I had actually questioned the chance the alt. could be spinning backward but it is the correct type. It's a 1 wire 100 amp alternator. When I was talking to Summit about exchanging it I re-verified just to cover any possibility. I did replace both battery cables and the terminals along with a new belt. Vall, I decided to replace the wire from just before the bulkhead connector down to the starter as that had a couple of nicks in it. Aside from the bulkhead connector itself, can you tell me what other wiring I could check for a short? Like you said and I agree, if there's a short it's gotta be before the accessories. The body of the alternator isn't getting hot anymore, just the fan and pulley. That's why I was thinking alignment or belt slipping but it looks like it's lined up perfect. I still wonder about a ground issue. I haven't replaced the ground straps from block to firewall and neg batt terminal to inner fender should I have any other ground straps? I will have to find a shop that can test this for me but will that test you mentioned be able to isolate a short or just tell me if there is one?

 

I thought we covered a good ground circuit earlier. The way you have it isn't giving you a solid battery to block ground. Run the ground cable from the battery directly to a clean spot on the block. I like using the bolt that's in front, adjacent to the fuel pump. That's the bolt you temporarily replace with a long one to hold the fuel push rod from sliding when changing the pump.

 

When we discussed grounds there was mention of the firewall strap maybe going to a motor mount. I don't remember anything about the battery cable going to a spot different than the alternator bracket. I was only asking if there might not be enough grounds from reading about that being a potential problem with undercharging. I will try the cable directly to the block. There is a strap from the neg. cable to the fender also, should I leave that there?

 

Are you saying you also have a ground cable from the battery directly to the alternator?

 

FWIW, thats how my 78 is, too. From the neg post directly to the alternator bracket.

 

That'll be fine as long as you have a good connection between bracket and block. Why I asked is because I didn't see mention of that ground in his previous post telling what grounds he has.

 

Yes, the neg. battery cable goes to the alt. bracket. There is also a braided strap from the inner fender to the neg. battery cable terminal that I was asking about. I haven't seen that strap on other Camaros is why I was asking about that one. There's a strap from the block to the firewall also. My intentions weren't to re-start the grounding discussion, just wanted to ask about the best locations for grounding these two straps and should I have any others. The two braided straps that I mentioned are the only things that haven't been replaced yet as far as grounds go.

If there's a short somewhere still, and it's clearly before the accessories like Vall mentioned, I was asking about what other "potential" wiring it could be in after replacing the wiring from the connector by the firewall down to the starter. I also added 4 gauge wire from the alternator to the battery after reading about too small of wiring being a potential undercharging issue. I'm merely trying to cover as much as I can as to eliminate the most common issues that people experience with the charging system. I need to take it somewhere to be diagnosed, it's obvious I know, but absolutely maddening to think I haven't isolated anything after all that's been done to fix this. Apologies if I've frustrated you '69.

 

Not to worry, I think you're more frustrated than I am!
To put the ground to rest, I don't see anything wrong with the way it is. If you didn't have good ground at the alternator, you'd be having starter issues as well. Might as well leave the inner fender ground there, it isn't hurting anything. If anything, it could be giving you a cleaner ground circuit where some are attached to the radiator core support.
At this point, you must have a power flow (short) somewhere there shouldn't be, not a lack of flow from a bad ground. Isn't finding wiring gremlins fun?

 

There once was a time when working on this Camaro was enjoyable. To be in the same spot I was in last summer at this time, not so fun. With no fuses blowing (ever) and having low charging output with nothing on but the engine I would've thought a short would be easy to isolate before the accessories. Shows how much I know...

 

If you find a place with a DC amp meter they can not only test for a draw on the battery, but can also test wires to see which ones have a draw. That might help you narrow down to which wires have a load that is causing the drain.