While browsing the forum for answers to another question, I came across a thread discussing the alternator light in the dash, and how the alternator will not charge the battery if the light doesn't work. This prompted me to check my own alternator light. Sure enough, the light did not illuminate in the key ON position or after engine start.
I've owned my car for three years now, runs great and everything, but the alternator light never crossed my mind until recently when I FINALLY got my AC work done, and running the AC would overload and kill my engine (or kill the ECU which in turn kill my engine). This lead me to believe that the alternator isn't putting out enough juice.
I removed the dash binnacle and inspected the circuit board and found that somebody once tried to use pliers to remove the alternator light bulb and broke the contact between the bulb and the circuit board. I repaired the board and swapped bulbs with the door ajar and now the light works, HOWEVER, it only illuminates with the engine running, and NOT in the key ON position. And when I rev the engine, the light illuminates brighter.
Does this sound indicative to a bad alternator? And wouldn't my battery be completely drained at this point?
Thanks