I haven't been driving my '91 Firebird recently, due to the insane amount of snow we get where I live. So I would only get to take it out once a month or so when there would be a break in the weather. Yesterday I drove it with no problems, however last night when I went to drive it back to my house, it wouldn't start. Lights came on, and everything, but the engine couldn't quite turn over, although it would click quite a few times in repetition. Being as I was close to home, I decided to just leave it parked in the parking lot, and walk home so I could jump it when it wasn't dark, and raining. I jumped it successfully today, and decided to drive it a little to get the battery charged, but it seems like it only lost power.

When I would press the brakes, I could watch my voltage meter drop below 8v, so I decided to turn around and head home. My turn signals would cause the RPM's to dip, so I had to abandon using them. It got progressively worse to the point where braking caused my speedometer to drop 10mph, and my radio display was just flickering on and off (the radio itself was off). However, once it started to get really bad, my INFL. REST. light came on. I managed to get it home, and parked, but don't know really where to start.

It sounds kind of like it might be a bad alternator, but I haven't dabbled in the electrical aspects of my car before. I read about problems similar to this on the forums, but none really gave a definitive answer that I could find. Hoping for a little guidance, thanks in advance.

 

Remove the alternator and the battery, and take them to any local auto parts store - they will test both for free.

 

Camaronewbie is right. I'd say the alternator is dead and if it's not dead already, youre battery as well since you put a huge strain on it driving it down that far. Your onboard volt meter should always read 13-14 volts if it's working. You were running on the battery so when you jumped it, it was ok...until the battery wore down again.