Unsure what is wrong with my car.

[xmakeafistx 10+ year member]

Tested the alt, its not the problem ^

 

[xmakeafistx 10+ year member]

Clicking means there is some power in the batt but it's nearly dead... either it's not charging (should be 14+ volts while running) or something is not powering down with the car and draining the batt. If you run it for awhile and stop does it start right back up but overnight it has trouble starting? Is it random? Does it do it all the time?

That is exactly what happened, it started fine right away, but the next day it had trouble starting up. & this started as soon as I installed the new sub. I was using the same amp before and it never gave me problems, maybe I burned something in the amp more recently I don't know i'm honestly just throwing random **** out there.

 

[ColterDC 10+ year member]

So all you did was swap out your old sub for a new one and suddenly your car won't start.

What else did you do because unless you did something else I don't see how changing a speaker would kill your car?

 

[xmakeafistx 10+ year member]

I don't think changing the speaker killed my car, I was just mentioning that I had switched out my sub, and also running it at less power than the other ones.

 

[SourDeez 10+ year member]

Dude, have you unplugged your amp yet and tried driving around and letting it charge and see if it still dies?

 

[Phoenix Risen 10+ year member]

if you messed with the power or rem wire at all on the amp check them. when they are side by side like a lot of amps its very easy to get a single strand of wire touching the other terminal and the amp will stay on even when the car is off.

 

[xmakeafistx 10+ year member]

Unplugging amp today ~ & I did mess with those wires, & wouldn't the amp still be lit up if it is on though? cause the blue light isn't on while the car is off.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Yesterday it was just making the clicking noise and not even hinting that it would start up, today it has been doing both, This morning it made the clicking only, then after a few tries it started making the sound like its trying, and it eventually turns on. Either way its bothering the hell out of me, and i'm extremely confused. Process of elimination tomorrow, I need to develop a checklist of sorts. Checking all the grounds first.
Also to answer a few questions, My amp remains off when my car is off, I am using the same amp.

& buck, what do you mean by bad capacitors? expand on that I think I get what you are saying just want to clarify.

Have your battery LOAD TESTED. A totally dead battery can still read mid 12V on a DMM. That is NOT how to properly test for a bad battery.

 

[xmakeafistx 10+ year member]

unplugged the amp today, really no difference even after driving on freeway. Still starts up like it did with the amp plugged in, works on first time but a little sluggish.

Sorry if its a retarded question, but should the amp be giving me a volt reading while the car is off? My friend thinks that it shouldn't show up anything, and i'm wondering if hes right.

 

[xmakeafistx 10+ year member]

Replaced battery problem solved, my system sounds better too.

 

[matt_bennett05 10+ year member]

I would bet your alt is giving out too.

 

[xmakeafistx 10+ year member]

It seems to be doing fine with keeping the battery charged, i'm doing 13.6 running, 12.5 floating. Is this typical for a jetta?

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

Take your car up to Orielys or ?? and get them to test your battery voltage,and then test it with a load on it.Dont know what kind of vehicle you have ,but 13.5 volts with a load is pretty good.I even bought a new alternator,and it was bad.Drained my battery down over night,changed that back out,and still had issues,and my final annal. was the battery,no issues as of the last 2 months