99 grand am electrical problems

[jon1818]

About four months ago the check engine light came on in my 99 Grand Am SE (90,000 miles).

I took it to a mechanic who said the engine was not sending any trouble codes and that I have to take it to the dealer to see what is wrong with the computer. I noticed that the check engine light only came on during the day when the daylights came on so I did not take it to the dealer.

Well now the car died on me while I was driving. First the battery light came on, then all the warning lights came on, the radio died, ac died, anything that needs power didn't work and the car had trouble shifting. I drove it enough to get off the highway and park at home.

I assume that this is an alternator problem, but I have heard from a mechanic that it sounds too sudden to be an alternator problem. Any ideas what could be wrong, and if this is going to be expensive??

[Slade901]

When the battery light comes on, the alternator is not charging the battery. So, the battery is providing all the power to the accessories, computer, fuel injector, ignition control module, etc. The battery will slowly get depleted and then the engine would just cut off when the battery can no longer provide enough voltage.

However, the battery might be able to recover temporarily if left for a couple hours but then it will die again when its little charge is depleted.

I would go ahead and have your alternator tested. Take out your alternator and bring it to autozone, advance autoparts, or any other autoparts stores that does testing for free. Get a lifetime replacement warranty type alternator, so that when they die again probably because of something messing up the alternator then you can just get another replacement.

If your alternator comes out good then probably some wiring in the alternator that needs to be checked out.