Ok everyone, bit of a long one but here goes...

My alternator wasn't charging my battery so I replaced it. My battery then died from lack of charge so I replaced that also. After a few days, the car was still struggling to turn over so I checked with the multimeter and it showed that the alternator still wasn't charging. I checked for resistance and discovered that I had high resistance of 1.2v on the ground side. This was from battery negative to the alternator casing, battery negative to the engine block connected to the alternator and all the way down the earth cable going from engine block to earthing point on chassis.

I was trying to find a better earthing point when the negative cable came into contact with the b+ on the alternator. After a spark the running car died and nothing worked. No lights on dash, no turning over whatsoever.

It appears I've blown a fuse or perhaps the fusible link.

I then charged the battery and now get some such as interior lights, dash lights and radio. When I attempt to turn on the headlights, everything dies.

Does anyone have any advice for me with regards to either of these issues? Any help will be much appreciated.

The car is a Mazda 2 2009 and the 2 main issues are:

Ground resistance.
Accidentally grounded the alternator resulting in possibly blown fuse/fuse link.

Thanks,

Ross