Battery issues again!?!!

[Red=Fast 0]

Alright, after figuring the issue was just my battery had gone I replaced it. The day I put in the new battery, my battery light in the consol lit up. On my volt gauge I am running a pretty consistent 10v (on a new battery). If I have my stereo on sometimes the power will drop do 8v or so and my stereo will turn on and off then jump back up to 10v (I have a pretty powerful stereo hooked up – Kenwood CD/MP3 head unit, Boston Acoustic speakers all around, and 2 12 inch subs with a 600w amp. Could this be the issue alone? What should I do to help it? I have heard of “Caps”?) What the hell is going on? Someone please shed some light on this for me. Could this be my alternator actually going out this time? At least now I don’t have to jump my car every time I need to start it. Someone please help.

 

-Josh

[Andi 2,147,483,647]

With the engine running - you should get >13.5V accross the battery terminals. Ignore any internal guages, they may be too far down the electrical line to give a proper reading.

Any less than this and I would check your alternator and its wiring.

 

Turn everything else off when doing the volt check ;)

 

As for PowerCaps - these are meant to delivery smooth power to a subwoofer amp instead of it draining the alternator and dimming your lights everytime the bass booms out.

[davidwort 0]

With the engine running - you should get >13.5V accross the battery terminals. Ignore any internal guages, they may be too far down the electrical line to give a proper reading.

Any less than this and I would check your alternator and its wiring.

 

Turn everything else off when doing the volt check ;)

 

As for PowerCaps - these are meant to delivery smooth power to a subwoofer amp instead of it draining the alternator and dimming your lights everytime the bass booms out.

 

Yep, VW alternators are rated 14V and you should get near this across the battery with the engine running, any less e.g. 12V and your brushes are dodgy or a diode is shot in the alternator windings :(

former is a quick cheap fix with a new or good second hand brush pack, latter means you need a new alternator, or at least the windings and diode plate from another same Amp output VW alternator (should be about a tenner second hand from a scrappy, but watch out for worn bearings).

I've just been through this and ended up getting a 90Amp alternator as a replacement for my old 65Amp one, which is better if you have a big ICE install.

 

David.

[Red=Fast 0]

thanks guys for the help. I hope I can get this worked out soon.

 

Do you guys suggest I get a Power Cap for my stereo set up? My interior lights do dim a tiny bit when my stereo is cranked up.

[Red=Fast 0]

UPDATE:

 

On the way home from work yesterday two things happened:

 

1. My front grill flew off of my car while I was doing about 80mph. This must be secured better I guess. =P

 

2. As I was driving I noticed my fuel gauge was going down quite rapidly, I figured I had a gaping hole in my gas tank and this was the end of my Corrados run. My car started sputtering like it does when you are running out of gas, then my RMP's started to drop. I was quite angry just after having to pick up my grill from the side of the freeway. So, then it clicked in my head when my roommate said the car would not run if the alternator was dead. Lone behold, you guys were right and so was my roommate, the alternator just took a couple weeks to kill itself.

 

So now I am going to get the 90Amp alternator. I am going to order it today while I am at work.

[Andi 2,147,483,647]

Hallejeuja!

 

 

Google Image Search has a lot to answer for ;)

[Red=Fast 0]

lol