Thank you all for your help! That same day i disconnected the battery with the car idling and it didn't stall, so I just tightened the terminal as hard as I could and luckily the problem hasn't come back YET. So I'm hoping is nothing major, just the stupid broken terminal(stupid me for having it that way). I'm guessing the car needs a little more juice than just what the alternator can handle by itself, so if the battery is disconnected is bound to stall when getting on the brakes or something. Anyway, thanks for your help...

 

== Hes correct.. My mistake ==

 

Sorry, Ghoste, but that's just simply not true. The reason your car will stall and die when the battery dies, even if the alternator is working fine is not because the car is using the battery's charge: The alternator runs the charge directly to the battery, not the rest of the car. Therefore, when a car battery's electrolyte acid cells can no longer retain a charge, the alternator's charge is meeting a dead end at the battery. But if the battery is working fine, then it's the alternator that's supplying ALL of the car's electricity. It's merely channeled through the battery. If what you say were true, there would be no such thing as jump-starting a completely drained battery--Obviously, your car doesn't "live off the battery." Sorry, mate, 02StanGT was completely right on that one.

Cell phone example wasn't appropriate: the cell phone doesn't need the AC charger to run, only to charge the battery when it dies. Your car DOES need the alternator to run the car, NOT just charge the battery.

 

My mistake, lesson learned. THX [sm=smiley20.gif]

 

lol...didn't mean to be mean. glad to help.

 

man....i'm such a preachy *******. Sorry, ghoste.

 

lol ghoste make up yur mind whos side yur on. haha. anyway id say its the alternator. check the alternator. take the wiring out and see if it catches on fire. if it does then u need a new alternator.

 

Another good test is to turn the car on, and then lick the positive terminal on the alternator. If your tongue tingles or you feel nothing, then you need a new alternator, but if you lick it and then find yourself on the floor saying "Thuck! Thit!! I'm tho thtupid!!!" then the alternator's fine.

 

the 12.95 was a joke buddy, no need to throw cusses around, and yes sears has a very well known reputation for cheating people out of money either by not replacing parts and charging them for it, or half assing a job. Look it up, it was big in the early 90's

 

What Sears will do for the $12.95 is install and/or check the charging/starting system with a device like a Midtronics. We use them at work sometimes, I work for a battery supplier. It's a pretty accurate device, that measures voltage drop during starting, and conducts an internal test on the battery, but can't put a true load on it.

All that being said, I wouldn't think there's anything wrong with the car, and I think that you've found tha tightening the terminal will solve the problem. Tightening the terminals will also ensure that the voltage regulator is working properly, and not getting a false reading from the battery and asking the alternator to 'overcharge' the battery, if it sees an artifically low voltage due to the loose connection.