When my car is idle (or sometimes even while driving) my sound system drains my battery, are there more powerful alternators I could swap out on a 305 so it wouldn't do that? I figure it's probably not good for the electrical system or the sound system, plus I would need that if I wanted to put another amp in my sound system. Also, would a 350 engine need a better alternator and is there a more powerful alternator that is compatible with a 350 if I were to swap my engine some day? =P

By the way I already have a pretty big capacitor for the sound system.

 

How many watts is your stereo? If you have a CS130
alternator i would upgrade that to a larger(and far more
reliable) CS144 alternator-not a direct bolt in,but not
too tough of a swap IIRC.
If your stereo is not a real big one,you might only have
a weak alternator or some electrical problems causing
the trouble.

 

I just replaced my alternator because the old one went bad. My amps are about 1300 watts combined. I'll go look at my alternator and see if I can tell what it is.

 

If it's the original '89 style it will be a CS 130...
The bad thing about a CS130 is they have a powerful
voltage regulator and will try to maintain voltage output
at low rpm-with a heavy current load and the alternators
pulley fan not pulling much air at low rpm,they just
roast and fail

 

Can you guys tell what this is? They installed it at the shop and I didn't ask =p
there's a number on the side, probably just a serial number though 20901233

 

Heh so that's probably how I killed my first one, and the same will probably happen to the new one.

 

Some shops will custom wind one for you. You can have them wound for 200amps or more if you want to pay for it. You can also help the problem with a kinetik power cell or similar.

 

What's the difference between a power cell and a capacitor? It seems like my sound system would just immediately drain the power cell like it does the cap.

 

before upgrading anything else, have you done "the big 3"? stock wiring is good for stock setup, you've got a power hungry stereo thats not stock

upgrade to 4ga or bigger from alt to battery, bat ground to engine block, and bat ground to body.

higher output alternators typically give you better output at higher rpms at the expense of lower output at idle. If you're looking to upgrade the alt, get it done locally and talk to the person rebuilding it. let them know what you're looking to do.

make sure your battery's in good shape too; if the alt has to run the car and charge your battery, its going to get overworked and fail

 

The wiring is 4ga. That's interesting about the alternator, sounds like a paradox for a sound system. As for the battery I was thinking about getting one of those Optima yellow top ones, I don't know how much help a good battery will be though, with one deep bass note when my car is idle the voltage meter drops to zilch, that indicates the battery being drained right?

 

are you talking about the wiring to the alt, or just the battery to the amps? factory wiring is only 8ga and definitely a weak point for stereo upgrades.

 

Ohh, no, the alt wiring is probably stock.