Battery was dead last night, jumped the car drove it around and the battery light on the dash board was lighting up, could this be the alternator?

 

were you able to start it back up after you drove it around? if not then yes it would be the alternator

 

I actually didn't try. Will try again tonight. By the way it's a '99 RS.

 

sounds like an alternator to me, i wouldnt try driving to far with it like that cuz it wont make it very far, haha

 

I agree sounds like the alternator is bad.

 

I second that.

It could also be a ground strap or something...

 

yea but if it was a ground it wouldnt have started back up from a jump or killed the battery

 

I think sebba ment the battery pos cable to the alternator could be bad preventing the car not to charge.

 

yea man ya need to see if it'll start again... if not then it's definitely the alternator

 

Thanks to everyone. It wouldn't start so I jumped it again, took it down to the local parts america shop to have them run the diagnostics on the charging system. When they put a load on it, the car died, indicating a bad alternator. When the guy removed the diagnostic clamp from the negative terminal on the battery, the terminal came right off the battery. They installed a new battery and away I drove.