96 grand am keeps stalling, HELP!!!!!!!

hey guys, i have a question about a 96 grand am. it starts but it dies after going about 40 feet. i've noticed a few things... one- it only dies at lowers RPMs... two- when it dies it takes about 5-6 mins before it starts again... three- when it dies i no longer have any brakes at all, the pedal is completely hard, like theres no engine vaccum at all... four- since the brakes dont work, i have to use the e-brake to stop (which is fun on ice, lol) but when i apply the ebrake the headlights go out.

based on all this, i'm thinking maybe the alternater went bad, or maybe the batterey went bad (b/c of the cold weather here in NJ) and that caused a short in the alternator??? but would that explain the brakes? im not sure... please post any possible suggestions or ideas u might have... is there anything i'm not thinking of? thanks in advance

I dont know why your car stalls (I have a simular problem), but the head lights go out because thats the way our cars are setup. If u turn the lights on manually they will stay on when the e-brake is up. the brakes dont work well when the motor isnt running because they are power assisted. More than likely your alt. is fine though.

I had the same problem when I bought my car.
The transmission has a lockup clutch in the torque converter.
The control solenoid gets gummed up, and, it wont release.
So, its like letting the clutch out on a manual transmission, it stalls the engine.
If you wait about 5 minutes , its pressure releases, and it will start.
A way to test if thats the problem,
As it starts to stall, put it in Nuetral.
If its the lockup clutch, putting it in nuetral, releases the transmission out of gear, even though the torque converter lockup is still applied.
You can even drive it home like that.
Every time it starts to stall, put it in nuetral.
It costs about 150 to fix it.
Also you may notice a rough idle.
Thats another symptom.

Don