Alternator failure ?

[Manaz]

I'm also having a problem with my battery holding a charge.
The alternator appears to be pushing out 14.2 volts ok, but no or miniscule amps.
I am wondering if it is the regulator?
Asking that question tomorrow at the Auto Electrician.
Replacing the regulator is every bit as bad as changing the alternator apparently - front off gives the best access.
JJ

With car turned off, a battery that's dying will generally do one of two things:

1. Show a lower than 12v voltage (car has to be off to test this, otherwise you're just testing the alternator) - 12v batteries are (generally) made up of a number of cells, each of them contributes to voltage. If a cell dies, then the overall voltage will drop.
2. Show 12v still, but provide low amps - most batteries are given a CCA (Cold Cranking Amps) rating, and as they age, they start to fail to produce it. I've had 650cca batteries provide < 500cca at the end of their life (and closer to 400cca).

Batteries also hate the cold. Winter's a common time to suffer battery failure, and cars will start to take a little longer to turn over as a battery starts to fail and the CCA starts to drop.

There would be very little amps if the battery was fully charged.

Correct. You only get amps if the alternator's actually doing work - there needs to be load on it. If the battery's well charged and the car's consuming minimal electrical power, you'll not see many amps at all.