Alternator Not Working

[faof2]

This is a 1991 Volvo 240 (245) wagon with 140,00 miles, a California car. A few days ago, I noticed while driving after dark that the "battery" symbol would light up very dimly once in awhile, then quite a bit of the time. Thinking (erroneously)that this meant the alternator might be getting weak, I continued driving that car without checking. Last night in the dark while driving, the car began to perform erratically and the instrument panel got really weird until it failed to run at all. The battery was dead. Long story short, I put in another battery and everything seemed fine. Using a multimeter, I verified that it was not charging. Did not notice any odd sounds coming from that area. I checked a couple of You Tube videos and learned that the built in voltage regulator may have failed.
Questions:
- Is this about the time/mileage to expect the voltage regulator and brushes to fail?
- Is there any other checking I should do?
- Is it reasonable to conclude that the voltage regulator has failed?
- Is it a reasonably easy job to change the voltage regulator?
- Any helpful hints on that job?
- Is there a way to coax a few more miles out of the alternator/voltage regulator?
If this is the recommended route to go, I plan to order a new VR from FCP Euro with lifetime warranty.
Any helpful advice will be appreciated.

[dj_v70]

Highly likely that regulator brushes have failed. Those are normal regulator brush wear out symptoms. Mine would go every 50k miles (but I used cheap after market parts). Take off 2 screws holding regulator to back of alternator and pull it out. See if brushes are down to less than 1/4", replace brushes (need to solder) or whole regulator.

[dm635]

Haven't owned a 240 for many years. Did own 3. A 245 and 2 242's. So I would guess that the voltage regulator is easily replaced by 2 screws like later models. Disconnect the battery before replacement, you don't want a possible spark show.