My Volt guage kept dropping into the read when i was in traffic had my battary charged new alternator etc. Any ways i took it to autohell and had them run a electrical test. I had them do it with the stereo on and when bass would it hit would drop from 14 volts to 10 volts at idle. When i had the stereo off it would stay at 14 volts.

I have heard good and bad about frad caps some say they work others say they dont. Would a cap help my situation? I dont want to go and add extra battarys etc jsut a easy fix. I have a 600 watt kenwood amp for my subs and a 400 watt kenwood amp for my regular speakers. I am running 4 guage wire all the way back.

 

The only thing that will help is a higher output alt. More batts helps only when the engine is off, and place a larger load on the alt while the car is running. A cap will only help if you alt is big enough to handle the load already, which it appears it is not.

 

a good battery will actually help stabilize voltage.
but probably not to the extent that you need.


adam

 

I have a 160 amp alternator with a optima redtop battary.

 

you think you have a 160 amp alternator anyway.


if that thing was putting out 125 at idle, you wouldnt be having these problems, unless you haven't upgraded the battery hot/ground, and alternator ground, as well as engine/chassis ground.

that stuff isnt going to have THAT much of a difference, most likely.


adam

 

I havent upgraded any of the wires at all all the connections are stock. Would the big 3 that i have read make a big enough difference so i wold not need a cap?

 

I was was going to tell you, RS, yes you have bad connections.

You can try to clean the connections, but upgrading the wiring is the right answer.

I saw a show vehicle at a sound shop with upgraded grounding and alt wire. It was a good example of what it should look like, regular 4 guage with gold plated terminals....simple enough. It looked cool, but I would cover it with wire loom too, since it can get hot in the engine bay....looks more 'stock' too, to prevent potential for theft.