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At busypaws and Daox, I understand what you mean by using a switch in the field wire. I did this on my 1987 Civic. However, when I unplug the green connector on the Metro's alternator, the battery still reads the same voltage as when it is plugged in. Even with the engine running and lots of accessories on.
I'm not sure, but my theory is that the Metro's alternator is similar to GM's 1-wire alternator which has only an output wire and no other connectors. The Metro's alternator may detect battery voltage and power the field through the output wire. The green connector may just be for the battery light on the dash to let the driver know when voltage output is too low. Like I said, I'm not sure on this. I'm still trying to figure out how it works for sure.
At idle, when I turn my toggle switch off, the engine does slightly idle a bit higher. When you turn the toggle switch back on, you the idle drops a little lower and you can hear it in the engine. So the engine is obviously under more load with the toggle switch on. However, even with the toggle switch off (so the alternator is not connected to the battery), if I check the voltage at the alternator (not the battery), my digital multimeter says around 26.8V, and it remains the same whether I have no accessories on, or all of them on.
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