0 gauge wire making my truck die
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=91094
Printed Date: April 19, 2024 at 2:18 AM
Topic: 0 gauge wire making my truck die
Posted By: whiteram423
Subject: 0 gauge wire making my truck die
Date Posted: February 27, 2007 at 11:19 PM
Im having several problems with the system that i put into my 03 dodge ram quad cab 1500 recently. The first problem is that i have basic knowledge of putting stereos in and how to do it. My grandparents bought me a 5 farad cap,2 audiobahn flame q subs, 2 audiobahn 800x1 mono amps, and a o gauge dual amp wiring kit. (i know i know audiobahn isn't that good but it was free so i'm going to make it work.) I hooked it up like i would any other system. I have a wire from the battery to the cap and then from cap to the distributor block. From there one goes to each amp. the amps and cap and distributor block are within a foot from each other under my front seats. i have a optima red top battery in my truck right now. Here is my problems.
1. The truck idles rough now like it doesnt have power or something. It will die also sometimes because its idle drops so fast. This didnt start happening until i put the system in.
2. The lights on my truck still dim a whole lot when the subs are hitting.
3. Also after i put the system in my remote start on the truck doesnt work anymore it just turns on and then back off. To where it was working fine once the system was in there.
Does anyone think that it is pulling way to much power from the motor or battery because of the 0 gauge wire. or is it because the amps are pulling a lot more watts from the battery. What can i do so that i might be able to fix this problem without having to reconstruct the motor or alternater.
Replies:
Posted By: jeffchilcott
Date Posted: February 27, 2007 at 11:55 PM
sounds like you have a loose battery terminal, did you ready the big 3 sticky at the top of the fourm and do that as reccomended in your other post?
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2009 0-1000 Trunk WR 154.0DB 2009 1001+ Trunk WR
2007 USACI World Champion
2007 World Record
2006 USACI Finals 2nd Place
Posted By: whiteram423
Date Posted: February 28, 2007 at 12:06 AM
I have not tackled the big three yet i'm going to try to do that next week. i'm just worried about it burning up my alternator or something like that. i checked the battery post they are tight as can be. It did the same thing when i had my stock battery in my truck then i put the optima battery in there thinking that it was going to help.
i just want .to truck to run smooth and the lights to not dim. and its not like i have it blasting on high volumes. they are dimming really bad at low volumes also.
Posted By: ferretvw
Date Posted: February 28, 2007 at 8:29 AM
First thing I would do is pull the fuse from the amp wire and see if it goes back to normal if not then there is a problem somewhere, is it an aftermarket deck or factory, If factory where did you get the turn on wire?
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2008 Scion xB
Pioneer AVIC-D3
RF 3Sixty.2 sound processor
Stock speakers (for now ;))
Posted By: xtremej
Date Posted: February 28, 2007 at 11:16 AM
Sounds install related to me, double check all connections, meter your grounds. running 0 gauge will in no way inhibit vehicle operation unless the install is messed up. It may be worth a few bucks to take it in to a car audio shop and have it checked out.
Posted By: jonathancullen
Date Posted: February 28, 2007 at 7:42 PM
how many amp alternator do you have? that might possibly be the problem. another question is your stereo turned up alot when you start the vehicle/ when you at idle? i wish my grandparents would buy me a system lol. they didnt like my old system, made a picture fall of the wall and broke it, didnt even have it turned up that loud but it was in the garage. ------------- two 12" cadence TXW-12S, cadence TXA-3002 amplifier, 1990 toyota celica system 10 speakers
Posted By: piston_hrc
Date Posted: February 28, 2007 at 7:51 PM
Another thing to keep in mind is. If you disconnected the battery during install, that will have reset the idle strategy in the PCM (powertrain control module). Drive the vehicle above 45mph for more than 2 minutes to allow the new strategy to store. This wouldn't have any affect on your lights dimming (unless the idle is too low?) but correct your dying/idling issues. Its also possible on Dodge/Chrysler vehicles for the strategy to reset if the voltage goes below 10.4.
Posted By: whiteram423
Date Posted: February 28, 2007 at 9:04 PM
to answer some of the questions..
1. the headunit is a pioneer flip out avic n1.
2. there is not a installation shop around here that i know of.
3. i rechecked the grounds and everything yesterday and everything was hooked up nice and tight and i didnt see any problems. the grounds are where it is bare metal.
4. my alternator amps are factory i think its around 130 or so. the stereo can be on 1 which is the lowest that it will go and it still dies.
5. i dont know about the strategy and how to reset it but i have drove the truck over 45 for 2 min and it still dies.
