miloman

Ok, so I finally had the time this weekend to do the "big 3 upgrade"..........positive battery to alternator, negative battery to chassis, and engine to chassis. I used 4 AWG though, thick as I could find in town on a Sunday, I did find some 1 AWG, but the guy only had 4 feet. I left the stock cables in tact as well. Either way, didn't work...........I'm still getting headlight dimming when the bass hits at higher volumes.

For those who don't remember, I recently put a Pioneer DEH-P5000UB stereo in the car. The rest of the system is still the Shaker 1000.

What's next? High output alternator? Optima battery? Capacitor?

I priced a 130 Amp alternator from Napa today for about $157..........which seems cheap, I was expecting a ton more. The stock alternator is 110 Amp I believe.

Would this 130 amp alternator be sufficient enough?

What about the physical size of the alternator? Will it fit snugly into the same already tight spot the stocker rest in? Will the stock belt be reused or will the bigger alternator affect the length of the belt?

Do I even need the alternator? Or would a Optima Red top cure the problem? I don't think a capacitor is really necessary

I'm confused. I do know that I don't like watching my lights flicker when some insanely fast double bass is playing, I'm sure the people in front of me are thinking the same.

Thanks,
Mike

mygt500

The capacitor is necessary IMO and cheaper then an alternator. Get a new battery too (optima-red or yellow I cant remember) and that should solve the problem. Have comfort in knowing you have excellent grounds though! You have alot of AMP draw and if you do buy an alternator (last case scenerio IMO) get a 200 amp one and be done with it!!!!! forget 20 extra amps get 90 extra amps....JMO

miloman

Bumpity bump bump!

Anyone else?

charliebrown266

you need a cap! I had this problem on my 96 GT. It would draw over 55amps at peak bass,lights would dim,volt gauge would move with the beat,put a cap in,problem gone.

07musclemustang

i would get a good cap as it will store the peak energy you need for the bass hits to keep the lights from dimming.
if your getting dimming its from too much draw on the system with the amps.
if the caps are installed in line to the amps power supply the amps will draw power from the cap to hit the note at the amplitude desired without drawing from the rest of the system
if that fails get an optima battery as our oem is crap,
if the battery is good dont fix it untill its broke though
as for the alternator, i would do that last but it shouldnt be necisary untill you run more then the shaker 1k's output
cap first, 1 farad shoul do
batt second
alternator last

miloman

I guess I need to look into getting a capacitor!

07musclemustang

yup i would look into a 1 farad, any more is reallt overkill, wspecially in your situation

Shadow7874

I would order some 1/0 gauge wire, then a cap/second batter/alt.
Pretty much in that order till your problem is solved.

robsimp

caps are bad for your alternator.. just get a yellow top optima, 200amp alternator and upgrade your BIG 3 to 1awg and be done with it..

doode

caps are a bandaid fix

instantly discharge, and then the alternator has to charge it back up