Asking for a friend ..

He's got a circa-1983 Olds Ciera with a V8, hasn't given him any problems with it in the past few months. Battery was replaced two months ago.

He was leaving for lunch yesterday and the car died before he could get out of the parking lot. It tries to start, but doesn't quite make it. Him and his dad finally got it started and he managed to drive it home with no problems. He got it to get him to work today too, but he says it almost died on him again.

What do you guys think? He's not mechanically inclined and I don't want him to get ripped off. The guy drives a 20+ year old car for corn's sake, he doesn't need to get shafted.

Anyone know if there were specific problems across the board with this car? I want to tell him it might be the alternator, but to be honest, I just tread water with anything that's not a GP.

I can't even remember if they're injected or carbed.

Sorry, no help from me.

Well...you could try a few basic things with it like on a GP. Is it getting fuel? That would be my first guess. If it uses a carb, it probably only needs a few psi to work. If it's injected, you'll need more. Not exactly sure what it would be though. Then move on to spark...check out the dist and coil. Had that problem on a Model A. It would die...then got it to start, then it died, but it stayed dead that time. Turned out it was just a bad connection in the dist. Look for the little things

Try replacing the fuel filter first. But to be honest I think it sounds like the alternator. If you can get the car to an Autozone they can check the alternator for him. Worst case scenario it'll need a carburetor rebuild and/or a new alternator. I believe it has a Rochester carb (but don't quote me on that). A rebuild at a carb shop should be around $100. Hope this helps.

Oh yeah...make sure the battery cables are clean and tightly connected to the battery.

You can say Rochester Quadrajet and cover most of the carbs GM put on their V8s.

I'd put a multimeter on that battery and see what's in it. Anything less than 12v is bad, 12.45v is preferable. Crank it and watch the voltage, it shouldn't drop below 10v. If the battery is really low, charge it or take it to AZ and have them put it on a slow charge.

Now, if the battery is charged, start it and look at voltage on the battery if it runs. It should be above 13v if the alternator is working. If the alternator isn't charging, have a look at the voltage regulator before you condemn the alternator itself.

No one should be without a multimeter, they're very handy tools and a good, digital one only costs around $20.

Could be a faulty ignition module or coil; I've seen modules cause the car to die, then restart and run for a while before stalling again.