My car is an automatic 1990 Toyota Corolla with 84,000 miles on it. I bought it used with 63,000 miles on it 2 1/2 years ago, and it has been mostly trouble free.
A few weeks ago I noticed one morning that the car had trouble starting. Really just a hesitation, a little trouble turning over the starter. It seemed like the battery may have been a little low. I turned the key, not the usual immediate response, I held it, the starter caught, and the engine started. I drove to work. No more problems... for awhile. This morning on my way to work I noticed my radio just cut out. This is something that has happened before. Usually in the summer when it's really hot. I would drive for awhile with it off, and later it would come on again. It's the factory radio and it doesn't look like anyone has been behind the dash, but I thought maybe there was a loose wire, or a short. Since the radio always came back on I ignored it. Anyway, this morning the radio turned itself off, and no matter how many times I pushed the on knob it wasn't coming back. The car continued to run, and I got to work fine. When I left work the car started fine, and I headed home. Near the end of my drive on the freeway I noticed a little hesitation and the radio cut out again. Then the car really started to bog, but the engine kept running. I pushed the accelerator to the floor, and was doing maybe 35 on the freeway. Once I got off the freeway I got about four blocks before hitting a stop light. Once I stopped the engine died, and all dash lights were out, and nothing turned on except the hazard lights. Someone helped me push it into a gas station, and I called AAA. A truck came and I had it towed to a garage. At the garage, the mechanic said it sounded like the alternator. He was in a hurry, because his shop was really busy, so I handed over the key, and left it. As I walked home I thought about other things it could have been like a fuse, or corroded battery cables. I got home and began kicking myself. I got online and started pricing out alternators. It seemed that on-line an alternator for my car runs around $100. An hour after I dropped the car off I decided to call the shop, and I was told that it was definitely the alternator, and they could get me one, and have it installed in 1 1/2 hours. The mechanic said he would charge me $149 for the alternator, $65 for labor, and tax. He told me that he had too many cars in his shop, and hoped I would pick the car up tonight. I picked the car up, it started fine, the radio and all lights worked, and the battery seemed in top shape.
If the alternator died and the car totally shut down wouldn't that mean that the battery was dead too. Wouldn't it mean that it would take awhile to charge it? The car was only in the shop for a little over two hours. I asked the mechanic for my old alternator, which he gladly gave me. When I got home I looked under the hood, and there was a shiny new battery next to very healthy looking belts.
Am I being unnecessarily paranoid after the fact? Is it possible that my mechanic found a much simpler problem, but decided to charge me for a new alternator anyway? If the problem was the alternator I think his price was very reasonable.
I fear that I should have done a little sleuthing before I had my car towed to a shop & dropped off.
Can an alternator just go out? Could the problem with the radio, and the low charge that fixed itself be indicative of an alternator that is dying?
It's quite possible that my mechanic was totally honest, and gave me both great service, and a reasonable price. Hopefully someone out there will have some idea.