driving down the road, the voltage guage starts to drop
battery is fairly new.
not sure of alternator
100k miles
is there some sort of fuse that could have popped?
before i go ahead and start removing the alternator?

 

When my volt meter dropped like that it was due to a bad alternator

 

so theres def no fuse that coulda popped?

 

Take a Voltmeter and with engine running, touch pos+ voltmeter test lead to pos+ on battery,
and neg- to a good ground source (A/C pump bracket, firewall ground harness ect..)
If you read 14V your alt is fine. Below 14V means its going out, and anything below 13V means its gone!

 

There is a fusible link wire in the end of the alternator output lead - right at the starter motor relay screwpost. However, having that blow out on you is fairly rare - and it can be confirmed with a simple visual inspection (fusible link wire uses Hypalon insulation, which will bubble and swell when the wire inside melts. Looks like the wire got third-degree burns.)

 

try your ground connection on the negative battery teminal that grounds inside the fender right next to the battery. mine did the same thing and that was the problem

 

He doesn't have that connexion - RENIX didn't. It wasn't done OEM until the 1991 model year.

However, adding it is something that usually doesn't go amiss - which is why it's an option on my RENIX kits.