I have a '98 Pontiac Firebird. I got a high power subwoofer and amplifier hooked up with 4 ga. wire about two years ago. It killed my stock alternator after six months, so i got a new one w/ a warranty. I decided to wait on getting a capacitor until it had killed the new one. b/c it would be free with the warranty. A year later it's still running great, but it's starting to have trouble starting. It starts better half of the time when i completely disconnect the amp, but i like my system so i keep it hooked up, and I just give it some gas when i start it. Two months later another problem appears. when i start the car(even on a perfect start) the engine will sit there and rev up and down. If, while in park, I gave it some steady gas for a couple of seconds, it would go away and i would take off. A month later it does the same thing, except when i put it in drive or reverse and start to go, it will "shake" (I heard this is referred to as Missing). I just give it some gas and it goes away until the next time i start it up. Major Power Loss!!! This tends to worsen when my car is sitting in the hot West Texas sun. I gave in and completely disconnected my system for a two weeks. Then I changed the spak plugs(probably should have changed the wires too ). My car ran perfect that day. it used to top out at 117, but it went 120 this time and started great. Next day it started all over again. Even worse this time. Check engine light is on, runs like S***t, plus all fore-mentioned symptoms. Checked battery acid. It was low so I added water(only a year old). I think my system caused all of this CRAP so i now have a capacitor. I am waiting to hook it up until i get a new battery and fix whatever is wrong with it. I like working on my car so just wanted to know if anyone knows what is wrong with it, b/c I don't want to take it to the shop and get ripped.

 

this is for 3rd gen cars only, however if you repost this on the lt1/ls1 boards someone may be able to help you there... i would say get a new battery asap it sounds like your system killed it, install the capacitor(very good idea) and try and keep your engine cool... thats what i would do, i have a very big system and my battery totally killed my car... i got a 120 amp alternator and a decent battery, and all seems well except for some other non-system related problems, hope this helps