Alternator, Coil and Wiring loom. Witch wire goes goes to the B+ Terminal??
 

All right, I've been finishing up the rebuild of my 1995 XJ.
But Iv'e come across a problem that has me stumped. If I understand my Haynes Manuel wiring loom and the pictures I've been scavenging off the net. Those two studs that protrude out from the lower half of the coil mounting bracket are GROUND POINTS. Correct?
Okay.. my problem is that my engine wiring loom has TWO large diameter, black wires that exit that funky junction of several wires. You know what I mean? it looks kinda like a little monkeys fist? With wires poking out at several odd angles? One goes to the AC compressor. And there are two, thick, identical black wires.. cables almost with those flat eyehole thingies at the end of them. They are identical except for length. One is short, and the other loong. I know that one is supposed to hook up to the B+ Terminal you see in the picture listed below.. and the other is supposed to slip onto one of the ground studs on the coil mount.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...fd8494a39a.jpg

But I don't know which of those two wires go to which stud!
Are they both grounds? If so..then it wouldnt matter would it? Is that B+ terminal a ground? If so.. why is it insulated so carefully?
I really dont want to burn out my Alternator and maybe even my ECU to boot because I cross-connected a ground and a hot wire.

Do any of you know which is which?
Do any of you know how I can test these wires to find OUT what they are or arent?

I thank you for any advice you can give me.

Don't reconnect anything until you know which is which. Use a multimeter or test light to determine which wire is the battery positive and which is the ground. With a test lamp this is easy, if you hook a test lamp to something positive, it will only light when you touch something negative (ground), if you hook it to something negative (ground) it will only light up if you touch something positive. So you will be able to determine which one of those main wires is the ground and which is the positive cable back to the positive battery terminal. Don't guess.

Agreed. I have no intention of guessing. Hence this thread.

Tonight, once I get home from work. I'll hook up the battery and use a tester to dertimine wether those cables are both negetive or if one of them is positive. One of them HAS to be negative because one of them is supposed to hook up to the ground studs on the coil braket mounted to the engine block.

Doe anyone know if that B+ terminal on the alternator is supposed to receive a POSITIVE connection?

I'll report back later tonight what I find out.

Yes, it is.

Solved the problem. Upon taking a closer.. much..much more careful and closer look at the ends of each cable. I found that there is only one way they can go. The ground to the engine block is a larger diameter..and the eye-hole that fits over that stud will not fit into the protected recess of the plastic housing on the Alternator.

(facepalms).. All that worry for nothen.