Does my alt. wire hook to my neg. side?

[buckwheat02]

I have a brown wire with a red stripe going down it, is this my alt. wire? And does it go to my neg. side?

[chpthril]

NO! The alt grounds to the engine block through the housing. You will have 1 large wire that will come off a stud on the back of the alt and may either run to the starter, the battery's (+) terminal, or possible the "COMM" post of a battery switch. There will also be 1-2 other wires on the alt. They will be small as compared to the other and may either attach to small studs or via a connector. One is the "Field" wire and is what makes the alt start charging then the engine starts up. This could be the brn/red wire you speak of.

[Tanner]

If your talking about the little bitty wire on the house battery side, it's the bilge pump automatic start wire. It goes to positive! It's a brown wire w/ a red tracer. But it's no where near the alternator so prob. not what your talking about.... but just in case, thought I'd throw that out there