serious problem

I have a serious problem with my 99. When i had my camaro, when the alternator went out and i tried to start it, the engine made a clicking noise. I knew it was the altenator. On this car, i dont know what the problem is. When i stick my keys in, there is silence. And there wasnt a slow deteriation of voltage that i noticed like in the camaro. This happened in a period of 10 min. I went in my apartment and came out and there was nothing.. well actually the oil lamp just barely shows. I got a boost and drove it around my apartment complex and guess what... it cut off while driving, but not because of the reason in my previuos post. I also got another boost from my friend. and let the car idle for 10 mins. When i tried turned it off and tried to start it again, there wasnt even a hint of power. Is it the alternator?

sounds like both; it's usually a rule of thumb that if you replace the alternator, you must make sure that the battery is fully charged or else you'll burn up the alternator. Have your battery load tested and have your alternator load tested as well to see if it's supplying the necessary voltage to keep it going.

If the alternater is bad, the CEL will usually come on and the code for "low alternator output" will be present. If the battery is the original, it is time for it to fail anyway. The battery on my '00 CG failed almost exactly 5 years from purchase. Had only one warning of failure, turned over slow on a cold start, turned it off after it warmed up and couldn't restart (not enought power to turn over) after that.

yea i didnt get any lights or anything. no "low voltage" light and the only check engine code was p0551 or w/e; power steering

turns out it was the battery. and thats all! I heard that u can tell if your alternators ok by unplugging the battery while the car is running. Is this true?

turns out it was the battery. and thats all! I heard that u can tell if your alternators ok by unplugging the battery while the car is running. Is this true?

that was true back in the old days when cars didnt' have electronic ignitions, fuel injection, transmissions, etc. On todays cars, that's a no-no b/c you could fry a computer easily doing that.