thanks!!! it was a loose belt.....i just tightened the tensioner is all. but i have another question: how can i tell if my alternator is good and the car is not just running off of the battery? i had an issue earlier where my car died after i just bought a new battery a few days ago....come to find out it was my alternator. someone told me alternators rarely go bad and i should check the brushes on the back of the alternator......sure enough they were worn and one even fell out of place. so i had already bought a new alternator and just switched the brushes......i took the battery to be charged and now the car runs fine, but i wanna make sure its not runnung on the battery.