Can someone help? I need to drive my dart tomorrow

I have yet to clean the terminals in the bulkhead fitting. I just did a test to see how the VR is working. I took the cover off the VR and started the engine. Battery read about 13.5 volts. My father revved the engine and watched to see if the VR did anything at all and it didn’t. So, while voltage was about 16 volts I pressed on the part of the VR that has the contact points on it to create a gap between the two contacts. When I did this the voltage dropped to about 13.5-14. So obviously the voltage regulator is not working since it is not moving on it’s own. Question is why? Is it because it just needs a new one or something else? The alternator is obviously working fine. All the other electrical is working. Does it make sense to just replace the VR or you guys think something may be causing the VR to not respond to the alternator even though there is power getting to the VR?