Car Amps

Does anybody know how many amps a 98 Aurora pulls with everything on? I know it has a 140 amp altenator. I want to ad an audio system but dont want to strain the altenator. I just want to know if the car uses all 140 amps or not and how much does it use? Thanks for your help.

rear window defroster and the seat warmers use the most power and often all 3 are on at the same time...news

I wired in a 200RMS Sony mono amp and have had no problems. I wired it directly to the battery. This was the best/cheapest upgrade I could do to really add some great sound to the car. The bose system is nice, but the sub in the amp rattled and produced crappy bass. A small 10" sub and amp, and I couldn't be happier with the sound of the system.

you can build a very good system and not worry. If you build it so big the headlights dim at cruise when the subs hit I'd think about an upgraded alt.


When you idle the alternator generates very little power. Its only 140amp at rated rpm.

You won't hurt anything really, but if you continually run the battery down you will shorten its life.