97 Lumina dies, won't start (for a while).

My wife's 97 Lumina seems to die for no (obvious) reason. When it does this, I am able to start it again with jumpers, and it will idle with the jumpers removed, but as soon as you touch the brake pedal it shuts down instantly.

I thought it was the battery since when this happens ALL electrical systems shut down, but if you leave the car alone for a while, all lights, horn, radio, etc seem to come back to life, the car starts, and all seems right again.

Here's a clue: The alternator was just replaced two weeks ago. I thought maybe it was a bad part (and maybe it still is), but I get about 13-14 volts when the car is running.

PLEASE! Any help would be appreciated more than you know!!

Jeff Bradley :confused:

When you try to start it without jumpers, what do you get? Click, slow turn over, doesn't catch?

At idle, do you mean in gear or park? When you hit the brake to shift from park does it die, or is it when the car is moving?

I've got some ideas but I'd like a bit more info..

1) When you try to start w/o jumpers you get silence. nothing.

2) By idle, I mean in park. When you hit the brake to shift into Drive it dies before you touch the shift lever.

3) The car has died while turning a corner, but mostly lets you get where you're going and then doesn't start again.

Thanks for the reply!

When you check the charging, you gotta load it up. Turn on lights, A/C, radio, etc. I've seen them sit and charge fine with nothing on, but fall on their face the instant you turn something on.(like brake lights and a shift solenoid)

I had simuliar problems on a nissan pick up truck and was the ground wire was not doin good contact on the block was loose so i cleaned it and tightend it up and problem was fixed. I am not saying thats your problem but worth a check, might be a ground cable. Hope this helps good luck. FrankC

UPDATE:

I decided to remove the battery to have it tested before I tried a new one. As I was unscrewing the wire from the positive terminal suddenly everything came to life. I also noticed that it came off pretty easily. I removed the wires, cleaned them and put them back on, and the problem appears to be fixed (so far).

I've never actually replaced an alternator before. Would the mechanic who did this have to disconnect the battery to do it? I can't imagine how else it could have gotten as loose as it was.

Thanks for the help!

Its possible that when the alternator was replaced that the battery cable wasnt cleaned and/or tightened properly. It is probably tight enough to let it run but try to use any more juice and poof, power out.