I think my alternator is going out not sure need help?

Question

On my 2001 Dodge Dakota yesterday the battery died on it when i was at he store ,got it jumped off when it was idleing it was finethen when i started to drive it ,it started overcharging so i shut it down when i got it jumped again i just let it sit there for about 20 min idleing then it started to overcharge again need help is this the alternator or could it be something else?

Answer 1

  if it was overcharging by a whole lot, then it's bad,and needs to be repl'd.  if only overcharging by a small amount ,it will go down to normal after the car has run for a while. if you have access to a voltmeter then check it against the specs book . if it is too high then def. bad.    follow?

Answer 2

easy to have it check any parts store or auto shop... most likely if its over charging it would be  alternator but no reason to guess autozone will check both free

Answer 3

that's the alternator gone out on it or the battery has a dead cell in it,form what you said it sounds like a bad battery possibly ,take both the alternator and the battery to auto zone or advance and have them check both,it could be either from the way you described that its doing,i have seen more battery's cause that than alternators,but have both checked to be sure,good luck with it.