It's not your pulley set. I assume that you're talking about the March Power and Amp series pulleys. I have the same thing, and it's never given me a problem.
I know this goes without saying, since he always is, but shoebox is right. Battery only starts the car, then the load is transferred to the alternator. If it starts and dies once the car is going, it's the alternator. Before you put in the $ for a new alt., check all the connections. One time we pulled my alternator off, and i forgot to tighten up the nut on the hot connection on the back of the alternator, and it was just arcing off of it every once in a while, but it wouldn't even stay charged while driving. Alternator sounds like a prime suspect, and if it's new, you shouldn't have to worry. Most have warranties.
Just don't go cheap. You get what you pay for with stuff like that.

 

Sounds like you have a bad voltage regulator. If I were you, I would just replace that since the main componants of your alternator still work. It depends on how mechanically inclined you are. If you dont want to tear the alternator apart, you will need to get a new one.

 

another UPDATE!
well, the car stalled out idling i went to jump it to restart it and i heard a clicking. the ABS IV relay was clicking. so i pulled it and plugged it back in and it stopped, and then i just pulled it out and left it out. took it for a drive and she seemed ok. now the plan tomorrow is is see if she restarts and can idle. if so there must be something tweaking in the relay or the circuit with that relay. as for the alternator, i got it from Mr. Alternator and paid $250 for it. Tom is a great guy and said hed stand by it if it was the issue. think the ABS relay has anything to do with this???
thanks guys!
brian

 

TTT, any idea whats happening to the relay??
brian

 

why don't you do what everyone has already suggested and go get the alternator checked out? It is a waste of time to keep asking for updates when you haven't even done what people have told you to.

Personally, I like Sears Auto Centers...they will test the alternator/starter/battery for about $9 and they have the correct equipment to do it.

 

im not asking for updates, im simply updating the sitiuation. the reason that i havent gotten it tested is because if i shut the car off there is a good chance it will die, and i dont want to get stranded somewhere in the event it dies on me. plus its uninsured at the moment so i cant drive it anywhere anyways. im hoping i can fix this at home, thats why im looking for other solutions to the alternator.
brian

 

DOes the clicking sound like it's coming from underneath the passenger side dash? If so, same thing happened to me, but it was with the car off. Whenever i'd open the door, and the entry light would try to come on, the battery didn't have enough juice to carry that load. (Battery was really, really fried! )
But that was with the car off, and it would run fine until it just shltcanned on me at the mall. Yours won't even stay running, so it's the alternator because it handles charging duties with the car on.
If you keep doing this, not only are you going to need a new alternator, but you are going to kill your battery too, and that's another 70 or 80 bucks at least, so you may want to pull the alternator, and see if you can't get a replacement. You can get the alternator checked even off the car if you just bring it down to auto zone. All the symptoms you listed sould like an electrical system that can't handle load, and alot of these guys know alot more than I do, and they say it's the alternator too. good luck on it.

 

Quit fooling around and trying to guess this problem into submission. Get it load tested!

 

One more thing. Pep boys has an alternator tester available for what I think is under $20 if you don't want to move your car. It will tell you what you want to know. The tester is by Lisle.

 

ill try that autozone tester or ill just pull it an get it tested. the battery is probably fried, but ya gotta love a 3yr/36k unconditional return policy on the sears die hard gold batteries, and i still have 2+ years so if its dead ill get a new one.
thanks guys,
brian

 

Holy crap....i am having a problem somewhat like this right now. My car has been haveing a starting problem since last summer(when I installed a new starter and alternator). Anyhow, my car will start about 5-6 times...then it will not start the next time. Ill jump start it...it will start for 5-6 more times, then be dead again..WTF. Had alterntor tested and they said it fine(shoud be it was new anyhow) Well, i though that was bad..huh. Now, my car has been sitting for about 4 months(dam snow). Well I go to start it the other day and all my lights startflickering(interior light, my guages, autometer gauges..etc.) and I hear this sound like something is shorting out really bad (like the sound of somebody in an electric chair). All this time the car is not turning over or anything...just shorting out sound with flickering lights. So, I quit trying to start the car and figured maybe the battery didnt have enough juice. I hook the charger up to it and hear, tick tick tick tick tick tick with the car off. Sounded like it was coming from uder the passanger side dash..wth. Well after searching for the tic it ended up being my headlights making the tickticktick noise...at least I think its them. I though that noise was coming from under the dash area...but I guess not. I disconnected them...not more ticking with the car off but still having the shorting out, no starting at all problem. It has been too cold to crawl under the car to check anything out. Do you think its possbile that maybe my battery ground(where it connects to the block) is loose and is causing all my problems? If anybody has any insight on this clicking, not starting issue of mine...please share your knowledge with me. Later

 

It's the alternator for sure. A common misconception is that your alt charges the batt and that your batt supplies the power while the car is running. The alternator is the backbone though. If you alt. can't produce proper voltage it's pretty much all bad no matter if your battery is good or bad. I mean a normal 6 cell battery only produces 12 volts, the real voltage flowing through your car comes from the alternator. The battery is just there to make sure that you have enough juice to start your car the next time it needs to be started. Low voltage could cause your gauges to geek out like they did. Since you mentioned that the voltage goes up when you rev it makes me think that something in the alt. is worn out. Your best bet is to test the alternator and if that's inconclusive do a battery load test but I can almost garuntee that its your alternator. Inside the alt. there are spring-loaded brushes that ride on a commutator (which is spinning). Wtih all those amps flowing from the alt through those brushes, lots of arcing happens and it wears down either the contacts or the springs of the brushes. Usually the brushes are what cause most alternator problems because they wear out first.

 

n20TransAmLT1: That was my situation exatly. Intermittently wouldn't start. Tried to test, and the battery read full charge.... just like it's supposed to. I ended up looking like an idiot and bringing it to the dealership so they can tell me that the battery will not pass a load test. it read fine under no load, but couldn't handle a load for anything. So I bought an Optima Red Top(overkill, but it looks NICE under there) and problem was solved.
When it doesn't want to start does the whole system just shut down when you turn the key to the on position? That's what mine did. Get a new battery and clean up the terminals really well.
P.S.- I thought about a ground being loose too, and i wasted my time getting under the car to check. Nothing. And all the ones behind the coil were tight too. Anyway, I hope that helps. Later.

 

It is not getting enough power to keep it operated, so it engages and releases rapidly.

Take the alt and get it load tested. No more guessing, wondering, theorizing, just do it.
Plus, with all this messing around, you may have wasted the battery, too.

 

n2oTransAmLT1 I may have an answer for you. You say you had your alternator replaced. Check the wiring from the alternator to see that the positive lead is not hitting the serpentine belt. It may have been mis-routed in front of the belt when it was replaced and is hitting the belt. It happened to me when I had roller rockers installed and the alternator was removed. The "mechanic" did not route the wire behind the belt and the belt cut into the cable causing the 4th of July to come early.