car dies when cooling fan or lights are on, not the alternator

[newtypedsm]

so ive been having problems and found out my oil pump is bad. after installing a new radiator yesterday, while my car was running, as soon as the cooling fan engaged, the idle would drop then the car would die. same as when i would turn the headlights on. and i couldnt drive the car and come to a stop without the car dying on me. could this be related to the oil pump? i dont know how it could. and another thing, its a brand new alternator on the car, but im still going to have it tested once i get to taking the timing belt off again.

 

[Cheks_Talon_TSi]

Maybe the relay of the alternator is bad... Take a look on all fuses and relays...

Good luck!

Sergio G.

 

[scaryc]

my car does something very similar. for a day or two after i bought it i couldnt get it to stay running without putting my foot on the gas, but it somehow fixed itself(bad gas maybe?). but even now when i have my headlights on it almost dies at stops, and when i press on the brake it drops the idle too. the radiator fan doesnt seem to affect anything though

 

[psychlow]

Whatever the cause, guys, find it, and fix it. Trace your wiring until you can't stand it if you have to, to get it fixed, or don't drive the car.

Trust me, it's no fun to go to brake aggressively, and have the car die. Instant manual brakes on a car designed to have vacuum-assisted power brakes in an emergency situation is no good - you're probably not stopping in time.

Make sure the alternator is installed correctly, that all relays are working and functional, and that all ground wires are properly installed and not corroding. To make sure the alternator is working as it should, unplug your negative battery terminal while the car is running. If it dies, your alt is bad, or you have wiring issues.

 

[91 white tsi]

I had the same thing happen to me. anything electric caused it to stall and it was a new alt since the old one was doing the same thing. Luckly my radar detector has a volt meter and i noticed it was charging at 8.9 volts. maybe you got a deffective alt too