300ZX (Z31) shorting out the battery

[dj paul]

Hey guys, im fixing up and selling a junkyard 300zx. I got it running and was doing some maintenance and when i tried to start it up to move it the next day it was totally dead. When i was working on it, i put a new water pump in it and was putting all the associated belts and hoses back on and I tightened up steering pump and alternator. When i tighten up alternators i usually just find a good prying point that wont bend anything with a big screwdriver and tighten up the bracket. I remember i accidentally sparked it once with the screwdriver but i had done that before with other cars with no problems. When the car is jumped it starts fine and has a good charging voltage when the other car is disconnected, but as soon as you cut it off voltage goes to 0. and stays there (was testing this with multimeter) then when you take negative cable off the battery starts gaining volts like normal. Did i short something out with the alternator? Anyone done this before or have any other places to check in case it was a coincidence?

[getZ]

Not sure I completely understand what you wrote, but if the alternator casing has voltage, which it should not, it sounds like the alternator is hooked up wrong.

[dj paul]

sorry for the confusion of the writeup. I have never had this happen before. It was just a coincidence that the previous owner did some s**tty wireing and it grounded itself out at the same time i fixed everything else. Hate when that happens. I just pulled all the fuses 1 by 1 and relays untill the battery started recharging itself. (the short was making it instantly go to 0)