Ok here's the deal. About a week ago the battery light came on and stayed on, so I took the battery out, took it to autozone to test, and they said it was in good shape. So i went back put the battery back in and bought a new alternator to replace it. I replaced the alternator, and the battery light still stayed on. So today I started looking around the engine bay and found that the alternator/choke 120a fuse was blown, so I got another one and it blew right away. I traced the thick wire on one side of it and it is the wire that goes right into the alternator (the wire that is held on the alternator by a nut.) Thinking I may have had a short, I rant a jumper wire directly from the alternator to the post where the fuse goes completely bypassing the original wire and put another fuse in and it blew the fuse right away again. The wire on the other side goes right to the battery. To complicate matters worse, I took the original core alternator back to the store and they tested it and told me that the alternator is good. So now my question is, what else could be wrong with this car?? Assuming that autozone gave me a bad NEW alternator, I can pull the alternator again and go change it but what if it doesn't fix this problem????? I can't see where there is a short. Anyone have any ideas???
Thanks in advance[/align]

 

Have the alternator(s) checked by an alternator shop. They know exactly what to look for. Autozone workers usually don't..not all of them, just most of them.
..and yes, you can get a bad refurbished alternator from them.

 

well when I ran the jumper wire yesterday directly from the alternator to the voltmeter, it was pumping out about 36 volts! So I guess the new refurbished alternator could be F*cked right? I'll pull it again and have it tested, and if bad, I'll get another and have it tested first. The question is, what was the original problem???

 

36 volts?!!
Here's another thought, the voltage regulator is found in the PCM and not in the alternator. So the PCM could be bad also. 36 volts is a high output for an alternator in a 12volt car.
Bad Venge is the guy to talk to about the alternator. Seriously though, a running car should be reading about 13.5-14 volts from the fusible links (battery/alternator links), alternator, and battery.

 

36 volts !!! Damn that's probably why the fuse blows instantly ... My High Output Alternator screwed up and was showing 24 volts , it roasted almost all my electronics .... Also melted my Optima battery to a height of 4" ... Looked like an elephant stomped on a 6 pack ...
Alternator or regulator is SHOT ...