I have a 1995 Pontiac Bonneville SSE. Recently it has been running rough when it gets to around 1000 rpm and the gauge which shows me the alternator charge will drop significantly...if i keep the car reving above 1000rpm it will charge to normal and the car will run smooth...tonight i get home from work (car started fine at work and ran good the whole way home) i get in the car to leave again and i get barely any power...the lights on the dash barely come on, and the car makes a clicking noise from the passenger side by the floor near the firewall i believe there is a fuse panel under there also.. the car will not start even with jumper cables hooked on it! theres no clicking of the starter, the engine doesnt turn over at all...not enough power! im wondering if maybe this has something to do with the alternator? or could it be an extremely dead battery?? i dont know..i've been trying everything i can think of with no success...someone help me out!!

Voltage drop at low RPM is normal, it'* just not spinning fast enough.

Do you have any lights, or is the car totally dead electrically? Check your battery cables, both ends of both cables. Clean them good and give that a try.

oh the cables are fine...damn near new! the car has some power but barely enough to turn on the dash lights when the key is turned to the on position...theres a clicking noise coming from the passenger side inside the car...donno what to do!

They may be new, but did you check the other ends of the cables? Not just where it'* on the battery. your either corroded bad on the other end, or the battery is dead. The clicking could very well be a relay.

Far as a "voltage drop being normal..." NOT in my recent experience.

I had a problem when it turned colder the car went dead when I turned the key, no clock, nothing. Luckily it did work immediately.

When driving I noticed the voltage dropping below 14 at a traffic light.

I cleaned and tightened the battery terminals.

The voltage dropping and the cold starting problems went away completely.

If your RPM gets down to or below 800 or so the alt simply is not spinning fast enough to keep the voltage up. At idle I have about 12.8v driving I have 13.5v I can show a scan if you wish.

yea its not anything to do with battery cables...like i first said the car ran fine half an hour before it died! i checked the battery cables at both ends...they are only a few months old also. The car has not enough power to even turn on my dash lights, the check engine light and other warning lights barely come on and theres a clicking coming from the passenger side of the car inside!

how do you test a relay?? i know how to check the fuses but i dont have a damn clue how to test a relay! if anyone has any input let me know!! thanx!

I'm not saying there'* anything wrong with your relay. It'* most likely not enough voltage to keep in engaged. Have you done a load test on the battery?

yea i did i replaced the battery today and it runs again but its still got the idle all over the place when its around 1000 rpm...gonna try a fuel filter, and a good injector flush then see where im at...