83 olds 307 -battery tests good, alt off car tests good - no charge to batt in car what to look at?

[Bonnewagon]

Yes, all that does is bypass the fusible link. A fusible link is nothing more than a short length of wire several gauges smaller than the circuit wire. In case of a short it overheats and melts, saving the rest of the circuit. Basically it is a fuse that requires cutting out and soldering in a replacement. Used on circuits that are always "hot" when the battery is connected. Leaving the jumper wire in place means you have no protection in case of a short. If that is a concern then add a 30 amp in-line fuse preferably in a water-tight holder like this. Any marine store carries these and Fleabay.

 

[jim83]

Update- found the problem- The problem was older belts, although tight were not quite driving the water pump, no squeal ,
Anyway, by not driving the wp correctly, it wasn't transmitting enough power to drive the alt- it's a 307 y code & the alt instead of
being driven off the crank is driven off the wp. Some swell design on gm's part- instead of putting the side load of the belt on the crank, they put it on the alt - dumb- the wp bearing is subject to a high side load when the alt is tensioned correctly

thanks to all who helped