Posted By: piston_hrc
Date Posted: February 28, 2007 at 9:57 PM
Just guessing here but there may be an issue with the remote start? can you bypass the remote start to take get it out of the system for the time being?
Posted By: whiteram423
Date Posted: March 01, 2007 at 12:23 AM
ok so i tested a couple of things... i unhooked the system from the battery and now my remote start works. But my truck still is dying when its in park and the lights are dimming when i hit the gas. and nit just seems like its not getting enought power still.so what im going to do is put the the stock battery back in and see because the optima battery is a year old and it came out of my camaro that i had i'm guessing that might be the problem. The truck was not doing this before i put in the system. i do know tho that the remote start would not work when the stock battery was in there. and the lights still dimmmed and the truck died. To be honest i have no clue whats wrong with it. I really could use some help on this one.
Posted By: jonathancullen
Date Posted: March 01, 2007 at 6:47 AM
if your truck would start then you could disconnect the battery and it should still run off of the alternator. what kind of dying are we talking about with your truck? is it slowly loosing rpms until it shuts off or does it just die? have you upgraded your big 3 yet? i had a wire melt on me in an older truck becaues i put a system in it and it have very small wire running from the alternator and battery. how many volts is your running at on idle, read the battery before and after it dies/or you turn it off.
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two 12" cadence TXW-12S, cadence TXA-3002 amplifier, 1990 toyota celica system 10 speakers
Posted By: kicker guy
Date Posted: March 01, 2007 at 8:37 AM
If you shut off everything with your stereo and it still dies, I don't think its electrical. Sometimes when you put something in the car and it starts acting weird it doesn't mean its the thing you added... could be just bad timing. I would get it checked out at a shop.
Posted By: xtremej
Date Posted: March 01, 2007 at 11:00 AM
If it is die-ing without the stereo on, your truck has lost its memory of were to idle as previuosly said. If it does not re learn after several starts and driving, you may have a more seriuos issue. I would try disconnecting the battery for 10-12 min, re-connect and seehow this works. I spoke with a chrysler tech and this is supposed to be a driveway fix for what you are describing. If this does not work I would take it in and get it fixed. Jeeps do the same thing you are describing after disconnecting that battery. good luck and post your outcome
Posted By: master5
Date Posted: March 01, 2007 at 1:25 PM
Yea it doesn't seem logical that simply connecting a 0ga wire to the battery would effect the remote start or the way the car runs..remember..it is not wire that draws current....it is what you connect to it..the wire is simply a vessel for the electron flow. As far as dimming of course no suggestions in this case will do any good until you upgrade the big 3. It seems to me as others have stated there is something else going on so try the reset/relearn. If that doesn't work it may be best to bring it in for service before proceeding any further..the RS problem should be an easy fix but the other problems with the vehicle dying require attention first. Also note that as far as I have been told newer vehicles with PCM's will not run off the alternator alone when you disconnect the battery, only older cars could do that. Best of luck and keep us posted. -------------
Posted By: whiteram423
Date Posted: March 01, 2007 at 2:59 PM
ok today ive worked on it for a while. i drove 30 mins to see a audio shop and they said that everything was wired up right. The system was ok and the alarm was ok. i wired everything up like it was suppost to be i understand the dimming of the lights. i accepted that fact that they would. so today i unhooked the stereo and the alarm to see if the problem was consistent. and it is still doing this. i also took it to 2 local mechanical shops to see what was the problem and they said they didnt know. The battery is in good shape and the alternator is putting out 14.5 v at 2000 rpm which my understanding is what it is suppost to. the battery is hold 12.5v which its suppost to i think. im really stomped by this and a little annoyed because i have spent about 300 dollars on someone to tell me that i have a problem and they dont know what it is. (why hell i knew that before i came in)
Posted By: whiteram423
Date Posted: March 01, 2007 at 3:01 PM
when it dies its like it goes from 1000 rpm stopped in drive to putting it into park and it drops down to 500 rpm and trys to go back up but instead it dies and its very consistent and does it every time i drive it then stop and put it in park.
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: March 01, 2007 at 3:59 PM
Sounds to me like you may have an ECU problem. ------------- Support the12volt.com
Posted By: master5
Date Posted: March 01, 2007 at 4:18 PM
Also could be a throttle position sensor (TPS) or a zillion other possibilities...we could guess all day..but if you paid someone 300 bucks and they can't figure it out you got rooked. An easy way to determine if it's the ECU is to substitue a known working one (plugs right in) and see if the problem subsides..also the test equipment that all mechanics should have can tell by hooking up to the diagnostics plug as well. I can't say if anything you may have done caused this...but regardless we know it is now unrelated since it does it with everything disconnected. The vehicle needs to be checked out by someone that understands how ECM equipped vehicles operate. Sorry, wish I could help more. -------------
Posted By: gms81
Date Posted: March 01, 2007 at 5:36 PM
Is the check engine light on? If so then check to see if you yanked on any wires while you were hooking things up, a disconnected sensor will really screw with you. Pull your spark plugs and check them out to see if they are ok or if they are wearing out, although this is not likely to be the cause at all, just something to check. I have done quite a bit of weekend warrior mechanic work, I will help you as much as I can. Go to the nearest auto parts store and pick up the shop manual on your truck, you will need this to test your sensors.
