Can I Disconnect Alternator Cable

Alt. issues?
I may mis-understand the question but if so just take the alt off and have autozone or someone check it...its free

Thing is, the charge cable on the alternator has a direct link to the positive terminal of the battery. When the car is running and you check the voltage at the battery, you are actually looking at the voltage coming from the alternator. There should not be a drop of more than a few millivolts from the alternator to the battery.

On an old dodge I had, I tried unhooking the charge cable from the alternator, and all that happened was the regulator turned off, so I was getting a few hundred volts at the alternator terminal. I don't know if Ford alternators are made the same though...

Tells us more about what symptoms you are experiencing, that can help us suggest things to check.

Have you had the battery load tested? This is always the first test I do when I have an electrical problem. A battery going out can create a lot of problems with voltage. Make sure you have the battery charged first though so it get the load tester gets a good reading. If that checks out, I would have the alt restested, but at an actual alternator shop. They can give you a better analysis of what's going on with it.

I don't see why you couldn't disconnect the cable, but I think you would be better off having a good shop test it. Then they could tell you if you have a bad diode, how many amps it puts out, how much voltage. An alt shop does it every day so they could offer a lot more help. It would tell you a lot more than you just getting a voltage reading.

- Justin