I had been having problems with my car stalling very occasionally. I thought that it was the fuel pump relay and jumped the fuel pump. That seemed to help. While I was at it, I charged the battery because it seemed low. Today, I ran it about 20 miles and it seemed to work great until I pulled into the parking space at which time it died.

When I came back later, it started but a little sluggishly and then died. I started it again, and it seemed to surge at idle. I pulled out, went 40 feet, and it died. This time, it didn't have enough juice to start. When I tried turning the ignition again, the alarm went off.

I jumped the car, kept my foot on the accelerator to keep the rpms above 2500, and pulled onto the road. I flipped on the lights, and the interior dash lights went from fairly bright through a steady decline to quite dim. I turned off the lights, and put on the flashers. I continued to drive down the road, but the flashers got slower and slower. All the time, I kept my foot on the accelerator to keep the rpms at 2500 or more. After about 2 miles, the flashers were so slow I couldn't risk driving in the darkening skies. I pulled into a resturant parking lot and as soon as I took my foot off the accelerator, the car died.

Any guesses as to what my problem is?

Sounds like the battery is not charging properly. Check the condition of the voltage regulator brushes.

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Fred Hoelzle

Thanks for the prompt replies. I too had wondered about the regulator, but it had been replaced within the last 20,000 miles. However, when I pulled the old one, one brush clearly extended a shorter distance than the other. On the armature of the alternator I could see that the slot dedicated to the old brush that was long was copper colored. The slot that had been dedicated to the old brush that was short was a metalic gray color. Does this confirm that the brush was not making contact? Does the fact that the brush seemed to wear out very quickly suggest any other problem? Thanks again.

Hans