Impala Newbie, cutting off question

[dmajor08]

Hi I just recently got a 03 impala 3.4 w/ 117,000 miles on it, as a gift. The problem I had recently was after getting an aftermarket alarm, my battery died. I replaced the battery and called the alarm people to check it out. The other day while driving the car cut off and the battery light was just on, this happened twice. Has anyone experienced this or know what this could possibly be? Also can I change my own brake pads on this car or does it have something electrical to do with them

[richtazz]

welcome to AF

The battery light coming on when the car stalls is normal. Does the battery light stay on while its running? If so, I would check system voltage with a meter at the battery to see if the alternator is charging. It should be 13.8-15.8 volts with the car running at 1000 rpm with no load. The battery will eventually go dead if the charging system is not working and this may have been a coincidence that it happened right after the alarm was installed. If you noticed the tachometer drop to zero just prior to stalling, and the trac-off/ABS lights come on, you may have a bad crank postion sensor.

On the brakes, there is nothing electrical involved in changing pads and/or rotors on this car.