battery warning light

to start I have a 06 TRD Sport 4x4. I got in the truck yesterday and as I got out of the parking lot I noticed the battery warning light was on. When I got to where I was going about 6 miles away I looked it up in the owners manual and it just says to stop immediately and contact the dealership. From searching on google it seems people have gotten this mostly after going out mudding and something happening to the alternator. I haven't been offroad at all or done anything like wash the truck in awhile that would have gotten water where it shouldnt be. i've only got about 28k miles on the truck. everything in the engine compartment visually still looks good. belt is still there and everything seems to be turning fine. any ideas? anyone else have this problem?

edit: dealership found a loose wire under the fuse box in the engine compartment that was causing a short. no idea how it got lose as I've never messed with anything down there but oh well, its fixed

 

You can check the alternator with a screw driver to see if its charging.....or you might have a bad cell in the battery if it goes down and wont keep a charge.

 

Normally that light comes on when thers something wrong with the charging system aka your alternator, if your alternator stopped working then your just running on your battery's reserve. I would take it in if you still have warranty before it leaves you stranded

 

my 06 Tacoma has the same issue - battery warning light on intermittently. Took it to a garage where they measured the battery (good) and alternator (pushing 13+ volts). The mechanic thinks the alternator is starting to go bad. Any thoughts?

 

the first time i took it to the dealer they said the alternator was bad and was caused by loose wiring in my custon stereo setup. happened again and this time I had my stereo stuff all disconnected from the battery. this time a different dealership found a loose connection that is under the fuse box in engine compartment and goes to the alternator. tightened it up and never had the problem again