How many / how large are your amps?

How old is your battery? What kind of battery is it?

What condition is your alternator in? Look at it - is it heavily fouled and nasty looking?

Have you upgraded your STOCK GROUNDS to the engine AND FRAME?

Do you have your amp grounded to the body or the FRAME?

Do you have an independent power wire run for the amp (battery to distribution) and what size is it?

I have an enormous stereo with very little dimming probs - I've got 1/0 wire running front to rear with a rear battery. A rear battery helps ALOT in a big stereo, especially if you go with Kinetik batteries. Yes, it's extra weight - (go fast, sound good, cheap - pick 2). Installers are now saying the most current the average car frame can carry is 120amps - IF YOU ARE GROUNDED TO THE FRAME. If you are grounded to the body, it will be far less. So, if you are running a LARGE stereo, you need to consider 1/0 power and ground front to rear (sound good, cheap - pick 1). If you aren't running a very large stereo and don't want to get too crazy - simply upgrade your STOCK GROUNDS and ground to the frame - and make sure your amp is grounded to the frame, this will help alot. Minimum power wire to the rear is 4Ga IMO - if you are running any kind of power. Another big help would be to run a 4Ga power wire directly from the alternator to your battery. The stock wires are getting pretty old - so this will help with current concerns from the alternator. I'm going to upgrade to a 1/0. I'd suggest going larger on the wire because of 1. length and 2. heat. 4ga carries good current, but the engine bay is hot and 16' of wire front to rear is a fair run if you are pulling some power. Lastly, I read that an R/T or T/T alternator does 120Amps - I'm not sure about the ES. Mine is stock and I've never had a prob. Post again and I"ll give you my .02.

 

Im running two LA(Lighning Audio, sucky but they work.) subs. Each can take 800w peak. The amp is a Kenwood Xcelon 800w (4 channel, 3, 2 or 1). Im only running the subs from the sub channel, im actually thinking about wiring it differently, ill get pics later. I was thinking it may also be the amp overpowering the two subs. They are inexpensive subs, (not cheap, just not pricy). I have the ground to the body, in the rear, on a nut close to the rear light assembly. My battery is a cheapo brand, it may need a replace. The alternator is dark colored(instead of copper), but the battery gauge NEVER drops when the subs are on. Everything is correctly wired, i dont even use tape for this stuff. The power wire came in a kit, and was rated at 1200w. It is run through the right side front quarter panel, so i can easily remove it if nessacary. Ill get pics up later on. Let me know what you think..

Thanks, Justin

 

I also just got the car, no idea on how old or new the battery is. It has 188k on it.

 

Did you clean your ground connection? If it is attached to a bolt, scrape the metal where the grounding lug touches the metal. Paint will increase resistance or may make your ground totally ineffective. Power has to be a 2 way street and grounding is just as important as getting the power there to begin with. Make sure your battery grounds are CLEAN - wire brush the battery terminals and grounding locations - this should help.

 

Yeah, there is paint where the ground is. I'll wire brush it tonight. And also the battery terminals. Will Die-electric grease help? I used in on my truck last time i installed this same system.. And i didnt this time around.

Thanks alot.
Justin

 

Now someones trying to say we have frames that we can ground to.

 

now someones trying to be smart rather than helpful

Would you rather just ground through the body?

I suggested running power and ground front to rear - this would be the best solution.

Well?

 

You mean Ground and power from the battery? From the front to the rear of my hatch? I heard you cant go over a few feet of ground wire...

Thanks, Justin

 

And would paint thinner work as well as the wire brush? It's hard to get the ground connection to the body clean. Razor blade doesnt work...

-J

 

You need to scrape all of your grounding points (all audio related and battery) down to bare metal.

Check them with a DMM. Check your battery to chassis ground with a DMM. If either of the grounds are more than a .2ohm resistance, then you have a bad grounding location.

 

now someones trying to be smart rather than helpful

Would you rather just ground through the body?

I suggested running power and ground front to rear - this would be the best solution.

Well?

I have a 650w rms amp on the stock grounds and have minimal voltage drops.

For starters Kenwood rates their amps for Peak Power so the actual Power (RMS) is 400W The amplifier has a 40 amp fuse too.

Cheap Amp install kits overrate everything. For starters the wires aren't the Gauges advertised.

The DOHC ES has a 110amp alternator. Since the interior lights dim. There is a possibility of a bad connection at the battery, alternator output connection, engine to battery, or battery to body. Or even a bad alternator. Many places test charging systems.... for free. The battery shouldn't be a factor on another less than 40 amp load unless it's junk. A bad amp ground connection would not dim the interior lights.

 

Well, recapping, only the middle interior light dims. The one you set for when you open the door. everything else is fine. And ive also got more questions now, checking all of my connections, i found two wires laying inside my dash (where the HU is), looks just like speaker wires, from the tweeters. And ive also got a big circle plug, looks like an old PS keyboard plug, with 8 wires or so inside it.

Thanks guys!
Justin

 

Allrighty, i think ive fixed the problem... I cleaned the ground, and so far so good!! I cranked it higher then ever for a long period (about 15min), and they didnt cut out, or pop. i'll check the interior lights tommorow..

THANKS ALOT!
-Justin