Thread: battery light came on and went off! puzzled

on the way home from work when i started my car i noticed the battery light was on. i turned off the radio and everything to get home and made it without the car dieing. the car was running low rpmsbut still running. about half way home the battery light turned off the the rpms went back too normal, and once this happened i noticed a elictric burning smell, that consisted with the car running. tyhe smell is very faint but when you open the hood you can smell it. to see if it was my alternator i disconnected the battery before i turned the car off and the car died right away. i quickly took it to autozone anfd they said my battery was bad whitch made no sence because the car still startes and drives. its only when i disconnect my battery while the car is running is when it dies. the battery light has not come back on but i can stiull smell the burning smell.. i dont wanna spend money on an alternator if it could be something else. PLEASE any advise will help. (the lady at autozone didnt seem like she really knew what she was talking about)..

01 grand prix gt 3.8 146K (original alternator)
sorry for the novel(i only drove the car about 20 since the battery light came on then went off. what to do)??

update!!
i took my car to different auto parts store and they told me again that my battery was bad but also that my alternator had a bad electrode(or something like that) and it also needed to be replace. they said that while my alternator was going bad it caused my battery to go bad as well. i went ahead and bought an alternator and will replace tomorrow.. after that i will see if my battery really needs to be replaced or if it will recharge.. i may replace my battery cables while im doing everything else(does anyone know if replacing the battery cables is very hard)??

THANKS!!

Replacing the cables are probably pointless unless they look screwed up. Ur story has all the symptoms of an alternator going bad. 146k is good life for one. As far as ur battery goes, it can still be bad and keep enough juice to get it started. So u can leave it but eventually it'll be completely dead and will need to jump it to get it started. For batteries idk if u know but in my opinion interstate is the BEST.

ok.. i will double check the cables before i do anything..
Thanks for the help guys! im about to change the alternator in about an hour or so and if the battery needs replacing too i will look into an interstate! thanks again..

update again!
i replaced my alternator which only took about 20 min. or so! i checked my battery cables and they still looked fine for now!
when i took my old alternator back to get my core return, i asked them again to check my battery and stuff. they again said my battery is still bad. the car is still starting and running fine so im not sure what to do.
do i buy and new battery just because two places told me it was bad or do i stick it out and carry my jumper cables til i end up needing them.
my car idles juat a little low and has been the last month or so and ive been told that a bad battery can cause low idle and hard start sometime(and my car takes a couple cranks SOMETIMES).
not sure what to do, what would you do???

Lol that's true ur battery would die at the worst time. Me personally if I was tight on money id squeeze all the life out of it. Its really all up to u. As far as idling and what not goes, are u sure ur car ever got the proper tune up?

thanks alot guys!! im still deciding whether to buy a new battery or not. not that im tight on funds just that it really hasnt shown any signs of being very bad since ive changed the alternator.. (exept the low idle sometimes).
ive just recently done a complete tune up, plugs, wires, oil, air filter, fuel filter, ect..(and alot of other misc. parts)
and yes, i heard about the dangers of disconnecting the battery while the car was running, but after i had already done it.(for sure wont do it again)..
i talked to a couple of people about it and some say the bad battery could effect my new alternator in the long run so i may just change it pretty soon..
THANKS for ALL the advise!! much appreciated..!