Could be a loose wire, the alternator and starter are attached to each other.

An alternator cannot function without a good battery in the circuit.

 

Sure sounds like a loose connection somewhere. Can you tell if the starter is staying engaged? If it's the original battery, it had a good run. I got 11 years out of mine but that isn't normal. Being drawn down too low can shorten it's life.

 

Ok guys so please correct me if im wrong. So when you start a car it uses the powerfrom the battery to turn on ect. And than uses the power being produced by the alternator once its running correct?
so my car dies once all the power from the battery has been used and is dead
Just installed a new alternator so the problem should be connection/cable from the alternator sending out the power it produced.?????

 

When I looked at my cable, between the starter and the generator, It looked like a fusible link. It was not shown on wiring diagrams, so can't be sure. Have a look, see if there is any visible damage. I don't know how to test it.

I've looked high and low, but there doesn't seem to be an exploded drawing that includes that wire either, so I couldn't get a part number for you. Try your GM dealership parts dept. or maybe you can get one used from a wrecking yard.

 

Test it with a VOM. There should be 12V at the starter and 12V at the alternator; engine off. Or disconnect it from the alternator and check for continuity.

Some seem to have a fusible link.

The way alternators work, they need a battery to excite the coils. Dead battery = dead alternator.

 

 

Is that S111 or 9111? Blurry, hard to tell. Doesn't seem to look like the other S's. Is there any way to look that up, see just what it is?

 

I would say it's a "S".

 

"S" for "splice". I guess that indicates a fusible link.

 

OK, but I mean look it up, see if it's a splice, fusible, or what? Thanks for the better pic, it does look more like an S.

Ok, I guess that's sarcasm, don? Hard to be sure in the written word. It does make sense that S = Splice, but it doesn't make sense to have a splice there, no reason. I think you've said that before also.