Freebird85

My '85 bird has always had an alternator issue going through 3 alternators in 2 months and now a 4th on the way and I know the wires are correct this time but today when starting the bird to let it warm up for a bit my belt which I assume is the alternator was squealing and this was happening for about a month but it was short ones however today it was a really long squeal and very shortly after i noticed that my alternator was smoking at the happy post where the red wires go and it was hot to the touch now I know that this alternator is toast but could this be caused by when I installed this one accidentally arching it having the wires switched like a retard for the plug because it was working the best this way and im sure the wires are correct with the plug red going to the happy post with the battery red and the white but was brown wire going inside the car to the battery gauge. the wires im sure are correct but just to make sure could my alternator have gone bad by premature arching when I accidentally had the wires flipped with a new plug and then it would work for a while and then finally give out? Not sure if all of that makes sense but any help would be necessary on if that's what happened considering it arching and the squealing and then all of a sudden finally going bad and overheating itself, thank you!