hmmm dimming lights

[SkinnyJoint]

ok wondering if my altenator is about to take a crap or battery is worth s***. ok well just wondering do you ppl notice a lil dimming lets say u roll up 2 windows at once or somthing and your ebrak and no seatbelt light is on do they kinda dim until your done rolling up..... i think my lights do this everything and then too like if i try to do somthing extra there are more examples but maybe u guys can throw some stuff out

 

[Dexter]

yeah...try a grounding kit and a better battery. i still need borh.

 

[toucci]

mine used to do this until I upgraded the battery to an optima

even with all the important wiring upgraded

 

[cazish]

it sounhds like you need a yellow top. well, actually, a reed top would be just fine. you would also do good to get yourself a grounding kit. all the pushing of buttons and output of sleakers takes too much power than the battery can handle, obviously dimming auxiliary devices, ie lights.

 

[Rickman]

Mine does it all the time. I'm currently putting together a grounding kit. I ordered my terminals today.

 

[Stormtrooper77]

The grounding kit itself won't do it. You'll need a stronger battery. I have just the grounding kit and the only thing I noticed was the idle was smoother. The dimming still happens.

 

[Protege52003]

yeah, the stock batteries are not that good. low CCA's. you can go to your local Auto-zone, Napa or local auto-store and pick a cheap battery ($40-60) there that will out perform the stock battery. you can also go get a red top optima ($100-110) that will give you same performance and will look good in your engine bay......


i have to get a new battery soon. will probably get one from my buddy at auto-zone........

 

[1sty]

I had an optima yellow, 180 amp alternator, 2 1 Farad capcitors, and a ground kit and it still dimmed.

It always will, there is no stopping it. When you do something like role up the windows you draw a substantial amount of current that the system has to supply instantly that it was not suppling a second ago. This current come from the battery and the alternator has to catch up in a way as it is not immedaitly able to supply more voltage to make the system totaly stable. This increased current also corrisponds to a dip in system voltage. The voltage drop acounts for the dimming. No matter what you bolt onto your car, the system will always drop atleast a little bit of voltage when a circuit like this is used so you will always have a dimming. Some cars have better head light circuits so the dimming is not as noticable, however, the dash light dimming usualy is just as noticable.

Ground kits and batteries can help, but they are not going to cure anything.
Also, I sell gronuding kits

 

[SkinnyJoint]

how much is your grounding kit. and yea i figured it was a bad battery. so i might get another better soon

 

[1sty]

Which one?
http://www.msprotege.com/vbb230/showthread.php?t=22915&highlight=grounding+kits

$75-$120

 

[SkinnyJoint]

ok well im broke as hell and i will have to hold off on that but definatly somthing good for a future purchase

 

[Rickman]

My battery has already been beefed up.

 

[RobMP5]

And all this time I thought that my headlights were suppose to dim to the beat of the radio. Must be that HUGE 100W stock sub stealing all of the power...

 

[archangel571]

And all this time I thought that my headlights were suppose to dim to the beat of the radio. Must be that HUGE 100W stock sub stealing all of the power...

wait, our p5s have stock subs?? where?? i only see 4 crap performance speakers n the two lil tweeters...

i run an old sony h/u from my old camry at 120W n a radar detector when i drive, the battery is still crapping out n the lights sometimes gets pretty dim. plus recently it feels like the car is taking over 2 or 3 seconds to light up in the cold sometimes, think my timing could be a lil off?

 

[1sty]

The 2002 P5 did not come with a standard subwoofer, his 2003.5 however did. Its a pioneer 5.25" sub in a plastic bandpass enclosure with an internal amp that sits atop the spare tire.

Also, if the car is running, the battery will do nothing for you at all, its the alternator that running the show. The only way the battery does anything is if the voltage falls below the batteries voltage which is typicly around 13 volts when charging. So if the car charges at 14.4 the battery does nothing until the voltage has dropped to 1.4 volts, which will be obvious light dimming. Almost no car battery will do you any good in this situation since non hold a charge of 14.4 volts.

 

[zmanpro63]

Just given props to 1sty, his grounding kits are awsome. Installed my full kit last Friday, noticeable improvement in idle, throttle response...smooth as butter. Also dresses up the engine bay nicely, thanks again man. Nik