sounds to me like the charge wire is grounded , jusrt have to trace through teh harness and hope its somethin easy

 

i mean the wire from the battery directly to the starter that run down the front of the engine

 

I found a metal strap that runs from the alternator bracket to the frame, it looked like someone broke it and tied it back together. Does anyone know what this strap is called? Or what I might use insted of the strap?

 

its just a ground strap....you could replace it with some wire

 

I replaced the strap with some wire, but it didnt seem to be the problem. I forgot to mention before that my battery light was on, why would that be on if its the alternator that is the problem? does that make sense?

 

thats a charge light, if the alternator isnt charging, that light comes on - if your just smoking alternators, you either have a broken charge wire ( the big red wire from the Alt. into the harness), or its grounded / rubbed through - that red wire goes through the harness over to the +positive post on the starter, if you lost connection there, or it broke off, fell down and grounded to the engine /chassis it'll smoke the alternator as soon as it tries to charge, if it just falls off usually just causes the light to come on

 

Sounds like time to get a manual and check all possative wires for grounding.Make sure alt is wired properly?.Starter wire?.Wire to fuse box?While your at it replace bad ground straps.You might need a razor knife and some wire looping material to do it right. GOOD LUCK

 

I checked all the wires I could! I didnt find anything. Although, I tried to start it again today and heard a clicking noise. Im thinking solenoid right? The wires to the solenoid seem soild and tight, but would a faulty solenoid cause all these problems? Im lost!

 

Have you had the starter checked?

 

no, I never thought to cause the car always started. Could a problem with the starter create an electrical problem with the altenator?