one wire alternator

[biddie_gibbs]

Ol so on my alternator I have one wire hanging off I do not know where it goes. Its a solid thick black wire with a loop attached to the end of it. Its length is about two to three inches. My truck is a 1968 f100 with a sbf 302. Also on the passenger side right by the radiator there is this little box. It has wires goin into it but one yellow thin wire is hanging out like it goes to something. On that yellow wire there is a connector on it like again it pluga into something. There are two little holes on that connector. Is that for the horn? Bc i have none. Finally my back lights don't work at all. The bulbs are good old but good. I see no breakage in the wiring. But at the fuse box the fuses are all covered in foil. What does that mean? Also on my fuse box there are two extra tabs on there. Where does my testing begin? Also i bave no back turn signals either. Does anyone else have any? Bc my back lighta that dont work have only two bulbs on each side one for brake and one for reverse. Isnt there supposed to be a turn signal? Finally the dash lights are very dim can i install brighter lites? Where can I get them from andwould they be hard to install? Thanks guys

[fordman]

jesus. that is a lot for one post.
ok first question does your truck have full gauges in the instrument cluster of half gauges and half warnign lights.
the yellow wire with a plug is probably the horn wire the way it sounds. the back up lights on a automatic column shift truck are operated by the neutral safety switch (nss) on the bottom of the column inside the cab. or it could now be operated by a different nss on the side of the transmission. or if it is a manual column or floor shift the backup light switch is on the transmission or operated by the manual shift column.
the foil on the fuses means that those fuses kept blowing out so instead of finding the problem the owner went around the fuse with foil to kepp the fuse from blowing out.
the two extra tabs are for addons after the factory made the truck. they are for direct battery power. you can use them to wire in accessories into the truck.
the rear back brake lights i want to think about some more first. they could be bad wiring to bad sockets in the housing or a bad tss. many things can cause this problem.
the brake light and housing only holds two bulbs. the botom one is for backup lights. the top one is a dual element bulb and control all three functions of the tail light brake lights and turn signals. the brake lights and turn signal share the same element. so if the turn signal is out so may the brake light be out. which means the element in that bulb could be bad or the whole wire to the element in that bulb could be bad and so on up the line back to the brake light problem noted above.
the dahs lights can be adjusted by turning the knob on the headlight switch. if that isnt enough for you i have heard of using led bulbs (in the same sockets? unsure) to make the cluster brighter.

[biddie_gibbs]

So for the fuses should I gey some oversized fuses an put them in? I have a floor shifter auto so I will check under there so is my electrical system have yo much amperage or something. An where does that one blavk eire on the alternator go

[fordman]

no dont use oversized fuses. you have to find why they blew out to begin with. you have soem wires probably rubbing against a ground or soemthing similar. i do not know where the black wire goes because i dont know what you instrument cluster is.

[fordman]

the black wire may be a ground wire to the alt and from the regulator.