[COLVERT]

Originally Posted by Rickshaw

Thanks for the observations so far. Re the Alternator , I am not aware of it ever being changed. The car has done 120K miles - not sure how many miles an alternator should last but I think it increasingly looks like this may be on way out since I understand the dashboard battery warning light normally means that it just is not getting it's regular top up from the alternator. Will look around a bit more and welcome any more observations.
All the best

Alternator brushes more likely than anything else.---If so, they need to be changed ASAP before they damage the slip rings by arcing and destroying the rings.