The vehicle idles up and down and then stalls. I had to jump the vehicle as the battery was dead. I then drove the vehicle around a block, turned on the a/c that didn't work, and then parked it. I reved the engine several times and it idled up and down and then stalled. The vehicle has been driven about ten miles a week if that. The owner only put several dollars worth of fuel in it at a time. Fuel gauge near empty. Never went over fifty mph. Vehicle has 73k on it.

Does the vehicle start after sitting over night or do you need to jump start it . Is the charge light on ( batt. symbol ) at any time ? Serpentine belt good , tensioner good ? Battery cable connections good an tight and no corrosion ? Battery also good ? That is normal for battery voltage to jump up to 14 volts after starting , alternator is replenishing the battery after starting ,that draws down the battery . Going down to 11 or 12 volts when stopping and almost stalling isn't a charging system problem . You have a idle problem , IAC - idle air control valve or dirty air passage , a vacuum leak . Giving it gas and it going up to 13+ the alternator is working . Your best bet take it to a qualified repair shop and have it check .

Might be a battery that is near dead. You can have it checked at most auto parts stores for free.

I would look at the fuses and fuseable links, and check the output of the alternator. If you disconnect the battery you can check the battery for a dead cell, and check the major circuits for a draw with everything turned off.

The automatic idle speed control system has lost its adaptive idle learning due to the dead battery. To help to correct this in the short term run the engine at 2000 RPM until warm, then back down to 1500 RPM for 3 minutes, then 1000 RPM for 3 minutes, then let it idle for 5 minutes, this should get the system to a point in the idle learn that it doesn't stall out, then drive it for 20 miles under varied conditions of highway and stop and go and low speed operation, that should get all to work again. If you still have problems you will need to have the system scanned to see what is going on that is causing a stall. Also add fresh fuel, gas goes bad in about 3 months. Use the recommended grade of fuel.

alternator is probably failing to charge

If you havent replaced the battery I would start there. If the battery has a dead cell in it then it will effectively remove the charge that your alternator is putting out causing your vehicle to stop running because it has no power. I would jump start the car without the battery hook up and remove the cables and see if it runs that way. If it does you have a bad battery.

If the battery does not hold a full charge the vehicle will not idle, replace the battery

The throttle body needs cleaning. It has some carbon build up, and when the battery went dead the computer lost its learned values, one of which is base throttle position. Now its reset back to factory specs, not accounting for a dirty throttle body. Seen it a million times

As far as the guage issue it is most likely a problem with the body control module, have a trouble code test run on the BCM to determine the issue, the stalling is caused by the loss of the idle strategy learning when the battery went dead, the best thing to do is the following procedure I use to clear this issue.

Here is the most common cause of surges and stalls (or very low idle) near or at idle, it is the idle speed control air-bypass valve and throttle valve, they get full of gunk over the miles and cause idle issues (stalls) like yours, Get a can of intake cleaner from any local parts store, not carb spray, intake cleaner, it is made by a company called CRC, remove the air intake hose to the engine, hold the idle high so the engine won't stall, then spray the can of cleaner into the intake while keeping the engine running, use at least 1/2 the can, shut down the engine and disconnect the battery for 5 minutes, then restart and complete a number of mixed driving cycles, town, freeway, stop and go etc., after a few days the problem will go away as the system will relearn to the clean intake.

you can jump directly to the battery. the procedure for doing this is as follows connect the positive cable to the dead vehicle(yours) then connect the ground cable either to the battery or to the engine block. then conect the positve cable to the jump vehicle then connect the ground. start the jump vehicle and rev engine to 1500-2000 rpm for 2 minutes. let vehicle idle for 5 minutes. then try and start dead vehicle. sometimes the whole thing takes 10 to 15 minutes to be successfull. please rate the solution.........thanks