89 Ford F-350 Diesel .. wont charge.. loosen my marbles looking for the problem.. with winter time coming and not wanting to break down I replaced batteries, belts. and decided to also change alternator and replaced voltage regulator... when i cranked it up all was ok.. a few seconds later i saw a small puff of smoke around the spot of the regulator so i *assumed* it was the regulator that went out.. got another one.. still wont charge to a full charge n battery light stays on.. it charges just enough to keep the truck alive but not enough to later restart the truck.. no clue what to look for since everything seems ok.. there was no ground wire on original alternator.. when i first crank it up the meter clicks back and forth showing its charging but never gets to full charge since this happens I am really unsure of what the heck is going on .. what is it and how do I fix this? Thanks

 

Just grounded the alternator no change.. is there a resister or fuse? I looked but didn't see anything.. still banging head

 

I'm thinking your hot wire to the alternator is fusible link wire that will burn out instead of ruining the alt. check continuity on this wire and check the part that the insulation looks different on. Its the fused part. Some of this is speculation on my part.

 

well shazam haha I looked for the fuse/burned what ever and discovered while pulling the wiring harness lose that one wires seemed to move more freely than the rest since is snowing and cold as a witches *** out there nothing moved easily but the alternator hot wire had burned its way out or the connector but was still covered although burned threw on one side.. it was working at times because the wire would touch with the wiggle of the motor but not all the time.. I clamped on a connector and she is purring like a kitten.. and charging to whew man got another 13-14" of snow tonight they say.. so I'm glad i got it fixed thanks for your help it made me look at it in another way

 

glad you got it fixed. The burned portion may be the fusible link part that is normally up by the starter relay(solenoid). This section should be replaced with another fusible link wire as it protects alt and other wiring from burning up in case of alt failure etc.