Alternator Wire

[surveyor1951]

I have Mercury 3.0L LX Alpha One ( SN=0f758732) engine. I am curious about a wire on my alternator. It looks like a short jumper wire between 2 terminals but appears to be not connected. I just want to know if it should be connected to the 2 terminals. This wire is about 1" long, like a junper wire. What would the result be if I connected it to the terminal or left it disconnected. Any help on this would be much apprieciated. Thanks

 

[mjf55]

So I just replaced my alternator (1988 4.3l) and it has 4 wires. One for the battery ( orange) , one black ( ground) , excite ( purple ) and voltage sense ( red/purple). Some folks jumper the sense wire to the battery terminal on the alternator. That may be what is going on. A picture would me helpful to see what kind of alternator you have.