Strange Engine Trouble

[mals]

Last night my son was driving my 2001 Explorer with no issues. The first hint of trouble was that the electric window would not work. He parked and grabbed a bite to eat. Afterward he could not got it started, the solenoid clicked like the battery was dead. He got it jumped and drove about 1/4 mile before the engined started to stall and he could only do 5 mph. Parked again and had the same battery problem. The battery is 8 months old. I got there and got it jumped. I was able to run the engine rpm's up to what sounded like 3000 but the tach was not responding. After 3-4 minutes I got the same engine problem. I could only keep it running by pumping the accelerator. Th exhaust smelled like it was burining very rich. Even when running the electric windows would not work and the only dash instruments that worked were the check engine light and the battery light. It died again. I jumped it and was able to get the windows to work only with the jumper cables on.
I am completely stumped. Any thoughts?
Thanks.
Mals

 

[yavapaires]

Last night my son was driving my 2001 Explorer with no issues. The first hint of trouble was that the electric window would not work. He parked and grabbed a bite to eat. Afterward he could not got it started, the solenoid clicked like the battery was dead. He got it jumped and drove about 1/4 mile before the engined started to stall and he could only do 5 mph. Parked again and had the same battery problem. The battery is 8 months old. I got there and got it jumped. I was able to run the engine rpm's up to what sounded like 3000 but the tach was not responding. After 3-4 minutes I got the same engine problem. I could only keep it running by pumping the accelerator. Th exhaust smelled like it was burining very rich. Even when running the electric windows would not work and the only dash instruments that worked were the check engine light and the battery light. It died again. I jumped it and was able to get the windows to work only with the jumper cables on.
I am completely stumped. Any thoughts?
Thanks.
Mals

Check the alternator output. Should be around 13.6 volts, maybe a bit more, with engine running.

 

[mals]

You nailed it. Dead as a doornail. I never had an engine that drained the battery and caused the engine to stumble. I did not know about the insruments needing 6 amps or so to function.
Swapped it out in 20 minutes. All is good.
Thanks.