alternator dying

[nash8]

My mom took my car today to get another registration sticker. It stalled out on her in the parking lot at the annex. then it stalled again and started up. then it died right in the middle of traffic while idling. I went to go get her and let the car sit for a second, checked the engine, and then tried to start it up again and it cranked right up. I tried to drive it home and got to another intersection and i was idling in the car died again. I pulled it into a gas station and parked it and left because i was in the middle of soccer practice. I havent had a chance to look at anything hardly at all just a quick glance over. I'm guessin its the alternator because all my electronics are on before i turn the key over and they stayed on while my car was running then it just dies. its pretty cold outside, around 30-40 degrees and i have a system hooked up to the battery but it was turned off because my mom was drivin, and the alternator only has around a couple thousand miles on it at the most so it should be good. I'm just lookin for some suggestions so i have some things to look for before i hafta take it to a mechanic even tho it has a warranty on everything in the engine. i'd like to do it myself if i can. Thanx

 

[nash8]

well i went up and tried to get it to the mechanic and it died about a mile away so i had to get a tow truck, but the alternator does spin the belt so its not seized, and all my electronics still come on, but when i turn the key so the electronics come on the check engine light blinks. Also i just put in a new positive batter terminal cuz i had a hood short and i havent grouped the wires like they were before and the pos cable is runnin in front of the intake instead of behind but i dont think this could cause all this. I really have no idea what it could be besides the alt because if you let it sit for a while it starts up and it seems like the longer it sits the farther it can go so i guess the alts dyin and its buildin up juice and then it just goes. I still have a warranty on everything in the engine so i get it replaced for free but i wanna be able to talk to him when i go up there so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mitsutuner]

Doesn't seem like your alternater could be the problem, because if it was & the battery went dead, then the car wouldn't restart or at least I've never experienced a battery that could recharge itself enough to start a car. while It is concievably possible that your alt is going bad, intermittently at first, yours has very low mileage on it & it's doubtfull that the alt brushes are worn down enough to fail at all.
It seems to me that you more likely have a fuel delivery problem & I would start by replacing the fuel filter. Sludge in the filter will turn into rock if it gets cold enough.

 

[nash8]

well its at the mechanic right now, cuz everything gets fixed for free cuz its all under warranty right now, but i dont want him telling me that i need a new an entirely new engine when i only need to change my fuel filter, but anyways if the fuel filter was clogged would it still b gettin enough fuel when the car was turned off, and could it be the injectors or that the pump was dying to?

 

[mitsutuner]

Probably the mechanic will figure it out.
Theoretically assume the fuel filter is 90% clogged, the 10% of gas that gets thru is not enough to run the motor causing it to stumble &/or die. Since the pump has pressurized the gas going into the filter, it will continue to slowly pass thru the filter after the car is turned off, enough to allow the motor to restart after some time has elapsed. After that small quantity gas has been burned & you are again only getting 10% of what you need--the car dies again. At the shop, they can hook up a fuel pressure guage to the fuel pressure regulater & know for sure, my guess is that they will do a quick check to see if you're getting spark first.
You need 3 things for combustion, gas,air & spark.
Fuel delivery may or may not be your problem, just seems like a logical place to start based on what you have described.

 

[nash8]

yeah when i sat there and thought about it that seemed like a very logical explination i dont why i didnt think of that, but thanks a lot for helpin and hopefully i'll have the car back tom.