I think Matt is telling you to see if the bulbs work when you turn the key to position II before you start the car. All the red warning lights should light up before you start the car up. The little red wire on back of the alternator is what causes all the warning bulbs to light up. If none of the lights are on you have one of two problems. First is the wire itself has an issue. The other is the frame of the alternator is not grounded and it has to have a good one to work properly.

If none of the lights come on when to turn the key remove the little red wire and touch it to the ALT frame and see it all the lights come on. If they are dim or not on, touch the wire to the engine block and then check. If going to the engine block lights up the warning lights I would suspect the ground wire to the alternator frame has issues.

Good Luck,

Paul