Well my idle has been lumpy, its been glugging on the start, and the car seems to stall out when I turn on the lights. Well tonight LUCKILY just as I pulled into my neighborhood as I was coasting in, boom.. the engine died. Now the interesting part is.. the batt "charge" light came on.. the lights stayed on.. and when I parked it.. I checked to see if it could crank..and it could, but it died in like 5 seconds. Alternator? Bad ground? Battery? Feedback please.

 

I was wondering how long it'd be before something on your car broke.

My vote is for that damn vpc.

Seriously, sounds like the alternator. Get a voltmeter to check the battery voltage and you could also disconnect the negative side and check the current between the negative battery cable to ground to check for a dark current draw.

 

i hate alt/battery problems. i always just replace both just to be done with it. I'm on my 3rd alternator on the miata btw

 

You are a firm believer in the anti-vpcism. You wait til I post my MAF'less numbers damnit!

 

You can get a $20 meter that will measure current per brgracer's suggestion. My Miata showed 4.5 milliamps, but others have seen as much as 20. Check your ground that runs from the neg batt terminal down to the ppf near the fuel filter.

 

Thanks for the input guys.. I will be sure to test it today.. for some reason I have a feeling I have a bad ground

 

bad grounds have been the source my electrical problems more the once