WTBIS350

Hi everyone,

I purchased my car back in Dec 2011 and it has 117K miles now and around 90k when i got it. I havent changed the alternator yet and last time i changed the battery was about 2 years ago. I've never had any issues with it running or cranking up, but here is what happened today.

-got to work and just like i normally do i sit in the car for about 15-20 minutes while the car idles
-after about 10 minutes of sitting there i noticed the touchscreen start to flicker and radio acting up, car didnt sound good either so i shut it down
-tried cranking it up immediately but nothing...car would just make clicking noises engine would not turn over at all
-came back to the car after about 2 hours and it started right back up, i let it idle for 1-2 minutes and i shut it down.
-came back 2 hours later and started the car and sat in it for about 15 minutes, it was fine but then the battery warning light came on i could barely make out the engine starting to struggle a little bit
-drove the car to another spot about 100feet away and as i was backing in the engine felt like it was about to die and the power steering went out (car was still running though). Backed the car into the spot the remaining 10 feet and shut it down
-tried to start it again but just clicking sound, engine would not turn
-went back to the car another 2 hours later and got a jump start. Left my car off (in case it was a bad alternator) and left it connected for about 5 minutes
-drove the car 100 feet, everything looked good and drove it home 7 miles with the radio off, headlights and AC on

Based on the last replacement date of the battery several people have told me that it might be the problem. But the way the car died as it was running made me think it was the alternator. I'm a bit rusty on my car know-how but i always thought that the battery was just to crank the car up (or provide power for accessories when off) but once it was running the alternator took over and charged the battery, ran accessories and of course provided power for engine (spark, etc). Since the car died while i was just sitting in it i thought alternator but i thought i'd check with you all as well. I'd hate to change the battery only to have the car die on the road a few days later in a more dangerous situation or something.

Bichon

The fact that you lost your power steering and the fact that the charging system warning light (what you called the battery light) stayed on while the engine was running strongly suggest a bad alternator. But I'd have both the alternator and battery tested before I start replacing things.