This is just a general tech question. On my winter beater the battery light came on. Lights are always popping on so I made no big deal out of it. But after 2 or 3 trips around town the lights got dimmer, the turn signals wouldnt work etc. So naturally I checked under the hood and the alternator belt was totally gone. If I replace it will it recharge the battery or am I going to have to buy a new battery? The battery is just about dead as the car sits in the driveway.

I have to make a 2 hr trip tommorow and I dont want to get stranded in the middle of nowhere.

 

it will rechagre it but putting tat high of a load on the alt can give you probelms if you drove it for a while like that. Usualy the bigest problem is the battery can go bad sing it was the only thing running motor. just to be safe I would put the battery on a trickle chrage for a few hours to be safe

 

I only drove 15-20 miles with it like this and it worked perfectly everytime. I guess a little charge for the battery wouldnt hurt.