I purchased the car in March and it runs fine. In the past month I have noticed that occasionally the battery light comes on. It does not matter whether the lights or a/c are on or off. I tried reving the engine to see if that would turn it off and that does not seem to make a difference. After a minute or two it goes off and may not do it again for a week. The meter on the dash shows that the system is charging. I do not know the age of the battery as it is not marked, but the terminals are tight and do not have corrosion.
the reason its going off and on its telling you theres something wrong with the charging system i would have the battery and terminals checked the then i would check the altanator most places cant tell you your stuff is going bad when they run a test all the test dose it tell you if its bad or good but the light dont lie so the best way to check is to run your car at normal idal and turn all the lights on every thing with a volt meter place each end on the battery pos and neg side and see if your battery charging if your battery is putting out 12 or more volts when running then the altanator is charging your battery if it not i would go the cheapest way by replacing the battery if you problem still exsist then your altanator is bad those are the only two items that would make that light come on
Hi Craig. let me start by telling you you have done well to describe the issue. as I suspect you know the charge light indicates that the alternator isnt charging the system. the battery light is telling you that you are bellow 12 volts in the system. at roughly 11 volts the system wont opporate as it is designed to cut out to save the electronics system. the point that the lamp goes on and off may be trying to tell you the alternator is not putting out the roughly 14 volts it must do. some may ask why does an alternator put out more than the 12 volts a battery system is stated at? the reason is compairable to drinking from a glass. if a glass is to remain at the top of the glass more must be added if the glass is being shared by your son or daughter (as is common) even more must be added to keep it full. so the more things using the system the more must be supplied. modern cars are loaded witth electrical parts just to drive using no creature comforts. so the odds are strong that A- there is an issue in the charging system B- that its intermitent C- that I need to help LOL, you need a volt meter and a test light. take a non running volt reading at the battery expect 12.5 aprx. now do the same test but apply the ground to several locations (frame, block etc) if the change is more than a volt even if closer to 1/2 volt it may and likely does tell you the battery isnt grounding to the block or frame that well. special note, examine the battery cables very closely for the cable bulging behind the clamps, common top post battery issue and is a system killer! the sound getting louder when A/C is on is common but may indicate the belt is not tight enough and that the automatic tensioner is possible weak. change the belt 1st and see that the sound is gone if not exect a pully issue likely the tensioner.
