03 Dodge Neon battery light comes on when stopped.?

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Life Is Illusive

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Now, at first glance this looks like an obvious answer to an easy question. It' gotta be the alternator, right? Here is my story:

First off I would like to say I have a new optima red top battery and I have tested it car on/off. Get the usual 12-14V respectively.

I started having this problem, so I got my alternator checked, it was bad. Replaced my alternator. Things seemed a little better, then everything went down hill. If I stop at a red light, sometimes I idle real low like close to 500 rpms. Then my dash dims slightly, then my battery light comes on. Then I rev, I get lots of power, my battery light turns off.

I have gotten my new alternator checked 4 times by 3 different people, they all say it is fine. Battery has been tested fine. Had to get timing belt replaced so I had them replace the alternator belt while they were at it. any ideas why I keep getting this power drain

And yes I have checked the battery terminals, bought new ones, have new spark plugs, and checked/cleaned as many ground connections as I could. I don't know what else to do! Help!
 
idle your car up a tad bit that should keep it turning fast enough to make the alternator put out
 
The alternator may have too big a pulley installed resulting in it turning too slowly causing the light to come on.

Your engine idle is too low?

The alternator belt may have slackened off.

It is not the alternator but something acting upon it.

Start with the basics needed for the items in question to operate properly.
 
I would start looking for why the engine idles so low. Most cars have an engine idle speed of about 700-800 rpm-- check under the hood for a sticker that should show the initial timing and idle speed settings. If the engine drops below this speed, the alternator is not turning fast enough to produce the required voltage, and the battery light comes on.

You mentioned that the timing belt has been replaced-- Was the car idling at the proper speed before the timing belt was replaced? Did the low idle speed happen right after the timing belt was changed? If so, the timing belt (usually a cog or tooth type belt) may have been installed improperly (1 tooth off). This would change the timing enough to affect the idle speed, without any other adjustments to the idle speed . Get the timing checked to see if that happened. If the timing is correctly set, you may have to adjust the idle speed at the throttle body.
 
I would start looking for why the engine idles so low. Most cars have an engine idle speed of about 700-800 rpm-- check under the hood for a sticker that should show the initial timing and idle speed settings. If the engine drops below this speed, the alternator is not turning fast enough to produce the required voltage, and the battery light comes on.

You mentioned that the timing belt has been replaced-- Was the car idling at the proper speed before the timing belt was replaced? Did the low idle speed happen right after the timing belt was changed? If so, the timing belt (usually a cog or tooth type belt) may have been installed improperly (1 tooth off). This would change the timing enough to affect the idle speed, without any other adjustments to the idle speed . Get the timing checked to see if that happened. If the timing is correctly set, you may have to adjust the idle speed at the throttle body.
 
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