battery light - what does it mean?

[savant]

This may seem like a silly question, but seriously, what does the battery light mean?

I had my battery out for the last week to do a top-end rebuild (went wonderfully, I'll post on that later). Now though, my battery light is on constantly. The battery is brand new though, and the alternator is maybe 9 months old. When the vehicle is running, the voltage gauge reads around the 'A' in normal.

To top it all off, I drove it a little over 300 miles yesterday, with headlights, stereo and full heater blowers the whole time. The *only* issue I know of at this point is a little belt slippage, but that's clearing up (greasy hands + serpentine don't mix, apaprently .

Does the battery light just mean that the battery was removed? If so, how do I clear it? Is there something I'm overlooking?

 

[TheJMan]

I had a similar problem with my old 1993 when I replaced the alternator. I did everything right, started it up, ran fine, gauge read right at the "R" in normal, but the battery light was on. I drove up to Checker, they hooked up their alternator tester, was charging perfectly. I went back to check the battery light and it was out. That was over a year ago, never has been on again.

 

[savant]

Heh, I figured out what my problem was. One of the connectors on my alternator was loose. The little plastic tab that holds it on is a goner since the rebuild.

Anyway, the battery light wasn't lying, I did have a problem. Plugged that connector back in, and the light went out.