My car runs a little rough.. sometimes. Also when i go to start it, it will start, run very rough, it will be shaking between 0 and 5 rpm, then it will just stall. One time when this happened, the headlights were flashing, and the battery level was surging along with the engine. Sometimes when I start the car, there is no problem at all, it will start, run, and be fine. When it is giving me a problem and stalling, I try starting it a few more times, give it some gas, then it will go. I am thinking maybe it's because of the alternator, but people have also told me it is because of fuses, the fuel pump, or the fuel filter... and I am just not sure. Pleaseeee help me

 

try disconnecting the power lines from the alternator and start the car. you can get the alternator test for free at autozone. the voltage regulator or diode could be bad. causing surging of a/c power not d/c

 

true, yeah I think I will take it to autozone, I didn't know they do the test for free. I tried using a voltage meter...but I have no idea how it is supposed to work because the alternator needs to be disconnected in order for the meter to touch where it needs to to test it... so it defeats the purpose

 

yeah, just to let anyone know that might read this message because of a similar problem, it was in fact the alternator...and i learned the hard way driving down the highway when all of a sudden my lights went out and the car started to run horribly until i pulled over into a parking lot and shut it off. It would not start again... I changed the alternator and serpentine belt the next day, and she was running great. The belt on the alternator was so worn that it spun around looosely