Sputtered than stalled, now will not start!? Need input.
 

Let me explain what has happened.

Im driving to a stop sign, as I am sitting there the car sputters for like 1 second and the rpms drop about 100rpms at idle, still at the stopsign it does this same thing again... I take off from the sign and pull up to where I am goining. Its idling, it does the same thing again sputter and rpms drop a tad. Than it sputters and the engine stalls out? I go to start it and the starter sounds very slow, definately not fast enough to start the car, it sounds very loud and sluggish, all lights light up on the dash until I go to crank the car during cranking the volts drop below 9v and the lights get very dim... I try to push starting it got up to a good run behind the car, put it in 1st and the tires just drag a little bit... than I got a set of jumper cables tried to jump, the volts go back up the starter now sounds faster, but will still not start... I had to leave the car where it sits for the night as right now it is near 0 degrees f outside. Any helps or suggestions will be much appreciated. The car has a directfire msd and a carb that has been acting fairly suspect lately and the starter in the car has always been loud & shitty as it was aquired from a junkyard.

I guess thats all....

Check terminal cables especially ground. Probably flooded now. Carb rebuild in your future... near future. Good luck

I would say your altenator has taken a dump on you. Engine wanting to die, Lights dimming when you try to start it, and the sluggish starter all point to that. The battery carried you as far as it could before the voltage dropped far enough to cause the stall. If you can, go get you battery at least and put it on a charger, the longer you keep it discharged the worse off it's going to be. After you figure out what's wrong and still can't get a start, do the unflood procedure and take a little bit of starting fluid with you. Single digit temps can make starting really hard after flooding. Better yet, just tow start it.

definetly check batt connections, put in another battery if you can, and if that does it get it to where can get it fixed.
mitsubushi alternators generally last a long time
I had one go out on a 79 once, I rebuilt it myself for $6.00.

Rotor13B has the right idea about the battery, but I would go one further and say that you should find another battery (preferably new, if possible) and warm, go back to the car in the morning and attempt to start it up again.

When you applied the jumper cables, it probably gave the electrical system enough juice to power the ignition system to get it started, but was already flooded from trying to start it through slow cranking on the previous occasions. Let it sit overnight and the fuel will dry out and you stand a better chance of getting it started.

If the new/replacement battery does the trick - that is only for the short-term; your alternator has probably taken a dump and the car has been running off of the battery for the last few days until ignition, lights, etc. eventually killed it off. The car requires a good strong 12V source to run the ignition, and once you drop below that, the ignition doesn't have enough power to cycle the coils and ignitors to burn up fuel.

Hence, cranking (no matter how slowly) is not getting a good enough spark to turn the engine over, and will result in conditions that you've described. With the cold weather that you stated, that battery won't last long unless it's an optima, or new enough that the electrolyte is in good shape to survive a cold night.

Things to take to it tomorrow:

1. Starting fluid - to be squired down the carb to help with turning it over,
2. New/better battery - for cranking with enough speed and juice to fire the plugs,
3. Replacement plugs that are clean and in good enough shape to swap out in the field to assist with flood avoidance,
4. Assorted wrenches to change plugs, battery cables, etc,
5. Patience - it's going to take some effort to get it started if it's that cold outside.

Good luck, and report back,

Okay thanks for option & input guys, I have 2 spare rebuilt alt's in my garage and an optima batt in my other car so I guess I will start by installing the batt & alt and than removing the plugs to give it a few cranks to spray out any gas. than make sure shes all set ill spray some starting fluid down the carb, cross my fingers & hope for the best...

btw. This couldnt have been my car eating an apex seal could it? Just something in the back of my head that is racking my nerves...

No the exact thing happened to me. Its the Alt because your car needs to run off the power from it. And it not charging, your car was taking some power from your batterie and what little energy your Alt gave off. That explains the dead battery

It sounds like the alternator to me.

Well all is well now! :) went to the car, changed the alternator, changed the battery, checked the plugs (it was flooded) sprayed some starting fluid and on the first try with the choke out she came back to life!

Thanks for the help guys! You all very much kick ass!! :)

Nice!