John:

I understand your point about the instrument voltmeter, thanks for the insight. The reason I assume its running at 15 volts is because the wand pushes up and rides about 1-2mm below the red zone. Since 16 volts is overload, it stands to reason that the closest position TO the overload zone would be 15 volts. As for the estimate on the lowdown idling level, I just take the space between the highest and lowest listed points and extrapolate given the available area.

Yes, its entirely possible that volvo may not have evenly spaced the volt counts between the undercharge and overcharge red zones, but I find that illogiccal and unlikely. What I can see in the gauge is that the needle is riding abnormally high (as high as possible without overloading) during highway speeds (tach = 2700-3000) and that it drops and becomes a little jumpy at idle from cold.

Thanks for the info on a new regulator. It's not the cost of the brushes, but whether I should order them with the new regulator or not. I get my parts online so I'd rather not pay shipping twice if I was to receive a regulator without brushes.

Does the brand name on a regulator matter much? I know the one I have now is Bosch and taht Bosch generally makes quality parts. However, importeccatalog.com offers a new Bosch regulator for $42 and an unlisted brand for $19 (these are there deal prices, both apparently retail for the same price, $62).

Thanks a bunch for all the info John.

-Rick