battery or alternator issue

[vincenzotran89]

I left the car sitting for some time. I started using it again and before you know it, the car starts to steadily slow down and turn off as I'm driving. My battery reading is at 10 and decreasing. I get it home and I figured that having the car sit too long and letting the battery drain out too many times might have ruined the battery. So i buy a new battery. Problem still exists and I think the alternator is going bad. A new alternator is very expensive and getting it rebuilt isnt too cheap either. Can the problem be anything else besides the alternator? Also, the car runs fine after I charge the battery, but the battery slowly loses charge over time.

[bearone2]

take it to checker/autozone/napa, can test the whole system while the car's running.

[Icey1174]

I'm putting my money on the alt being bad. The battery is suppling all the electric for the car and will go dead as you drive it. I was a poor kid once, I know about these things. It is possible that you have some bad wires coming from the alt. There's a recent post on here about it. He had a bad wire at the starter I think. Check the grounds to make sure they are clean too. You are not getting power from the alt. Either the alt is bad or there is a wiring problem somewhere right after the alt.

If you do need a new alt, look for one on here for a used if cost is a big issue. I have seen them and I want to say it was around $400+ for an alt. for my 87 n/a. That's CRAZY!