My wife has a 2002 Honda Civic EX. She told me that the battery light on the dashboard has been coming on for the past few days. She said it doesn't stay lit, but when it occasionally does come on, it stays on for about 30-60 seconds and then goes out.

I took the car to AutoZone and they ran a free alternator and battery check. The battery results and the alternator results were ify. Since the battery was original and the battery test results were ify, I replaced the battery. I had the alternator tested again and the peak amps read 27.9. The guy at AutoZone said the peak amps on my car should be around 70.

Should I be taking my car to a mechanic to have the alternator replaced? Thanks.

I would.

I've also read that when you check the alternator you should run the engine at 2,000 rpm for 2 minutes. The guy only had me run the engine at 2,000 rpms for about 20 seconds and then just let the car idle for the rest of the test. Will this throw off the test results?

I don't think so.