It seems like when part of the ride goes, the whole car seems to break down. Earlier today my battery died, and after having the car jump-started, the car started running very hard. While pushing the accelerator down, it feels like the gas is cutting out in the car and the engine is choking out as I accelerate. I could not get past 3rd gear without major choking and the ride not getting very far.

I dropped the car at the closest firestone, and had them run a $25 dollar electrical test, since the dealers would charge $75 for a simple diagnostic. The electrical test supposedly says that my alternator is bad, but I doubt this particular firestone's honesty. It seems the battery and starter were still juiced.

I am now faced with getting an expensive new alternator, since this firestone will only install their own parts. I would like some opinions on what might be going wrong (dead battery in honesty, mechanical problem) before I have them fix something that may not be broken. If anyone can help, I would appreciate it. Also, I did not get a check engine light, although my computer display was beeping like there was an issue before the problems started, but I was not able to read it due to it being scrambled. Thanks for the help guys.

 

bad alternator could deff cause a dead batery ... bad alternator could also cause your car to run bad .... alternator makes electricity .... spark plugs need electricity ... now think if your alternator work intermittently ... rough ride .... and the cost of a new alternatror for your car would be around 300$ anywhere

 

The reason a bad alt. can cause poor running is that this is a car very dependant on the electrical componants . a alt. that can not acheive a solid voltage of 13.5 can make all of the sensor voltages very unstable so the computer ( ECU) wont know what to do . I would bet on a bad Diode in the Alt. This could also cause a battery drain while engine is off