Yep, first time. I went into town to get some gas (at the cost $2.95 for just 87 ) Went back home and took the back-road to my house. Well second to last turn till I got home I pulled up to the yield sign and gave it some gas to go, but the engine just died in the middle of the road. This turn was on an incline, so I guess thats what caused it. Anyways, tried to re-start it, just cranked really slow. So I had to coast back down the hill. Thank god nobody was behind me and I was able to let it coast a small field. The currently is havin hot start problems, to where it won't start. Narrowed it down to the starter. Anyways, let it cool down for 20 minutes and thank god when I tried to crank it over it did. I was on my way and didn't get stuck in the ditch/field. It couldn't wait till tomorrow untill I could bring it to the shop so I can put a new one on. Stupid car, oh well it happens. It was more funny then anything.

2.95 for 87 eh? im forking over 3.19

Glad you could resolve without walking. I wasnt so lucky last year...

My woman was pregnant, we were camping and just about to head back home. We stopped in at a store on the highway and on the way back out, the starter wouldnt even turn. Click click click.

The evil eye from my girlfriend, and some select words later, I was under the hood trying to hit the starter, or jump it with a screwdriver, anything. The motor hit a dead spot, and would not go. I tried for an hour and then we called for a ride back to town. It was blisteringly hot that day and we were an hour and a half from home. So my parents came and picked me up. Left the olds for a few days until I was able to get a new starter.

Changed the starter in the parking lot and away I went!!! What a pissoff though!

In a parking lot... wow. They look sorta frustrating to change, I coulda never done it there. Doing it at my dads work tomorrow to where I have access to some floorjack and stands

When I first got my car, the starter was giving me problems. After about maybe the third time cycling the ignition key, the engine would finally start. It turned out that it was covered with oil coming from a leaking engine gasket which I had it replaced at the same time along with the starter.

Although not starter related, let me tell you about a parking lot situation that happened to me about a year ago. I was taking a drive up to Buena Park and I stopped by a liquor store to get some cigarettes. When I came back to car and started it, I couldn't get the car out of park. The gear shift lever on the steering column was loose and moving freely like it had completely lost its linkage to the transmission arm. For a moment I was getting a little worried because I thought that possibly the cable might have somehow snapped or lost the linkage somewhere possibly at the steering column where I couldn't access it. I wasn't carrying any tools at the time either. Miraculously, the linkage was lost at the shift arm on the transmission. The plastic bushing on the end of the cable where it connects to the transmission arm was completely brittle and basically broke off into little pieces. I was able to get my car home that day by means of inserting a small twig in between the end of the cable and the transmission shift arm. The next day I took my car to the mechanic's and he didn't have the part to replace it, so what he did was he custom made a metal linkage from a machine bolt. He had to take out my transmission arm and substitute it with one from a Chevy transmission to make it work. I don't know about you guys, but I think this another one of those deals where they shouldn't have manufactured a plastic component for this car.

Yikes. Well mine just cranked like it had a battery that was low on power. I was actually laughing the entire time. For some odd reason some kids were 4-wheeling and they were beside me with one of their 4-wheelers with a dead starter too

I have another good parking lot story.

It was a friday night, around 11pm, in a thunderstorm. I mean a real thunderstorm. The building we were in lost power, along with most of the nearby ones and several traffic lights.

I had replaced the generator a few months earlier, but I didn't know that a dying generator will damage the battery.

I left the lights on (see my thread about headlight relay)(In my defense, my dad has done it at least three times, and myself only once)(Thanks New Jersey for making it illegal for me to drive with my wipers on and lights off. A light drizzle is enough to need wipers on a low setting, but not enough to reduce visibility and make lights necessary, especially in a white car. I don't have any sort of interior headlight indicator for the low beams, so usually what reminds me to hit the lights is when I see the beams on the pavement in front of me. It's a real PITA when I need to have the lights on when it's not dark, because it's a lot easier to forget to turn them off) for about thirty minutes, then I looked out and noticed, and turned them off. Since I was on the clock, I couldn't really take a look at it, I just switched them off and went inside.

At the end of my shift, nothing but that horrible clicking sound.

Got out my jumper cables and got my friend to jump it. For some odd reason, which I still don't understand, the car would not start. My friend was revving it, and the cables were definetly working. The interior lights came on, but the starter wouldn't run.

I got a ride home. My dad had one of those portable battery things that you use to jump your car. I started carrying that around with me. Every single time that I turned off the car, I needed to jump it, even though I ran it for like two hours in order to try to charge the battery.

After about three days, I got my mom to take me to the store and I got a new battery.

Moral of the story - Always replace your battery when you replace your alternator.

nalc - a proper diagnosis of a dying alternator can save a battery from being run down to low levels. Timely replacement, and a load test of the current battery should be sufficient. I think it was just a coincidence that your battery gave out shortly after the alt.

But - dont let this happen in the winter time with freezing temps. My truck at work was left with the interior light on overnight in the depth of a canadian winter and in the morning, it would take NO charge whatsoever. New battery time. The worst part was, the batt in the truck at the time was an optima yellowtop, only 6 months old at the time.

See, I rarely need to use the inside domelight, and I have the door open alot for cleaning (I'm not a slob.. just transporation for alot of people ), so I just pulled the fuse. Only thing that sucks, is I cant see where the hell everything is at night, but better then a dead battery.