Bluetooth range suddenly drops 80% on PowerPC G4 laptop

It's been flawless for 2+ years. Then yesterday, upon awakening from a 2-hour nap, the laptop's Bluetooth went bad. It will only see the (recommended) Kensington Si670m mouse when the mouse is physically located ON the laptop case. When mouse is in its usual place 10" away, the onscreen response is jumpy, erratic, useless.
The Apple bluetooth keyboard also has less range than it had, but it's good for 4 feet, far more than the mouse. It used to be effective from more than twice that distance.
No change when I put in fresh batteries, re-install mouse, reboot, or power down. A tech friend said it sounds like the Bluetooth circuit board needs replacing. Is this what someone handy with microtools can do with a 1.5 Ghz PowerPC G4? Can I buy a Bluetooth circuit board? Do they come with installation instructions? Are there choices and guidance about these boards?
Thanks. Appreciate any help.

More serious than first appeared. There appears to be no help available here for issues like this because the Intel mac and Leopard is such a massive disaster the help supply side is tied up. Jobs built the Mac; Jobs wrecked the Mac; mixed cursed be the name of Jobs.

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