Light dimming = capacitor ?

[ziggylycus]

Ok sorry if this has already been asked, I am on a school computer and the firewall is very picky on forums so search will not work. I have a 1988 chevy silverado with a 1960 283 corvette motor in it. the guy that owned it before me kept the wire haness for the original motor in there and just dropped the 283 in it. I have two 10" COMPVR Kickers and an Alpine MRV-T502 amp in it. whenever I start up the car to play anything the lights dimm horribly and then after about 10 secs the radio will cut out and it will turn back on and do it all over again. this has just started happening and was not doing this before.

I was wondering if a capacitor would fix this problem ? Although I don't know how a capacitor would help because if the amp is not getting enough power the capacitor would just run out of juice and I would have the same problem at least I am thinking.

Also before the dimming lights got really bad and I could play music on long trips the bass would cut out after a while and the amp would be very hot. This is a sign that I need a bigger amp ? if so what can I do to help my power in my truck beause if it can not handle the amp in there now it will not be able to handle anything bigger i would think.

The lights seem to flicker when the music is off to, just not as bad. this leads me to think I have a short somewhere. none of my gauges work except my battery gauge but I naturally thought this was just because its a older motor and nothing is hooked up to it. most of the wire harness connections are just laying in the back of the engine bay behind the carb.

Any feedback would be very helpful at this point. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

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[TnT_Sounds 10+ year member]

Ah that sucks man.. I own a 89 1500 with a 383 stroker motor, I love it. To answer your question, no a capacitor wont do nothing for you.

 

[basebalz13 10+ year member]

edit nvm

 

[mcsoul 10+ year member]

Something is broken.

 

[TnT_Sounds 10+ year member]

Kind of a weird motor swap.. I'd have your ECM/PCM checked

 

[ziggylycus]

would the computer even bee hooked up ? really old motor //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif dono why he went with a 283, seams small for the truck but oh well, he ran part of the harness over the exhaust manifold and it melted it so I fixed that, not sure if he screwed it up anywhere else though.

would I be needing to upgrade my amp to a bigger one ? You cant keep your hand on this one for more then a few seconds after an ride to the store and back. I'm not looking for competition status bass, but I do like it loud

 

[audioarsonal 10+ year member]

Have you had your battery tested lately?What about your alt is it going bad?Maybe your ground isn't very good.It sounds like you don't have a good enough electrical to keep everything running.What have you done to try and fix the problem?

 

[01 S 10 10+ year member]

what size wire is running back to the amplifier from the battery? also, look up the Big 3 electrical upgrade (alt + to batt +, batt ground to frame, engine ground to frame, do all this with 0 gauge or bigger wire).

do you know what impedance the CVR's are? sounds like they are wired to 2 ohm bridged possibly depending on impedance, the amp can only handle 4 ohm bridged

 

[ziggylycus]

what size wire is running back to the amplifier from the battery? also, look up the Big 3 electrical upgrade (alt + to batt +, batt ground to frame, engine ground to frame, do all this with 0 gauge or bigger wire).
do you know what impedance the CVR's are? sounds like they are wired to 2 ohm bridged possibly depending on impedance, the amp can only handle 4 ohm bridged

What does this mean ? I did bridge the power from all ports on the back of the speaker, meaning both of the negative terminals are connected as well as the positive. if I undid it to only one each this would fix some of my problems ?//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

 

[TnT_Sounds 10+ year member]

Something has to be working in the brain(computer) if your climate controls work, dash gauges work, etc....

 

[MkKin420 10+ year member]

What does this mean ? I did bridge the power from all ports on the back of the speaker, meaning both of the negative terminals are connected as well as the positive. if I undid it to only one each this would fix some of my problems ?//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

Sounds like you wired them in parallel and the impedance has fallen too low for the amplifier to handle. Also, loose grounds can cause all sorts of f**k ups so make sure they are tight and not corroded to sh*t. Look into the meaning of terms like impedance, which is measured in ohms. If an amp is 4 ohm stable and you put a 2 ohm load on it, it will fail, same with a 2 ohm stable amp, it will most likely fail at 1 ohms.

 

[audioarsonal 10+ year member]

I still don't believe the ohm load is the issue hear.The deck cuts off repeatidly as well as dimming from the headlights.If it where an ohm issue more then likely he would just countinue to blow fuses rather then cause the deck to shut down as well as lights dimming.I would bet that since this issue just started happening your battery is going out or your alt may be bad.Go to autozone and have your battery load tested.This will help eliminate one cause and tell you if you need to go further.

 

[keiffith 10+ year member]

sounds like a lack of power issue, if your battery doesnt have enough power for your system things will shut off and turn back on, and the amp will cut out due to that.

1]Big 3

2]check alt and battery.