[Dennis-96GT]

as stated in the title got my system hooked up 2 punch 12's punch amp kenwood cd player and now my car wont stay running at idle or when i stop at a light so im gona guess its m y altenator being weak and well old sense its the stock alternator that is well 12 years old like the car. i pulled the fuse on the amp and the car seemed fine. could it be anything else? or am i just screwed and need to buy a new alternator. the battery itself is less then 6 months old by the way

[00redgt]

did u test ur alternator,disconnect ur battery an see if the car dies.or u may have a bad ground on the amp

[Dennis-96GT]

ill have to do that tomorow but it might be the ground its impossible to find a good spot to hook too so i just hooked it to a bolt by the rear fender well

[Dennis-96GT]

and im going to guess if the car dies when i pull the battery gorund thats a bad sign right lol

[interceptor]

Did you use the same size ground wire as the power wire? Power goes both ways, remember. Also, it is a good idea to upgrade the ground from the battery to the chassis when upgrading your stereo, especially with high amp draws.

Yes, it could be your alternator. Does the problen occur just when the amp is hooked up, or when you're really hammering on it? If the latter, then I'd def say it's time to upgrade your alternator. You don't always have to get a new one. There was/is a shop local to me that did a helluva rewind and boost output on a stock unit. At the time I drove a '92 Grand Prix, and he got my stocker up to 140 amps, ran great for the life of it (5 years untill I sold the car).

[Dennis-96GT]

yea gorund and power are same size and it dies when i stop at a light it just drops off and dies so i had to put it in neutral and give it ssome gas to keep it going until i got moving again

[interceptor]

Whats your volt meter doing at these times?

[Dennis-96GT]

paid attention to it tonight and it drops off when it happens it doesnt die now that i pulled the fuse on the amp but it still tries to for a second even with just the stereo and headlights on

[WLJohnson05]

sounds to me like the alternator is struggling to keep up....how much are u pullin?

[Dennis-96GT]

hell i dont know all i know is its the origional alternator and the only thing new pulling on it now is the cheap cd player nothing spoecial just a kenwood 50x4w cd player. i do belive its time to shop for a new alternator

[WLJohnson05]

Originally Posted by Dennis-96GT hell i dont know all i know is its the origional alternator and the only thing new pulling on it now is the cheap cd player nothing spoecial just a kenwood 50x4w cd player. i do belive its time to shop for a new alternator

how much is the system pulling?>>>> 2 punch 12's punch amp

[Dennis-96GT]

right now just the cd player i pulled the fuse on the amp because the car wouldnt stay running

[nba1341]

sounds fast

[sixpack]

do you have under pullies if so they will kill the alt with a system on them if not you alt just on its last leg that amp shouldnt kill the alt so its a great time to up grade to a better alt

[Evil Klown]

just upgrade your alternator and you will be fine.

[97SnakeBite]

get a cap for your sound system

[R3dFyre02]

why put a cap in a bad system? the alt is most likley dying.... all a cap does is act like a band-aid. get a new amp, pull your batt out and have it checked. Upgrade the "Big Three" (alt pos to batt pos, batt neg to chassi, batt neg to block with big wire) and then make sure you have good clean grounds on every thing. if you have to create a new ground by drilling a hole to run a bolt through, clean the paint off, wire it up and hit it with primer. but I DONT reccomend running a cap. Pointless.

[Bullitt2445]

Heck, I haven't installed a cap in over 2 years. Is the cap producing power? Nope. Just stores it. The alternator produces power. Have it checked and I bet it is doing like 30 or 40 amps (very weak) and needs to be replaced. And like R3dFyre02 said, upgrade the Big 3 and your car will love you for it.

[RavensChild]

i didnt read all the other posts...

but you could always put a bigger pully on the alternator correct?

[TheUNZippee!]

Check your alternator, and get a capacitor.

One amplifier shouldn't be doing that to your car's charging system.