kiker14

iTrader: (1)

ok, so, i'll be driving along listenin to some tunes on my system (relatively recently installed) and i'll be pumpin the music pretty good, but after about 5-10 minutes of driving, every time i hit the brakes, my music cuts out for a few seconds. This does not make me happy. I don't have much more info cause I just started to crank the music up a little more than i used to cause of my new setup which sounds phenominal. Anyway, do you guys think i need a higher powered amp? capacitor? something?

ioTus

iTrader: (5)

check to see if your engine is grounded to the strut tower. If not, add another (or a first one) from the top of the engine to a bolt on the strut tower.

kiker14

iTrader: (1)

hm, when you say "from the top of the engine" what exactly do you mean by that? (do you have any pix?)

heb09

pics plz/

ioTus

iTrader: (5)

Well i'm kinda cheating because i have removed the rats nest. I have used one of the rat's nest bolts to put the engine ground.

I do believe that the stock engine ground goes from one of the transmission bolts to the strut tower, on the drivers side.

it should be a middle bolt. Sorry i do not have ny pictures right now.

seanrot

iTrader: (2)

You need a 2nd gen 80 amp alt.

odds are, your stereo system is draining your electrical system, taking more than your alt can produce. When you hit the breaks its putting the electrical draw over the top. then your stereo doesnt have enough to work.


If worst comes to worst you can drive on down and I can give you a hand. I'm at exit 9 of the beltway. 20762.

ioTus

iTrader: (5)

your headlights would put more draw than the brake lights would, i would think. so would rolling down the windows.

BigJim

Yea i just had that issue, it only happened when the thorttle hadnt dropped yet, meaning the efi was still drawing power. Come to find out my positive battery terminal wasnt on that good making me run everything off of my alternator.

kiker14

iTrader: (1)

that is what i thought too, but the only issue is that it's ONLY when i hit the brakes, not when i roll the windows or turn on the headlights... either way i'm gonna do a full diagnostic this weekend

and as far as a 2nd gen 80 amp alt goes... well, i have a 2nd gen 70amp... so that's a little better than the 60amps i currently have, so I might swap that just for sh*ts and giggles

BigJim

check ur terminals im tellin ya thats what it is

Hades12

I had the exact same problem. The remote line was not connected good and would wiggle enough to shut the amp off when I pressed the brakes. took me a week to find it.

Manntis

All this amp & engine ground talk...

...is it possible the stereo speaker wires or power wire is getting kinked by the brake pedal? Or the ahrnes shifted just enough to temporarily unplug the sound output?

kiker14

iTrader: (1)

well, i put in new fusable links today (homemade...) and i threw in the 70 amp alternator from my 2nd gen. Problem went away... anywho, i think it was the links, which i seem to keep on burning up... so something somewhere is shorting out or somehting, i dunno... I'll look into it more when i have more time. But for the time being, my car is back to being loud both outside AND inside. oh, and now that i've wired open my aux ports, i'm backfiring quite a lot... is this normal?

Max7

So a loud stereo is more importain than a safe car?
If you got a short somewhere, fix it!

I got my 6p's open all the time, and get some backfire on decel, not alot.

85rotarypower

BAD GROUND!!! I had EXACTLY this problem. When I hit the brakes, then my newly installed sterio would cut out. Found out it was a bad chassis ground.

seanrot

iTrader: (2)

Nice fix

Now, kill all the fusable and get a 2nd gen fuse box much nicer. You'll even have an extra that you can use for the system I dont know why the brake lights do it, but I had the same problem. Heres a pic of the 2nd gen fuse box on the strut.

88ROTARY

check your voltage

GavinJuice

OH most definately the ground. Replace your old ground with a new one and throw another one on there to bump up the groundage. It's funny that almost every engine bay picture i see on this forum has a new alternator.

kiker14

iTrader: (1)

that's my project for this weekend

I love having a 2nd gen parts car