Hi there! You guys just recently helped me out, so I figured I would enlist your help again.

Last night I was sitting at a stop light and I turned on my AC. When I turned it on, the RPM, headlights, and all the lights on the dash cut off for maybe a tenth of a second. Just really quickly. I parked my car and started turning the AC on and off to see how the car would respond. It kept doing the same thing.

So I shut off the car and went inside to shop and figured I'd check things out closer when I got home. When I came outside, I opened the car door and noticed that the light on the interior of the door came on, but was a little dim. When I tried to start the car, I got nothing. When I would hold the key in the middle turn position, I could hear the radio and see the dash lights (Very dim) but when I tried to turn it over, I got nothing.

I walked around calling people to give me a jump and decided after a few minutes to try the car again. I turned it over, and it started right up. And when I played with the AC, nothing was happening to the car. So I shut the car back off and called a friend of mine who knew about cars to explain it. When I went back to start it, I got nothing again. Same problem with the lights being dim and when I turn it, I get nothing. I tried honking my horn and got a very weak sigh from it.

I ended out getting a jump and driving it to the mechanic to get it looked at. Did a key drop.

So anyone know what this might be? I thought about the alternator, but I didn't think the car would be able to start up again once it died if there was a problem with the alternator, but it did start that once time and seemed fine without a jump.

Help? I have to be at the airport around 5 tonight and I am getting worried about missing my flight. Thank you!

 

How far of a drive to the Mechanic was it? If it was in fact the alternator you wouldn't have gotten very far after jumping the car.

 

A quarter-mile. Maybe less.

Is it possible the alternator is going out and hasn't completely died yet?

 

I'm going to guess it is the alternator, its possible to drive 1/4 mile on a jumped battery in a car with a bad alternator.

If you still had the car I'd say to jump it and see how long it runs without jumper cables attached.

But it should be a quick diagnosis and fix for a mechanic.