Posted By: whiteram423
Date Posted: March 01, 2007 at 8:06 PM
my check engine light is not on. someone said something about a idler control valve or something like that. does anyone know about that.
Posted By: gms81
Date Posted: March 01, 2007 at 8:39 PM
What year is your truck and what engine does it have?
Posted By: whiteram423
Date Posted: March 01, 2007 at 8:50 PM
03 dodge ram quad cab 1500/ 4.7l 8 cylinder/ 1/2ton 2wd
Posted By: gms81
Date Posted: March 01, 2007 at 10:56 PM
I will do some checking tomorrow on this. For now get the book I was telling you about, it gives the specs and how to's on checking the sensors, its about $15 or so.
Posted By: gms81
Date Posted: March 01, 2007 at 11:01 PM
I forgot about this site. https://www.hemitruckclub.com/Manuals/03DRM.pdf
I am not sure if this is just for the hemi or not, check it out. This is more of a service manual for a tech but that just means its a lot harder to follow. It states this as a list of your condition, its a place to start.
ENGINE STALLS OR ROUGH IDLE 1. Vacuum leak. 1. Inspect intake manifold and
vacuum hoses, repair or replace as
necessary.
2. Faulty crank position sensor 2. Replace crank position sensor.
3. Faulty coil. 3. (Refer to 8 - ELECTRICAL/
IGNITION CONTROL/IGNITION
COIL - REMOVAL).
9 - 4 ENGINE - 3.7L DR
ENGINE - 3.7L (Continued)
CONDITION POSSIBLE CAUSE CORRECTION
4. Incorrect cam timing. 4. (Refer to 9 - ENGINE/VALVE
TIMING - STANDARD
PROCEDURE).
1. ENGINE LOSS OF POWER 1. Dirty or incorrectly gapped spark
plugs.
1. (Refer to 8 - ELECTRICAL/
IGNITION CONTROL/SPARK PLUG
- CLEANING).
2. Dirt or water in fuel system. 2. Clean system and replace fuel
filter.
3. Faulty fuel pump. 3. (Refer to 14 - FUEL SYSTEM/
FUEL DELIVERY/FUEL PUMP -
DIAGNOSIS AND TESTING).
4. Blown cylinder head gasket. 4. Replace cylinder head gasket.
5. Low compression. 5. (Refer to 9 - ENGINE -
DIAGNOSIS AND TESTING), repair
as necessary.
6. Burned, warped or pitted valves. 6. Replace as necessary.
7. Plugged or restricted exhaust
system.
7. Inspect and replace as
necessary.
8. Faulty coil. 8. (Refer to 8 - ELECTRICAL/
IGNITION CONTROL/IGNITION
COIL - REMOVAL).
9. Incorrect cam timing. 9. Refer to Engine TIming in this
section.
1. ENGINE MISSES ON
ACCELERATION
1. Spark plugs dirty or incorrectly
gapped.
1. (Refer to 8 - ELECTRICAL/
IGNITION CONTROL/SPARK PLUG
- CLEANING).
2. Dirt in fuel system. 2. Clean fuel system.
3. Burned, warped or pitted valves. 3. Replcae as necessary.
4. Faulty coil. 4. (Refer to 8 - ELECTRICAL/
IGNITION CONTROL/IGNITION
COIL - REMOVAL).
1. ENGINE MISSES AT HIGH
SPEED
1. Spark plugs dirty or incorrectly
gapped.
1. (Refer to 8 - ELECTRICAL/
IGNITION CONTROL/SPARK PLUG
- CLEANING).
2. Faulty coil. 2. (Refer to 8 - ELECTRICAL/
IGNITION CONTROL/IGNITION
COIL - REMOVAL).
3. Dirt or water in fuel system. 3. Clean system and replace fuel
Posted By: whiteram423
Date Posted: March 02, 2007 at 2:18 AM
thank you so much for helping me it means so much because i just have no clue what to do and any kind of advice would work.
Posted By: gms81
Date Posted: March 02, 2007 at 7:31 AM
No problem, I know how it is. Try to get everything checked that I said, and go get that book. It will be so helpful in this situation as well as anything else that may come up in the future.
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