Well than that's a question for the general tech help. Your alt may be dieing, I'd go get it checked out at auto zone. I've never owned an old car so I'm really no help there, I have no idea what the signs are of a dieing alt.

 

Excuse me....old?

haha jp man! I will prolly do that when I go to rent a spring compressor next friday.

 

So the resistor is on the +12 side? I thought that it bridged the +12 and ground to discharge when not in use. So you have resistance going to the power of the cap and the amps directly connected tte cap as well? If min power goes to your amps and resisted power goes to the cap, you've eliminated the cap's function. I nee a better explanation of the wiring I think.

The more I think about the voltages, the more I think you're going to need a new alternator. My rationalle is that the alt should be able to put out more power than the car needs at most rpms. At idle, it can usually drop to the 13.0 - 13.5 range without a problem. It should never drop to 12.0V because that is what the battery creates and there is no charging going on. I think the load test is 13.3V minimum to pass. The voltage vs. rpm relationship makes sense because the faster the alt spins, the more power it can produce ...... seems to indicate tht you are running the car at close to the alt's output since it's peak is much lower than it should be. <----- My theory. As noted earlier, get it tested for free .... and now that I have a greater suspicion about this, I'd give the test a bit of urgency to prevent killing your battery as well.

 

Aaron (I think?), I am only using the resistor to charge or discharge the cap. The resistor or light bulb is placed in the wiring for maybe a minute and then removed.

The resistor is placed INLINE of the power wire from the battery. The resistor causes the Capacitor to SLOWLY charge so there is not an arc or spark, which is hard on the cap and the battery. Once the reading on the cap shows 12v, you remove the resistor, put the fuse back in and you are good to go. This is only used when you unhook the battery, nothing more.

I am going to get the alternator tested today. I will return with results. Its going to be expensive....I can see it already ugh

 

I see .... I thought that this was a permanent installation ..... so it only has an effect when hooking back up to eliminate the spark ...... it would work better bridging the cap terminals with the resistance because it would drain down the cap immediately, but controlled due to high resistance. You could also add a momentary button and put it in a plastic box that bolts onto the cap terminals for a clean, custom, permanent install. Just a small black box that covers the cap terminals with a button on it.

As far as the alt goes ..... at least you'll know for sure. Good luck!

 

^ True! I might have to look into that!

Well i got the alternator tested out and it came back fine, but the battery didn't seem to hold the charge very well. The guy asked me if I listen to music when the car is off which I never do and that something might be draining the battery. The battery is only 9 months old or so and he said I should take it back to the place I bought it from and have them test it and charge it....... I would prefer not to since the MORON @ that place hooked up the battery backwards and caused a wonderful amount of fuses to be blown. But I got some cash out of it.

The only thing that is on when my car is off is the Viper LED for the alarm. LED's use so little power there is no way it could be that unless I let my car sit for a year at a time.

 

Also just realized my stereo has like MHZ controls and what not for lows,mids, highs.
Since I know nothing about it....i'll be coming here for help in a day or so

 

That's called a crossover.

 

^ Thanks man.

I am busy as heck 2day but i'll try to get goin on this. It always seems like my front speakers are quiet compared to the back. Same was with my old audio lightning speakers as well. When I installed my current radio I made sure I soldered the wire harness perfectly and shrink wrapped everything. Currently I have the front balance (or fade) on +6. Is it just b/c the front speakers are firing into my ankles?

 

No that doesn't make sense, but each system will be different. I know before I adjusted any crossovers my fronts were significantly louder than my rears, in the front seat. Are your speakers not amped? If not the rears may be more efficient and have a lower power rating making them stand out on the low power. My rears are VERY loud in the rear, but you can't hear them so great from the front even with my front speakers disconnected. You can use that crossover in your HU to bring down the highs and lows from the rears. How are your speakers setup?