Power issues at idle in cold weather, HELP! Options

[GriffGirl]

Okay so it's cold - unseasonably cold here this week. This morning my car kind of turned over "sluggishly" when I came out to start it this morning, but it did start on the first try. 25 minutes later when I arrived to pick up my friend to go to work, as I sat idling the battery light came on so I gassed it because I know that means alternator. Well probably a minute or two later it did it again but the radio and accessories shut off, but went back on again when I gassed it. This continued a few more times for the next 5 minutes, and when I went to drive away it did it one more time while I was driving to the end of the block but hasn't done it again since.

Is this just a cold weather thing wreaking havoc on my battery, or is my alternator going out? I've lived where it's cold before and don't remember this ever happening. I think my battery might be on the older side, although when I had the clutch replaced the battery died so I had it tested and it tested real strong on cold cranking amps. Anyone have any ideas? Should I worry?

This post has been edited by GriffGirl: Dec 17, 2008 - 6:54 PM

[Batman722]

check the alternator and the battery.

Do you have a multimeter ?
It's pretty easy to check if the alternator is putting out enough power. There is a rubber cover protecting a bolt/nut on the side of the alt, just peel it off a bit and use the multimeter to see how much volts it's putting out.