ALLWiTE2JZ

Okay guys. I am having some electrical problems with my car as I have said before in other threads, but now its getting really bad. This is really weird, but some nights when I drive and have my HID fogs/HID low beams on and hit the brakes and the brake lights come on, the HID bulbs blink once really quick and does this everytime I push the brake. Other nights I drive, it does not do this and everything electrical seems to works fine and the car runs really STRONG electrically. Other times when the headlights blink when I hit the brake, if I put the turn signal on while driving, the interior and exterior lights will faintly blink with the blinker being on. Now, I have had this problem way before I ever started modding this car, when it was bone stock it STILL did this. I am now getting tired of this and want to upgrade the alternator and battery. The HID kits and everything else I have done to the car cannot be the problem because like I said, the car has been doing this even when it was bone stock with halogen bulbs. Not to mention, I have my HID kits ran off of relays that get power directly from the battery so there is no rough current draw from the headlight harnesses. I was just wondering if you guys could recommend me a performance alternator and battery that can control a decent bit of power compared to stock, as I am ALSO redoing my audio in my car and running new front/rear speakers off the stock amp, (not looking to do anything serious (yet) with the audio). Any suggestions/advice?

masagsxr

You are creating too many threads. Its getting hard to keep track of your problem. I think on other thread someone mentioned to check grounding and corrosion to terminals. Clean them up. Before you spend tons of $$$, you can get the alternator and battery checked at your local auto store for free. I'd go from there then decide where to go next.

ALLWiTE2JZ

Okay, so I got my battery and alternator tested at my local AutoZone. They said that all the tests came back just fine and that I have a good battery/alternator. I was thinking maybe I should try upgrading the battery? Would an Optima YellowTop cure my flickering/dimming problems since it has more cold cranking amps, etc? I have two 55W hid kits (low beam/fogs) ran directly off the battery through relays, a new pioneer double din dvd player, new 4" front and rear 6.5" speakers. Do you guys think that is what is causing my problems to be worse, not having a powerful enough battery? Would putting an Optima YellowTop in like I said fix all the problems I listed above? I just don't want to buy the battery and have it not fix anything and be a waste of time.

trancuongv

iTrader: (3)

An upgraded alternator and battery probably won't help since this is happening with you stock lighting as well. Check your grounds and see if they are connected tightly. And all your connecting points. This should not be happening. I would source the problem before upgrading anything.

ALLWiTE2JZ

yeah but do you have any idea how many grounds there are on ANY given car? I would be looking at ever single ground/negative wire for months trying to figure out if there even IS one causing the problem.

turbodremz

iTrader: (18)

that is part of owning a car..replacing the battery might only remedy the problem for a short while, but the problem is still there. Electrical issues are not something to skip on..check ALL your grounds, clean ALL the contacts, check ALL the cables and fuses/relays. That wont take months, it should only take a couple of hours tops.

again, if you do it right the first time, you wont have to do it again later..

Garage7RP

iTrader: (1)

You should check all you groundings and connections. Clean them up! This is your problem.

ALLWiTE2JZ

But I don't understand how they got that way? The car has done this ever since I've owned it so I guess it is happening because it is old? I guess I will do this like you guys said. But where should I begin and what parts should I check? I don't want to check the wrong stuff lol. Can anyone give me the big or main things that I should check first?

ALLWiTE2JZ

And why would the battery/alternator test come back okay or good if this is happening with my car? What sense does that make?

masagsxr

Because the guy tested the battery/alternator independently not your grounding points. You might have bad grounding. Follow all the grounding wire throughout the engine bay/chassis.... There is no sense to have 2000 power and ground wires to connect directly to the battery.

ALLWiTE2JZ

Could it be a bad engine ground or bad motor mounts causing this? I noticed sometimes if I hit a bump or pothole in the road the same things happen, (i.e. flickering/dimming/etc)... Where would the engine ground be?

The only things I have hooked up to the battery itself are the positive and negative terminals from the car itself, 2 positive wires going to the positive terminals for my HID relays, the negatives for those relays are grounded to the fender bolts under the hood. Also I have one other positive wire going to the positive terminal on the battery for the fog lights, since I have a 97+ bumper with the foglights and my car is a 94 so they had to be hooked up seperately.

masagsxr

Follow the ground wire from the battery terminal throughout the whole engine bay/chassis.... Google is your friend buddy if you need to do more research.

ALLWiTE2JZ

Gee. Thanks for your help. I appreciate it.

masagsxr

LoL... If you noticed, just about everyone replying is saying check your grounding. You really need to start there. They could be corroded and need to be cleaned up or could use a new set of ground wires.

Garage7RP

iTrader: (1)

YOU JUST WANT ALL THE ANSWERS TO BE SPOON FED TO YOU HUH?

If you can't do the job then take it to an auto electrical place.