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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Captain420" data-source="post: 981233" data-attributes="member: 13454">If this is in the wrong section, by all means move it. Read the bold for the faster version. Ok, over the last 48 hours I've had problems with the battery light  coming on and flickering in my DD, which is a 98 Ford Contour with the Zetec (4 banger). Went to Advance Auto yesterday to have it  tested and all the voltages came back ok, except the battery was on it's  way out, which I knew anyway.So, I went and replaced my battery and then the light turned off and  stayed off until I got the Contour home. Then, this morning I start the  Contour and low and behold the battery light came back on. So, I went to  advance auto to have the battery and everything tested again. However  during the tests the battery light turned off and everything read  normal. So we tested the Contour for a third time and bam, the light came back  on during testing. So the charging system is charging the battery at  12.3 volts, so obviously it's something with the charging system.My questions are, is the alternator something that dies a slow death? Or that quits rather quickly?What are the odds its the belt tension and not the alternator itself? I  ask this because above 3k rpm the charging system works and the light  remains off. However, as soon as I idle for a while or drive under  normal conditions (I never push the motor above 3.2k rpm in any city  driving) it comes back on. Also, my AC unit pulsates the RPM at a stop and by this I mean the car  runs fine with the blower running and then when I have to come to a stop  the RPMs will go from 750ish and they'll jump to 1000 rpm and then back  down. I've read that this can be not enough tension on the belt. The AC doesn't even blow cold air, but I don't care about that problem yet. Also, does anyone have or know of a way to test the belt tension?</blockquote>