Whenever I stepped on the brakes my stereo would shut off then come back on when I accelerated, never found out what the problem was because I left town. Came back to always needing a jump start to start my car. I bought a new battery, it started right up and drove with no problem but then a day later while it was on (either just in park or while on the road stepping on brakes) it would just shut off... Now, my car doesn't even start or turn on. No lights, no sounds no nothing, like the car is completely dead...with a new battery??? could this be a electrical problem or my alternator? while I had it running for that one day I had my alternator checked and they said it was still pretty good.? Just trying to see what i can do before actually bringing it in and spending any money. I'm not a pro, still learning so I'm looking for help from a couple of you Experts n Pros out there.

 

what's the charging voltage? are battery connections tight? start there

 

From the symptoms you described it sounds like the alternator is the problem. As you stated the lights get brighter, but it sounds like the alternator is not putting out enough voltage to keep the battery charged properly. If you can get the battery charged and then get the car running, do a voltage check on the alternator while it's running. Then turn the heat on and high beams and see what the alternator does then (puts a load on the system). If it is working properly it should not drop below 13.2V. I would also check your battery connections themselves and the ground to the chassis from the battery.

 

What does pretty good mean? Either it's at spec or it isn't..

The other guys have you straight. Put your battery on a charger and give a full charge, put it back in the car making sure the terminals have no corrosion and are tight on the posts, check the battery voltage with the car off, then with the car on, and then with all electrical drawing accessories turn on with the engine still running. Post up what those three voltage reading are.

good luck!

 

Alternator for sure. Same symptoms that I had and was also told that my alternator was working just fine.

 

Make sure you have the correct size battery...had the problem once