SO, is the small wire thats connected separatly to the terminal that connects to the battery the positive lead from teh alt?

it broke off so ill need to reattach.

I am placing a new battery in the car and taking it to autozone to get tested, what should i have them look for as the cause for no charge of the battery?.....will they be able to tell if the ground, positive, or regulator is bad?>?

thanks

 

sounds like it maybe part of the charging wire
id replace it and see what happends and go from there

 

Its called the exciter wire and yes if it breaks your battery will go dead. Fix the wire and as long as the battery isnt dry you should be ok. If it is low on fluid fill with distilled water only.