Alternator wiring help!!!!!
 

1997 Mercury Mystique 2.5 Duratec V-6. I bought the car with 39000 miles from the little old lady. At 41329 the water pump impeller broke and I overheated the engine. I pulled the heads, what a job! That was almost 2 months ago. It also cracked the radiator trany cooler and got some water in the transmission.....I hope it is OK??? Any way, I am putting it back together and found the main alternator wire nut was the wrong one and loose for 41000 miles. That main wire is hard and insulation is melted but it seems to be OK. I got the 2 push in plugs back in place for that wiring and the main wire is a no brainer. But I have this small wire 16-18 gauge with a ring terminal similar to the main wire. Does it go on with the main wire or is it a ground wire? I hate that I didn't make a drawing, but if you ever changed out the alternator, I was about to load 8 lbs of reloading powder into this thing and walk away.....could they have made this any more difficult?
Thanks in advance, but my Chilton manual and the local Ford dealer were of little help. I looked at the V-6 in a 99 ranger, the alt is on the top but wired similar but no extra wire on that install.


Lyle

Small and large wire go together. I tried it with the small 1 off and the ALT will not work. I believe it might be the field wire, but it has to be on with the main terminal to work.
Lyle