It very well could be that the rotor is out of spec or partially shorted. If you wander over to MyMopar you can download many factory service manuals for free. There is a procedure in there for checking rotor/ field current draw. Too much field current WILL certainly "kill" a VR
MAKE CERTAIN vr is grounded
Be CAREFUL when measuring field draw. A current measuring meter (ammeter) is in SERIES with the load, and not across it like a voltmeter. a milliameter/ ammeter is a DIRECT SHORT if you put it across the battery and WILL either blow a fuse in the meter or burn something up in the meter. Protection fuses such as for Fluke are expensive, and some cheaper meters (Horrid Freight) are not protected at all
(Another possibility in this chineseaoizationized age is that the VR was just junk)
