SR20DET charging system problem

[lance bradley]

my alternator went bad, had it tested and it came back as bad. had another alternator (dohc KA), tested at autozone and came back as good. put it on, car still giving me signs of a bad alternator. (not charging battery, slowly dying). put on new reman alternator from autozone, (getting so good at this:(...) and still the same things were happening. finally i changed the battery out and the charging system was working fine.

i know the alternator uses an excitement switch from the battery, but could the battery being bad stop this from working and therefore causing my stressful couple of days?

THANKS FOR THE HELP!

[KiLLeR2001]

Are you connecting a ground wire to the back of the alternator with a small bolt that threads into it?

[lance bradley]

yes, the alternator is hooked up correctly. the ground from the lower wiring harness is bolted to the intake manifold where the batter term ground also goes.