Hey, you're welcome!

No, as long as they are clean at the contact points and have no obvious breaks or cracks, I'd leave them alone. They are not expensive though, so it would be one more thing to eliminate.

But I think you might need a 140 amp alternator.

How old is that 400 watt amp? Are you sure it is working right?

 

Well, I just bought my 105 amp Duralast Gold alternator last week. I doubt they will let me take it back. Do they make 140 amp alts that are a direct fit w/o any new brackets? If so , I'd reallllllllly appreciate a link. Also, my 400 watt power akoustics amp is pretty ancient lol. But this problem was happening long before I had my system installed. Thanks for all your help

 

ok.....I went out there for a couple hours and did some tests. Keep in mind this is my first time using a volt meter lol. Well I put it on DC-V 50. With the car completely off and no key in the ignition....here's what I got.

Red wire going to plug : +10 dB
Brown wire going to plug : NO READING AT ALL :-/ hmm
Back lug on Alt. : +10 dB
Positive Battery Terminal : +10 dB
Negative Battery Terminal : NO READING
Fan fuse : NO READING


ok here's with the ignition on but car off

Red wire going to plug : +10 dB
Brown wire going to plug : NO READING AT ALL
Back lug on Alt. : +10 dB
Positive Battery Terminal : +10 dB
Negative Battery Terminal : NO READING
Fan fuse : +10 dB BUT when I disconnected the brown wire I got no reading at all.

Car on = Same

Also...When I began testing with the voltmeter...When I put the positive on the red wire, it sparked and charred the wire a little bit....
I re-spliced all the connections and made sure they were all connected strong.....and now for some reason my voltage guage reads about 10-11 constantly. Before it jumped around when I gave the car gas....now it just stays there.

Any ideas would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks!!!

 

Well on my way home from work.....I saw the voltage slowly and slowly getting lower until my lights were almost completely dark. It was super scary. Then when I turned my car off it wouldn't start up again. Surprisingly, my idle was back to normal - 7 or 8. after i installed my new alternator they dropped down to 6. So I took out my fan fuse and it was blown. I put a new one in and it started fine....my idle was back to low...and my voltage was back to low and going up when i rev. :[

 

Thank you for all your help Alright, here is what I'm experiencing.....

I just went out, sat in my car and recorded this:

RADIO OFF - BLOWER OFF


Car cold in park - Everything off = Voltage - 15 RPM - 15

^^^^Same but after 5 minutes = Voltage - 14.5 RPM - 7

Car Semi-warm in drive but not moving - Voltage jumps to 13, almost stalls, then goes back upto 14 - RPM - 6

Car warm in park - when turn fans on Volt. drops to 13, then wobbles between 13-14 occasionally

Car warm - in drive - fans on - Volt = 12.5 Idle - 5.5



I've cleaned all the connections I can find. I've replaced the Alternator Pigtail...All they had is a 3 wire so I'm using that, but it made no voltage difference over my original 2 wire. I have the red on the pigtail going to the red and the Black on the pigtail going to the brown wire. The brown pigtail wire isn't connected to anything. I've had the battery checked on numerous occasions......All coming back Good Charge....I charged it overnight yesterday with a Battery Charger....No difference. I replaced my old alternator to a 105 amp Duralast Gold. When I did this, my voltage increased a TINY bit...but my Idle dropped from 7-8 to about 6. I even bought battery ground cable and grounded the whole engine. I've checked all the fuses. Although.....When my fan fuse blew a couple weeks ago.....my RPM's at idle went back to normal 7-8. But after replacing it, it went back to 6. I do have a 400w amp with a 12" JBL.........But this voltage problem was there way before this. That just makes it worse. When I stop at a stoplight....My voltage drops & my lights dim and when I start going again, it rises to normal 13-14 and my lights get brighter. The voltage guage wobbles with the turn signals....When I'm driving at night...And I turn on the fans....My lights get real dim and when the bass hits....people think I'm flashing them :\ lol. My belt looks very new...and is pretty tight. I don't believe I have underdrive pulleys. I'm really out of ideas. But if anyone has any....That'd be great. Thanks everybody.