what i would suggest is a load test on the vehicle.
leave the vehicle shut off for a good 10 to 15 min
(the battery can still hold a residual charge if the engine was just shut off)
have them do a battery load test (with the engine off) before they do a alternator load test, reason the same as above if the battery checks bad dont rule it out just yet, have them do the alternator test and if its bad i would try just replacing that first and if you still have a problem like hard starting due to low battery voltage etc. then replace the battery.
and YES a bad alternator could be the cause of those proplems.
most of the time when they go bad its the rectifyer bridge.
the part that changes the AC power to DC if the alternator is letting AC through those AC voltage spikes will cause very funky wierd things dealing with the computer.
hope that helps.
autotech zach
my bat doesnt really hold charg would a bad alt cause this?[/quote]