Can I ground the field to test the generator?

[jiminpa]

I will try to make this short and to the point. I just got a '92 gas club car, unknown history other then starting problems. (it looks like several people have monkeyed with it) It is not charging, in fact, it seems to be actively discharging. (ie. 12.7V on start, 12.2 V on idle, 10 V at higher rpm, back to 12.2 at idle again) I believe it has the correct generator. ( same part # as a known working generator) My question is can I do a simple generator test by grounding the Field on the generator? Like you used to do years ago on cars/tractors, etc. If so, can I just disconnect the yellow field wire from the regulator and ground it or do I need to disconnect other feeds too.

Thanks.
Jim