Can field short to ground fry alternater?

My point is that the alternator is not OUTPUTING voltage on the field terminal.
It is receiving voltage from the VR.
thumbs_up-gif.gif

BTW The voltages I listed were just nominal, not measured.

The op most likely fried the VR with the shorted field wire. As the photo of the VR states "DO NOT SHORT ANY TERMINALS TO GROUND"

Not trying to be definsive here, just setting the op straight on what the field path is and what he should expect in terms of voltage when it is running correctly.
beer-gif.gif

These videos are worth their weight in gold!
Yup. Good stuff!
food-20-21-gif.gif