I was driving down the raod about two weeks ago and my radio went off, traction control light came on, and then seconds later the car started spittig and sputttering until it cut off. Checked out the battery, replaced it and everything was good. Tonight I was driving through town and the radio cut off and then the same sequence until it shut off. I got someine to bring me fresh battery and we installed it so I could get home. Has anyone ever had this problem, or knows what it might be? It seems that it could be the alternator only putting out a charge just shy of what it need to be. Could all of this occurfrom a short in my wiring somewhere? Any suggestions as of where to start? Thanks,

 

It's probably the alternator. How many miles are on the car and is it the original alternator?

 

A little over 60,000 and it is the original. Is it possible for an alternator to only partially charge?

 

yeah the same thing just happened to me, i called up one of my tech friends he tested it and it was, put a new one in that day and it ran great

 

look at the b+ terminal on the back ofthe alternator. Its the biggest wire, under the red boot. Check to see if the nut is tight holding it on. Be carefull it may be extremely hot! If that is tight, I would check the charging power. Do you know how to use a voltmeter? If so, place on lead on the terminal behind the alternator, the one mention earlier in this post.Then, the other leadon the neg. battery terminal. It should be around 14 volts.

 

the easiest way to tell? goto a local autozone, they will test your alternator for free! or if your too lazy to do that, with the car running remove the positive battery cable. if they car shuts off then you need a new alternator, if the car stays on, you got some other problem

 

ps the same kind of thing happened with my sisters nissan altima when i was driving it, the lights would go dim, then the dashboard would light up with random nething warning lights, then shut off. You could easily jump it and then start driving again, but then theres no telling when it will happen again. Replaced the alternator the next day and it hasnt happened since!