Wondering if anyone else has had this problem;

I was out getting lunch today, and sat in the car about 2 minutes with the radio on and the car off. Then I fires it up and started driving back to work annd the battery light came on. I drove another block and it went out, and then it went on and off a couple more times in the 10 minute drive back to work.

Thinking the worst I figured it was the alternator going?

On the drive home I took a long drive and the light never came on once!

Does this mean the alternator or battery is going, or is it possible that the charge was just low from sitting in teh car with the radio, running the battery down too much?

 

well, if your car started fine, the battery wasn't THAT low. first check your terminals for corrosion, and check to make sure the connections are secure. Also check the connections to the alternator, make sure they're secure. if the battery light comes back on, heres a test to see if the alternator is dead:
start the car, while the car is running, disconnect the positive battery cable, if the car stalls, the alternator is dead, if the car keeps running, the alternator is working fine. In fact you should go ahead and do that test whether the light is on or off, just to be sure. but if it comes back on do it again to see if thats the cause of the problem.

 

Good tips thanks mulk... I gust bought the car, i should really clean the battery terminals off before i get too concerned! I'll check the connections to the alternator too.

Hopefully the light stays off (knock on wood!)

Thanks.

 

Check connections, check your battery to make sure it's holding a charge, but sounds like your alternator is dying