S4_Cinci (I S'edTFA)

worn. Correction, they were WORN; worn-out like a 50 yr old prostitute. One of the brushes had come loose from the spring and had tilted sideways so it was only connecting part of the time.

Like I said, I was 95%+ sure that was it, but I had never seen one before that would put out 13.2 to 13.7 Volts instead of just being dead at less than 13 V. The OEM voltage regulator was $80+ and was special order; rebuilt was $170 and in stock, so I just went with rebuilt. With the car having 182k on the clock, the rebuilt will make some junkyard owner some $ in a year or so...put it in and it was pumping out 14.6 Volts at idle speed. My kid can drive with confindence now and I won't be worrying about getting phone call on a day when it -10 deg outside!