help..whats wrong with my car?

[jsluss17 10+ year member]

at first i thought something was wrong with my amp. when i was driving today everything was fine then out of nowhere the car stalled a lot and the RPM's shot up and the music turned off and back on when that happened.

so i thought it was maybe the amp draining too much power so i turned off my amp and it happened again. then when i was driving it was like my battery reset or something all the dash lights lit up and all the gauges including the rpm and the speedometer shot up all the way but the car was still on. it acted as if it turned off though. everytime that happened the music shut off then turned back on.

then later i was just idling and listening to music quietly and the music shut off and the rpm's dropped really low but the car did not turn off. i'm thinking it's either my battery or my amp or both but i have no idea. it could also be my headunit maybe. anyone have any advice?

car: 2003 mustang

amp: kicker dx1000.1 at 2 ohm

sub: sundown sa-12

no big 3 upgrade. i'm hoping to get that done pretty soon because my lights dim pretty badly also

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[jsluss17 10+ year member]

please respond

could a bad ground cause this? i feel like my car should be able to handle it it's only 1000 watts and i have a 105 alternator if that helps

 

[daboyfrumdabx 10+ year member]

Dying alt or bad pulley/belt is my guess.

 

[JDuhaime309 10+ year member]

It could be a number of things man.

Bad battery causing engine to stop running because it is not igniting gas in the cylinders, this occurs either because there is not any gas to ignite, or because it lacks the electrical charge to ignite it.

Could be that you need a tune up, or you IAC valve is gunked up and needs cleaned.

If it you think its your alt you can have it tested at Autozone for free. Check it out on monday.

 

[jsluss17 10+ year member]

thanks for the replies. could a bad ground be causing this? i just noticed there's wiring thats touching a plastic part of the car on the ground for my amp so i'm hoping it could just be a bad ground. also i don't think it is an alternator problem because the car was just in the shop and they said they checked everything and everything was fine. unless it just died within the last couple days

 

[JDuhaime309 10+ year member]

alts can go out at anytime to be unexpected when.

 

[Big GeRm 10+ year member]

It could be a number of things man.Bad battery causing engine to stop running because it is not igniting gas in the cylinders, this occurs either because there is not any gas to ignite, or because it lacks the electrical charge to ignite it.

Could be that you need a tune up, or you IAC valve is gunked up and needs cleaned.

If it you think its your alt you can have it tested at Autozone for free. Check it out on monday.

False...Once you crank the car and it starts...Everything in the vehicle is being powered by the alternator...

Also an IAC will not cause the RPMS to shoot that high to my knowledge...it would more than likely stall out at a light or at a stop unless he holds the gas in neutral....

As for the OP...Check the ground...although I really do not believe a bad ground would cause it,I've seen bad grounds do weird stuff though...so try it

But if the car is stalling i'm leaning towards the Alt...

 

[BnGRacing 10+ year member]

Two things can cause this; bad regulator inside the alternator or a bad ground to the alternator case. I personally have experience with the latter on a Mustang I used to own. Chased my tail for a bit to find that one, including buying a new alternator, as there was almost a 2v difference from the alternator & the battery and it would cause the lights & the rest of the car to do some strange things. To fix I ran some 10ga from the neg terminal on the battery to the case of the alternator - problem solved.

 

[accuab 10+ year member]

Another vote here for something related to the alternator.

 

[camdogg4570 10+ year member]

I have a feeling its your altenator. Something similar to this happend to my f-150 and now I have to change my alt //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif