I was driving yesterday and I noticed that the volt meter had dropped to about 11 volts, with the check engine light coming on and off every once in a while. Today as I was driving home all of the sudden the volt meter dropped all the way to 0 and the radio shut off. As soon as I got off the freeway and came to a stop the car died. Now it won't trun over. Could it be the battery or the alternator? Or is it something mor serious. Any help will be greatly appreciated

 

my car died one day on me coming to a stopsign, turned out the positive battery cable had worked its way loose.

my guess is the alternator ...after all that bs, lol.

I ran my car for like 3 days off the battery until i realized the alternator wasn't working right, plugged that in and everything was ok.

a car will drive w/ a bad battery, but a bad alternator, as in my case, and you're in trouble.

anyone feel free to chime in if i'm incorrect
brandon

 

How long you can drive the car on battery depends on the reserve capacity rating of the battery. I'd have the alternator checked, since this is the most likely culprit. I'd also have the battery checked, since lead-acid batteries aren't supposed to be deep cycled (fully discharged). My money's on the alternator being bad.