stangonthangs

My 01 3.8 manual in the past couple of days would start to die on me at the light. The lights in the car and on the dash would dim and the engine would start to die (RPM) and i would have to rev the engine to get everything running again. When I stopped at the house and went to turn the car on it wouldn't turn on, no lights, no crank, no nothing. (I also noticed in the days leading up to this, whenever i started my car the engine would give that struggling to turn/chugging sound for a second then start right up). I got a brand new battery from the shop and the car ran fine until it sat for a few hours then went to start it and nothing happened again. I searched this forum and the consensus from my reading is ALTERNATOR. But the only concern I have is the temp gauge also was running hot while the car was acting up, so I want to make sure this is also consistent with an alternator issue before I commit the cash. Any input is greatly appreciated.

MOOK3456

You don't need to commit to buying a new one before you know what the issue is... Take your alternator out and bring it to an autozone or whatever you have around there and have them test it. I think it's like $20, some won't charge you at all.