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Whoaa electrical issues??

4K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  kaydennicholson 
#1 ·
I have a 2010 Malibu LT 4cyl ecotec.
I have 1,000 watt amp hooked up (ran 4 gauge to it)
everything under the hood is stock (no big 3 upgrade)
my volt meter is usually around 15 volts(good) but when i crank up the volume, my head lights dim almost right away (still got like 14+ volts) and when im driving down the highway and crank up the volume (not to full by any means) I get KICKED OUT OF CRUISE CONTROL and i get a POWER STEERING WARNING. What in the world is going on? its only 1000 watts i can possibly be pulling from my alpine pdx1000. had autozone and oreily check my battery and alternator and everything checked out excellent.
just want to know why i am having the electrical issues when i still have great voltage coming through the system??
additional info (dont know if it helps) i have a 2 farad cap, running 2 RE Audio SE-X 12s, even with volume cut all the way down, if i pull up on my window switches my headlights dim a little bit (i have been told the window motors take a bit of just though)
WHAT DO I DO? WHATS THE DEAL? hooking up the computer at a chevy dealership wouldn't tell me anything either i'd imagine (was told it'd be $45 bucks, suck to waste that if i dont need to)
 
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#2 ·
ive been out of doing large audio for years but in all you forgot to mention a rather important piece . How many amps does your amplifier draw ?
I am sure you have already checked to be sure all conections at the battery and so forth are good and tight .
 
#3 ·
I'm going to go with your issue being a bad ground somewhere to the frame.

No reason 1k should drain you that bad IMO. I'd also throw a spare batt in the back if you can spare 12-14" in the trunk
 
#5 ·
i listen to the setup to and from work, to and from school (no matter where i go im driving around 30 mins) so just throwing a second battery would just be like a 15 min battery wouldnt it? and how would i check all my grounds? ive been meaning to double check where the install place grounded the amp but id imagine if it wasnt grounded correctly, the subs would clip or id experience more issues than just this, am i right? the subs are wire in at 2 ohms and i probably shouldn't have based on the issue im having, but i just ordered a Brutus BRZ2400 and will be having my subs hooked into that which puts out 1700 rms @ 2ohms, could it be possible that the pdx just draws to much power from the battery compared to what its putting out? I'd imagine Alpine is pretty efficient though.... damn everyone around here that i go to in order to find the problem just says "i dont know" or they all tell me something different, add a battery, upgrade the alternator, do the big 3 but i dont see how 1000 watts would require all of this.... ughhhh
 
#6 ·
You'd be surprised what that 2nd batt can do.

The very first system I had in the Malibu was a 13.5" JL Audio W7 on a JL 1000.1. I had the same issue as you, with only 1k the lights would dim and what not.....

It could be a bad connection somewhere or lack of battery backup..

I'd go back over your whole install and double check to make sure everything is on point
 
#8 ·
You aren't having electrical issues. You have a problem that you created.

Do the big 3, or big 2 at the very least. 4 Gauge from alt to batt pos and batt neg to frame ground, use the strut tower. Make sure your amp ground is good as well.

4 Gauge pos.. 8 gauge factory gnd, no wonder what the issue is?
 
#10 ·
Just got in a slight fender bender so i have a few other priorities over checking the wiring atm and b/t work, school and everything else just havent really had time to check everything. but i just got a Brutus BRZ2400 and 25 foot of 0ga power wire to run to the amp so i'll do the install myself this time around and make sure everything is good. but i am going to reuse the 4ga wiring i previously had (technically still ran through my car until i swith with the 0ga) and do the big 3 but am having a difficult time seeing where all off these power wires are going from the battery, anyone know any posts with good pictures so i can do this myself? and is it possible the BRZ2400 may have a better power draw/output ratio? and is it possible that i am getting the 1000 watts without issue and the amp is just doing more output than rated causing the additional loss of power and electrical issues? (the subs make my outside panels outside the trunk shake visibly if that says anything and the roof part around my rearview mirror shakes up and down, all of this prior to the power steering warnings)
 
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