Alternator Wiring ?s HELP!!!!

so i hooked up my meter to my battery when the truck is off and its readin 12v and then i started the truck and it goes to 11.9ish volts, the reason i am testing this is because twice now my lil battery/charging light has flickered and then gone off, now shouldnt these readings while running be around 14-14.4volts? i was looking at my alternator, it looks fine, but there is a plug not plugged into anything (dont know what it goes to) and then a ground looking cable not tightened down to anything. heres some pics i need help on this asap, as to i dont want this truck dying on me while im going somewhere. thanks everyone.








please help, thank you everyone

sorry bro, this is one thing I have not had to fight with, I have extra harnesses everywhere under my hood, If I were at home I'd take a look to see if it were the same, maybe sombody will do that fer ya tonight.

i really appreciate your help, i hope someone helps me soon

If its like a GM alternator with an internal regulator it has one ground wire (about 4 GA, sometimes grounds through the bracket), one power that runs to your battery, and one ignition. The ground that you have in your hand could just be a strap from your block to your frame. When running it should read around 14V with a multimeter. Check to make sure that the small plug that you show isn't the ignition "exciter wire".

Check that wire by turning your ignition off and putting your + probe in the plug. It should read 0. Then turn on the ign, if its 12 then thats your ign wire. Plug it on the alternator wire and check the output. Recheck all grounds and make sure there good. If you still have nothing then I would say the alternators bad.

thanks ill goo check it right now, thanks bro

This may sound really stupid but did mazda fuse there alternators? Some systems run there + alternator cable back through the starter post and fuse them in between. Check your fuses to see if they did.

well, checked that wire and yes when ignition comes on it reads 12v, but there is nowhere to connect it to that i can see on the alternator, but shoudlnt this black wire be a ground and shouldnt it be grounded? there are 2 plugs plugged in to the alternator, and it has a mitsubishi emblem looking thing stamped into the casting??? i wanna get this fixed, how many connections does a standatd alternator have on these trucks?

the plug that isnt connected is a yellow/red wire, and i am thinking that the black wire with the o-ring connector on the end should go to that stud with the nut on it... but i dont wanna hook it up and have it fry something,

If you cant read the writing... RED is the mitsubishi thing and YELLOW is ground stud?

Check to see that the wire with the ring terminal is a ground with your meter. If it is then check to see that the post on the back of your alternator is a ground. Put one lead on the case of the alternator and one to the post and do a continunity test. That will tell you for sure. Then keep the one lead on your alternators case and put one to the negative battey post to see if your alternator is grounded. Try that and see what you get.