before i pull the alternator

[JLS]

Replace all the battery cables? 

[jrebel]

Based on your discription, it sounds like an alternator.  I have seen alternators test good when indeed they were bad.  It probably is fine until it draws a huge load.  I would replace the alternator and see what happens.  Alternators are not that expensive....are they?

[Mudman]

Good luck but I still think alt is junk.  Those machines they test with are junk, only work if a catastrophic failure has occured.  It is also possible you will have to replace batt, again as bad alts. have been known to kill good batt.  Charge it up, start it, put meter on batt, check volt. turn lights and everything on and check volts again. if you are in high 11's or low 12's  hmmm.  your battery should always be 12.4 or higher if its good.  IMOP. I just replace my batts in my ford as they were bad.  12.3 volts and 12.8 volts, but walmart and autozone tested and told me yup they are fine.  Napa tested and laughed at my story.  Fixed and no problems last 5 months.

[jackelope]

What do you mean when you say the car was dying?
Usually an alternator goes south, battery light comes on, volt gauge drops(if equipped), car runs off the battery till the battery is dead then the car stalls and will not restart. It will have no battery power.
When you say... the car was dying, I think... the car was stalling. An alternator, in my experience, won't cause a car to stall multiple times while driving.

Yes it was stalling and the lights were dimming.  the wife limped it home.  The the battery light came on as well.   I charged it the first time and the battery light went off when it was fully charged.  it was back on when she got home.  The positive terminal connector did not look great.  I will either clean it up or replace it tomorrow.

How did she get it restarted once it stalled?

[Crunchy]

i dont think it died completly just ran like crap.

[huntnphool]

Sounds to me like a dirty post connection wasn't allowing the battery to fully charge. Clean it up with a little baking soda mixed with water, it will eat the acid away, then use a post cleaning brush for the post and inside the connector.

[jackelope]

i dont think it died completly just ran like crap.

I'm not a tech and obviously cant diagnose it over the www contrary to popular belief, but I don't think your alternator is bad based on your description.
I'd look hard elsewhere. Maybe a connection.

[Crunchy]

Well this morning after charging the battery all night I started the rig up.  Within a minute or two the battery light came on.  I got the volt meter out and got the same reading 12-13volts running and off.  Pulled the battery and had it tested.  Battery was fine.  Put the battery in and drove it to autozone.  They checked the alternator at the battery and showed it was not getting a charge from the alternator.  So pulled the alternator again and replaced it.  No more battery warning light.  Glad I avoided a trip to the dealership.

[huntnphool]

 

[jackelope]

Perfect. Not sure why it would cause the car to run poorly but glad you got it figured out.

[Mudman]

 

[dewandgin]

Well this morning after charging the battery all night I started the rig up.  Within a minute or two the battery light came on.  I got the volt meter out and got the same reading 12-13volts running and off.  Pulled the battery and had it tested.  Battery was fine.  Put the battery in and drove it to autozone.  They checked the alternator at the battery and showed it was not getting a charge from the alternator.  So pulled the alternator again and replaced it.  No more battery warning light.  Glad I avoided a trip to the dealership.

Could you please explain that last Statement?
 We do not charge for battery/charging system test and we check connections also and do a voltage drop. Then if the alt was faulty we would have offered you the choices of having it replaced with a factory part, aftermarket part or not fix it at all and send you on your way.
    Sometimes a faulty alternator will not show up cold as the recitifer bridge solder was probably cracked or cracking and as heat got to it the circuit would have a bad connection.
   

[jackelope]

I think what he's saying is he fixed it himself so he didn't have to take it in to have someone else fix it.
 

[Mudman]

Perfect. Not sure why it would cause the car to run poorly but glad you got it figured out.

I think the PCM is very sensitive.  Some wont even start or run if volts are low even though there is still enuff juice to run em.

[dewandgin]

I think what he's saying is he fixed it himself so he didn't have to take it in to have someone else fix it.

If that's what he meant then that's cool . He just mentioned the dealership instead of a auto repair shop.