So I got a used alternator yesterday.
Only when I got to put it in, I found a decently sized crack in the housing. I figured I'd put it in anyway and see what happens. Well, it doesn't seem to work. Unless I forgot to hook a wire, I think the alternator is crap. So my question is, can a decent crack in the alternator keep it from working proplerly?

To the best of my knowledge, there are only 2 wires that need to be hooked up, right? There is the single wire that's held down by a 10mm nut, and there is the green plug. Are there any other wire I may have fogotten?

A little background:
My alternator started smoking last friday, so I took the car back home. I tried to start it later at night and the battery was dead. Changed the alternator yesterday, hooked the power pack to the battery to jump start the car. The car idled great with the power on, but would shut off as soon as I'd take the power pack off.

 

yeah only 2 wires to hook on and the best way to test your alternator is bring it to auto parts store..such as advance parts..pepboys..etc.they will test it for u for free.. if it runs perfectly then u should be able to use it other than spend more than $200 get a new one with a core.