Trojan Boat Forum

Can anyone tell me if the yellow wire on my alternator in the pictures below is supposed to be connected to anything? If so, which terminal?

Have you looked at the other engine to compare ? I wish i could give you a better answer .

Many have changed there alternators to the one wire type. At least regarding Chrysler that used separate voltage regulator, the wire is not used any longer and you can find it bobbed. I am "guessing" you now have a single wire alternator (voltage regulator is internal) but is a guess which would indicate a separate wire to the voltage regulator is not needed.

This alternator on the port engine appears to be aftermarket. The one on the starboard engine is original I believe so I tried comparing it but they are very different looking. Perhaps a PO replaced it and wired it correctly with one wire... But based on everything else I have found on the boat I am very skeptical.

Is there any easy way to check if the alternator is working? I normally had the genset to run a battery charger so I didn't worry about it but my genset crapped out.

Use a 12 volt muti meter and measure voltage at battery terminals while running. Should be at least 13 volts if charging.
Or take it to auto parts store and run on there machine.