Just for the record I swapped in a replacement alternator and this has fixed all my problems including the weird dash light pulsing. As it worked out pulling my regulator was easy, but i could not find a replacement locally for under $50 which seemed pretty high. It was half off day at local pick-a-part and I found a fairly fresh looking German rebuild for $10 and it is now working fine. I did end up pulling off the radiator hose to get it out, and then pulling the oil filter to tighten up the ground screw in back, all of which I suspect was not required if I knew a few more Volvo tricks...Thanks to all for help once again!