Ok, really stupid question. The exciter wire is the thinner wire? I have the connector pulled out and the battery connected. in the last 90 minutes or so the batter has dropped only 2 tenths of a volt. Also, I put a test light on the thicker red wire and it is hot....assuming it shouldn't be. With the plug out, the alternator is now nice and cool. Please give me your thoughts. If your suggestion works, can I just run it like that?

 

The 2 small wires on the plug. Looking at the back of the alternator, the right one is the exciter wire, left one is the battery light. Cut the exciter wire, leave enough of a pigtail to connect it to the big wire connection on the alternator. And yes, that one is hot all the time, it's connected directly to the battery. And yes again, you can run it that way. Abandon the other end of the wire that you just cut, which leads to who knows where. Sounds like you never had an alternator problem, it was with the wiring. Do you know who wired this in the first place? Give em a good smack!