Alternator and Voltage Regulator Questions

So far as store testers, NONE of them (that I'm aware of) are able to fully test an alternator under full load. This is why you need to learn to test on the car

Further, often the car wiring is the or part of the problem. This can be bad connections in either the field or output side of the wiring. By bypassing the regulator AND field wiring to start out, you have elimanated quite a large part of potential problem. At that point you can easily check voltage between aternator output (stud) and and at the battery...........these two readings, then, will tell you if the wiring path between alternator and battery is healthy