bad alternator bad!!! ok so it did this several times on the way home and while i managed to drive the 50 miles home when the light was on i could feel a power drain on the truck mostly noticable at lower rpms and at anything around idle if the light came on the truck would die. it would start right back up but still no good. ok so i took it apart again today and this is what I found...it is arcing/grounding out where the plate with the diods on it has a single screw coming out of the middle which slides into the frame of the alternator and a nut holds it tight...right where the screw is it is welling against the frame of the alternator...that would explain the loss of power with a direct short, but i dont understand why it is doing it... the inside of the alternator looks pretty clean. A couple of the wire are looking a bit raged but nothing terrible and I checked before i pulled it completely apart and none of them were touching anything that would ground it out that i could see. One corner of that medal plate was touching the frame of the alternator and there was some green/almost powdery like stuff there but thats it. Is that corner touching my problem? I can add pictures if necessary. Thanks for any and all suggestions! the alternator seems simple but...i guess a little more complicated then I thought.