So I was driving today to work, and I hear a ding and -everything- dies. Motor, electrics, power, everything. Not even the hazards would come on. Managed to get off the bridge and pulled barely off the road.

So, any idea what the hell is wrong? It'* like something is shorted or a circuit broken, but I've got no idea where to start looking at the electrics here. (I'm better with house wiring!)

Any advice is gladly appreciated.

check battery connections, both on battery and on the other ends. If you can, have bat and alternator checked

Checked the battery connections, was the first thing I checked, they are tight and clean. No corrosion.

Any likely places where it would work loose at the other end? Alternator connection seems fine.

Is the negative line from the battery to the alternator a fusible link? Would that blowing cause -everything- to shut down?

A dead alternator can make your car die completely, regardless if the connections are good. Have it checked by a repair shop. Did you happen to notice if the voltmeter on the dash was indicating anything unusual in the last few days? I'm guessing the alternator died, which allowed your battery to be sucked dry.

Other possibilities could be a bad ground somewhere, or even bad battery cables that came loose on the ends opposite the battery.

no, it is not fused. dead alt or open gnd/+ connection

If the alternator suddenly died, wouldn't the car keep running for at least a few minutes on battery power?

I lost -everything- in about 2 seconds, after driving normally for about 10 minutes. All the guages were within normal positions when I started it up. It was just extremely sudden..one second everything is fine, then I hear a warning chime and boom nothing.

Where would be the most likely place to check for an open ground?

Disconnect your battery cables. PULL THE BOOTS OFF. Clean all the corrosion INSIDE. Apply dielectric grease and reassemble. Then do the same for the connection at the alternator, the ground locations from your negative cable, and the hot feed to the starter.

Please do this before any other work or questions. This is the problem 95% of the time with your symptoms, which is why it'* already been suggested a couple times.

We're really at the point where we need to get on this instead of 'what-iffing' it to death.

Positive boot was shot. Dunno how I missed that before, maybe the torrential rain....

Thanks again guys, you're a huge help as always.

Keep us updated!

All fixed!