brokedown jeep

[brokeDown_J]

ever since i installed a 1000w amp, cap and 2 10's my jeep is running rough. stalling out and taking a long time to startup. i took it too the dealership they said they didnt know what was wrong. i took it back to a car audio shop and they said that was fine. its most definately not... all my guages bug out, up and down up and down. when i get to about 45mph, if i can, she starts buckin'. also the dash lights fade in and out and it sounds like she's trying to shut down constantly. the jeep did come with the infinit sound system and that means theres already an amp runnin the stock speakers. do i just need an upgraded alternator or a second battery, both? anyone else encounter this problem? HELP!!!!

[dksob81]

umm I don't think it has anything to do with the battery or Altenator, I would have someone check over the Work the Audio shop did, then deffinately did something wrong.

but if u do get new battery, get an OPTIMA YELLOW TOP
it is a lil expensive. like $160 but it's well worth it.

but first I would have someone check over all the work the Audio Shop did, they have got to have done something wrong. or have them disconnect everything they did and see if it runs better. u can also check to see if it is battery or altenator related by d/c'd the power cable (for the AMP) from the battery, and this will tell u if it is the battery not being powerful enough. but I doubt it, cuz thats what the Capacitor does - powers the equipment so that it does use as much power form the battery. but it's worth a shot.

[Cam7]

It sounds like they might have screwed something up. Like 81 says try disconnecting wht they did.If you have DVOM set it to the 20 volt scale and chek the altenator output when running just put leads across the battery should between 13.5 and 15 volts. Could be a bad Altenator.

[brokeDown_J]

sweetness thanks alot guys ill check that out. im gonna d/c the amp n stuff and see what happens like 81 said. thanks again fellas

[dksob81]

yuppers, let us know how it turns out.

[brokeDown_J]

ok i tried d/c'ing the power cable for the amp and no change, i also checked the volts on the battery terminals while it was running and they were stayed around 13.5. still running real rough as hell. anything else i can try? any other suggestions

[TIS]

You took to dealership so I am not sure if you have an intermittant issue. You said you disconnected the aftermarket stereo system, so hopefully that is completely out of the circuit for now.

Still sounds like an alternator issue to me. So if you charge up your battery and disconnect the negative cable on battery does the car stop right away?

[xj31]

This might sound stupid but when they mounted this stuff ,did they run any screws into some wiring?

[dksob81]

did u d/c it from the Battery or from the AMP.

[brokeDown_J]

i dont think they screwed anything in to any wiring i highly doubt it from what i've looked over. and yeh i d/c it from the battery. im gonna try TIS' suggestion and see what happens.

[brokeDown_J]

ok i just did what tis said. i took the neg cable off and it stayed running....

[TIS]

Alternator is likely OK then as long as belt isn't loose or something.

Makes you wonder about the stereo install though as that seemed to bring up the problems. Can you describe how they have the system wired?

Edit..Added....I would still get that battery tested too....I don't know alot about those big aftermarket stereos...but it seems they really draw the power as dksob81 mentioned that yellow top Optima which is ideal for power consuming accesories.

[brokeDown_J]

let me see power cable from the battery is going to a small fuse box that came with the cabes. then from there it goes to the capacitor then from the cap to the amp.

[dksob81]

u haven't had any problems b4 they installed the new equipment?

[brokeDown_J]

naw actually the only problem i had b4 this was the cat converter then i got that fixed and it ran perfect. the next day i had the stereo installed and this all started another day later