I've been at this for a few days now and it's puzzling me, so I figured I'd open this up to the forum and get some opinions on this.

So, a bit of backstory. Was driving the car home from work the other day, and was cruising at about 50. Downshifted from 4th to 3rd, and the engine stalled out immediately. While rolling, I cranked the engine and it started back up and held idle, but as soon as I put it in gear and tried to disengage the clutch, it died again. I could not keep it running.

I coasted to the side of the road, trying to get this thing running and home, but could not get her to go. I pulled over and checked under the hood for anything wrong. Nothing visible. I switched the ignition on, and no lights. Like the battery was dead. Hazards wouldn't come on, nothing. I left the key in the run position, and went back around to the engine bay. I head a click, like something got power, and went back inside the cabin, and all the lights were on again. Car cranked, and would start for a moment, but would die out after 1-2 seconds. Giving it throttle didn't help. I ended up getting a tow.

So today, I'm tinkering around with it, testing the alternator per the FSM, checking spark plugs, etc, and everything checks out. So, just out of curiosity, I tried to start it again to see if it would hold idle, and she cranked right up and runs like a top. The polar opposite of what I experienced on the side of the road.

Although I tested it per the FSM, I still wonder if the alternator is to blame. It's a duralast reman from AutoZone, so the quality is already in question there. Alternator is 3 months old, still pretty much brand new.

When the car is at idle, the voltage gauge on the dash bounces around erratically. It'll go from 10v to 14v to 12v back and forth when cold, then will finally settle around 12v once the car warms up. That's odd to me.

Also looking at the connector on the back of the alternator, where the wires meet the connector the wire casing is broken and some bare wire is exposed. Not sure if this is enough to cause an issue, but pictures are attached in case. I know the black wire is just for the ignition switch, but the white one, per my understanding, is part of the dash circuit and provides resistance for... something in the alternator. Long story short, it's crucial to proper operation.

Any ideas would be much appreciated. Let me know what y'all think!

EDIT: forgot to mention, my battery is relocated. Tested continuity to ground, and voltage from battery all the way to the engine bay. Battery is grounded, and I'm getting 12.5v at the battery and at the terminal in the engine bay.

 

Update:

Found my AFM connector was slightly loose, and the spring clip was missing. This was most likely the cause of my issue
Still a bit concerned about that alternator connector wiring though. Should I worry about this?