Not sure where to post this one, but it does have alot to do with car audio. OK so I went over my buddys house to help him with his sound system and took off my kick panels and showed him how I wired up my stuff. I took the electrical tape off of one of my positive wires and forgot to tape it back up before I left. So when I leave I get back to my house and my battery gauge says I only have like 11 volts? I had just gotten a new Interstate battery like a few months ago. Could it be that my positive wire hit the frame of the car and caused internal damage to the battery or alternator or somethin or could it be that I am running ALOT of wattage without a cap?

It car will start to turn over and then will stop, like I have an old battery or I left my headlights on overnight. I will jump it and it will start and I will let it run for a while. Then shut it off and try to start it back up again and it wont turn over without a jump.

Dont know if anyone has experienced this problem before, but some ideas would be helpful.

 

do you mean your positive speaker lead? or the switched or constant 12V in for the decks power. If its the decks power leads if they touched anything it would pop the fuse (you did fuse the powere wires right?? )

I dont see how that would kill the batt. take it to a shop and ask them to test it. maybe it got low on fluid and the plates got damaged.

 

It was just a positive lead that I had going to an open fuse for testing some lights that I hadnt put a fuse on yet . So could that have done somethin to the battery. It is a great Interstate battery that I bought in the spring, so I dont know whats up. I checked if I had a draw but I didnt.


I also run alot of watts to my amplifiers and havnt purchased a cap yet. Everything dimms ALOT when the subs thump, I dont know if that was what caused it.

 

I seriously doubt that little wire messed much up. it would have been arcing like **** if it hit a ground.... But you never know. anythingis possible...

as to needing a CAP. I would consider upgrading the Alternator (going bad coud also kill the Batt....) to a higher amp one, and do a search for the "BIG THREE" upgrade. thats all I did and I nolonger have the strobe effect with my headlights when the music is pumping. all a cap is is a bandaid. it dumps power for when your bas needs it NOW, but it still hits the alt with a HUGE draw to refill.... not much different than the amps draw without the cap.

 

Yea i think my alternator is broken. When I jump the battery the volt meter in my gauge cluster goes up to like 14 volts. And as I let the car run it slowly goes down until it get to 8 then it dies. How many amp alternator should I go with. Is a 105 amp good enough or do I need more?

 

well 105 shold be good, but If you plan on putting in a big system, and lights and what not bigger is better. I run just a 105 and it works great for me. just remember if your alt is oast the large drain on the batt might have killled it as well. if you can pull them both out and take them to a parts store, they can usually test both for you.

 

Ok thanks, ill do that 2morrow!

 

yeah about the HO alternators...i seen a 200A on ebay for 160 bucks...how come so cheap???

 

you get what you pay for.

 

I agree, don't cheap out on parts like an alternator or you'll find yourself stranded on the side of the road one day.

 

I got a built-up ~215A, ~160a idle for like $120 on eBay - but not from one of those businesses, from a private seller. The thing really delivered, too.

Too bad when I had my engine swapped, they killed my alt amongst other things.