Hello blades! My truck has been acting up the last couple weeks and I was wondering if anyone could help me out. Mind you I replaced my battery about 2 weeks ago and my alternator sometime in august or before, so both are in good working condition. My problem is when I'm driving my battery gage is fine unless I turn my stereo up to loud. When I turn my headlights on, and even my parking lights, the battery meter falls to around 10 instead of the regular 14. I'm not sure if it has something to do with my sub woofer odr if some wire is grounding out somewhere or what the deal is, but I really have no idea where to start. Any blaes mind helping me troubleshoot? I appreciate it
If you have a powerful enough system, you need a capacitor. Like this. I used to have a car with 1 12 running 400w and the lights would dim everytime the sub "hit" (with no cap). And if you replaced your alternator with a reman or a used one, it could have gone bad. I see it a lot. What kind of battery are you running? I nice optima would have been good for you.
caps are a bandaid on a bigger problem. 1st one would have to know how much power you are putting out. And you seem to be putting out enough to give you bad voltage drop.Putting such a strain on your electrical will kill your alternator pretty fast, and your battery as well. I would suggest you do the big three first in 4g or 0g(better) which is simply running a larger wire from 1)the battery - to a good grounding point 2)the battery + to the *** with a fuse(4g is good w/ a 150a fuse 0g is good w/ a 350a fuse 3) from engine to frame. these three wires will help reduce resistance in the electrical. Depending on how much power you are putting out a good rule of thumb is that around 1200w-1500w you should get a big batt. under the hood or a small second batt to cushion the electrical.Power above that(also depends on size of alternator on vehicle)will require a high output alternator(with the big three done in 0g mandatory)and enough battery reserve to back up the alternator putting that much power. Here is a good link for a battery tutorial so you can do the math yourself and figure out what your system requirements are: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5MP5F-uJAw]Car Audio 101 - Battery Tutorial - YouTube[/ame] . Let me know what you have for a system and i'll help you out.DO NOT BUY A CAP it is not necessary it is a waste of money. A cap is just a very tiny battery which is a waste of money for the same or just a bit more you can get an actual battery which will be a big help!!!!!!! Also sanding down your grounds to bare metal, and any other wire you see bolted to the frame will help
My subwoofer is pretty weak sauce so I don't know if it even has anything to do with it. I'm running a little 10" Orion off a 250 watt sony xplode amp. I bought a battery from Orileys so it's pretty good quality. I'll have to check on the specs for it but it's not that big of a battery but my old shitty battery didn't have a problem pushing it. My ground is sanded down and screwed into the metal. My amp wire is I believe 0 gage along with the ground. My battery gage wouldn't move when I first put my battery in or even with my old crappy battery. I really have no idea what is wrong.
I had them test the battery a couple days after it first started acting up and the gentlemen working there was an idiot. He tested it and said it was fine and then I told him about how if I turn my lights on it goes screwy. He tested it again and said "oh it looks like it needs a recharge, just bring it in tomorrow and we can do that for ya" and proceeds to walk back inside. My gauge stays at 14 if I don't have my lights on so I doubt it needs a recharge.
Yeah, I would get the alternator and batt. checked out 1st. even with the lights on there should'nt be that much voltage drop, unless you have a very small alternator(90a). But, since you said your old battery didnt have a problem i would assume it to be the problem. Also how long have you had the system in for? Most vehicles have alternators just big enough to run the day to day operations for the vehicle, and putting in a system can and does cause a strain on the electrical to make the life of the battery and alternator much shorter.
I'ave had the system in for I would say a month and a half. Like I said it's a little sub and a crappy amplifier so I couldn't imagine it doing to much harm. I'm going to take it in tomorrow and see if there is a warranty on the alternator.
It could be 101 things without looking at it no way to tell. A most classic complaint, tried and true in the industry is I installed my stereo and now my car won't start.. If it ain't broke, dont fix it... i'm not sure what the complaint is? The gauge is bothering you? Most stock gauges are notorious for inconsistency/ failure. Long as the car still starts ignore it...
The complaint is my volts are lower then they should be My truck still starts but I would prefer it to stay that way.
Don't mean offense--They call that an idiot gauge.. put a dvom on the battery and really see whats going on than come back and tell me theirs a problem for us to work through. I know that gauge stuff can bother ya, but if its any consolation I drive a 98 f150 that needs a new instrument panel after I replaced the ECU. The correct oil pressure, and coolant temperature only registers the first few minutes of operation. Most vehicles are going to need well over 10+ volts to even weakly attempt to crank so regardless of what your gauge is telling you I suspect your charging system is fine. To me that's a problem that doesn't exist. Hate to see ya reaction to the check engine light-- teasin .
Actually I had someone test the voltage for me and they said it was down about 4 when I turned my lights on so it isn't just my gage fuckin up. I don't know if something is grounding out or worse then that. The previous owner wired his own speakers, and did a shitty job at best. Wire nuts for the wiring harness.
If it only happens with the lights on, then try the big three, or at least the batt. - to ground that should help
what year is this vehicle? the battery cables might need to be changed. this is sometimes the case when replacing the battery itself, because while the battery is new, the cables are as old as the rest of the car. +speakers that are this sort use more energy the louder they're played (i forget what this concept is called; I think it's "regulated speakers" and "unregulated speakers", something like that). For instance, a television's speakers are the exact opposite; they require the same amount of energy regardless of how loud they're sounding. a good solution would be to get rid of the excessive sound system as painful as that may be. For every addition to your automobile, there is an associated idiosyncrasy to deal with. So, some advice from a music lover, musician and previous university student of music theory and instrumental performance...think about simplifying your setup. all the best!
My truck is a '92 so it might need some new cables. I just paid off the system I bought off a friend so I don't want to sell it if I don't have to! I doubt it's the speakers because it still drops even when I have the stereo off. Thanks for the good wishes! My truck has given me lots of hell but a shitty truck is better then no truck I'm just hoping my dad comes through and gives me his F-250!
If I told you to jump off a bridge there is a million dollars in a duffel bag at the bottom of the columbia river would you believe me? teasin If you want to get serious about this shit..going to need to do it yourself and hafta get a multimeter bro. Until than, you just trolling around looking for suggestions that i doubt will ever be put into application? Don't mean to bust your balls but learn how to do this yourself.. get a meter... and I will help you diagnosis your problem...master ase tech at your disposal.. If the voltage was really that low there would/should be a dim head lamp complaint.? I assume you have retraced the stereo circuit and made all necessary corrections?
Woah woah woah. I'm a little to high for this. I had someone test it with a multimeter and they said it went down to around 10 when my lights where on and it was like 14.5 without. My lights work fine are bright enough for me. I really didn't know a difference. I would retrace the stereo but I work a full time job and don't have a few hours to look through my terrible wiring.
Sound like normal operation to me :0)... Keep drivin' er tell the wheels fall off! Do yourself a favor and prepare for the dead battery now if you really think theirs a problem get some jumper cables if you dont have some already than come back and get me when you hafta start jump starting it. I assume winter is coming where you are? good test how many CCA is your battery?