Hello again everyone--my girlfriends Bonne is having some issues
I'm guessing it'* the alternator. To describe the problem, a few months ago, it started dying. Let it sit for a day and it wouldn't start and needed to be jumped. Eventually it started getting really bad, so I decided to replace the battery, figuring if this new one died it would be the alternator. Put the new battery in, it worked great, for maybe, two months or so now. Now it'* not starting anymore. She drove the car to my house tonight and when we went to go an hour or so later, it wouldn't start and the lights inside were dim.

Anyway, I'm figuring it'* just the alternator on this thing, because if it was a drain somewhere, the battery would have taken a lot longer to die, rather than just slowly fizzling out after a few months. So I just came around to get a second opinion on what it is. Oh, she has a mobil phone in her car that she doesn't use, but when I put the new bat in, I disabled the thing because I thought it might be a drain.

Also, if it is the alternator, how much do they generally go for on these cars? In addition, to get the belts off, do you guys have a belt tensioner somewhere? I never really looked at the motor too close, as it'* not my car, but on my SC 3.8, the belts are quite easy to get off.

Thanks.

Yes, it has a tensioner near the middle somewhere (or two if it'* supercharged). A bad alternator or battery has a bad habit of taking the other along with it. I strongly suspect that.

Thanks for the info.

How much do GM alts go for?

Uh, maybe $120? Can't remember.

The AC Delco Remans with a lifetime warrenty is pretty reasonable at Advance

If the alternator is bad the car the car would die while driving around. It sounds like you're just having trouble after the car sits awhile. Sounds like something is draining the battery.

But it'* not after it sits for a while anymore. It'* like as soon as she pulls-up and shuts the car off, it wont start again. Also, it'* a '98 SSEI

Also, I don't have the tools to check the volts and such. I may just tell her to take it to a "mechanic" to diagnose it.

i had this problem and turned out to be the Battery not holding a charge

That'* what I figured at first, so we got a BRAND NEW Interstate battery and it worked great for a while. Until now that is.