Trouble shooting problems......HELP!!!

[jughead]

I'm in the airforce and just got my 91 CRX SI down here. It sat for almost 2 years. I am running all the stuff listed below and am having what i think is a power problem. When i crank my system my cap was registering a voltage below 12 and of course my amp would shut down. I bought a brand new yellow top and a new isolator. Then the voltage problem seemed to get alot better, never dropping below about 12.6 or right around there. Thats about as good as it gets with a stock alternator. I checked all the connections and everything seems good. The subs meter out what they should, so i dont think a coil is going bad. But it still happens.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif I've run this set-up for a while in this car. Does anyone think it could be a bad cap?? When you leave it at a lower volume voltage stays 13.6 solid. This car was tearing up street B class, hitting around a 150 when i left it. I dont want to buy anything else till i get a good hunch whats wrong.

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[JeffyZ33 10+ year member]

Digital Multi Meter is your friend.

Look at the voltage before the cap and the voltage after the cap.

 

[VOA_NIGHTMARE 10+ year member]

alt belt

 

[knukonceptz 10+ year member]

Where are you getting the Votlage numbers from? Check front and rear batteries and compare. These should be similar

The Isolator needs to be Isolated from the car and placed back into its box. They are not effective in your application. The isolator takes power in order to work (about .5V normally) Connect front and rear batteries like you would a cap and then connect the rear battery to the cap, then to your amp. By using an isolator you are eliminating the benefits of having two batteries. Now all you have are two seperate systems. Which is fine if you want to run your stereo at shows with the car off, knowing your car will start later....

WIth islolator - .5V loss, same CCA/reserve you had before with a single battery

with OUT isolator - no loss, double CCA/Reserve now that you have two batteries

Also if the car sat long you could have a bad wire that has corroded

 

[jughead]

I was getting the voltage from the display on the cap.The cap only runs to my sub amp. I had no isolator to begin with and the back battery just slowly drained if you played it up loud for a long period of time. The little honda alternator cant keep up with both batteries with the D-300HC pulling just under 100 Amps. I suppose i could try it that way again. The isolator is only supposed to charge when it needs to i thought. But how do you explain the amp stopping? It should be able to deal with how its set up now. When it stops, all you have to do is turn the volume down and it picks right back up.

 

[knukonceptz 10+ year member]

The rear battery and front batter are suppose to be connected so how can the "rear" one be drained and the front still have power with out an isolator? Its not possible unless you have a bad battery that can not hold a charge.

The ALT charges the front, that power is transfer to the back, it is one system when connected with out an isolator. So for just the rear battery to go dead, either you had a bad connection or bad battery. I can see a very small ALT no keeping up IF you ran full tilt every second you drove the car, but then both batteries SHOULD still read the same voltage

 

[skmfkr 5,000+ posts]

i would goto auto zone or advance auto parts and get the batt checked out, sounds like its bad to me. i had a batt for less than a year and got it check and it was already bad.

 

[jughead]

ok, thanks