audiofanaticz

Yea, there is really no way around it. .4 volts is not that bad (if its under load). The only solution is to keep running more wire until you reach the point of diminishing returns. Hell some db drag street class competitors have 20+ runs of wire going through the car just to get rid of every little bit of resistance. But as I stated with my post, without knowing any real information at the problem at hand who knows what is up. A .4 volt drop shouldn't be kicking an amp in to protect, so Im assuming other factors are at play here. If we knew the current type of wire (cca/ofc), the size of the wire, the length of the wire, the actual amperage draw, the front voltage, the rear voltage at the amp you could actually calculate out what the needed upgrades would be.

Depending on what you have now for wiring, its most likely the positive run of wire that has a lot of resistance causing the .4 voltage drop from the battery. A proper chassis ground will have little resistance in the chassis (unless your running 5,000+ watts rms), and very little resistance in the wire since the ground wire is so short. It has been tested that a decent rear chassis ground is better and has lesser resistance than a negative run of wire from the front to back (as long as you are under 5,000wrms or so). But who really knows since you didnt say what your current wire size and type it is, nor have you said your amplifier model and what ohm load its wired at, and if you have additional batteries. Realistically a .4 volt drop is not enough to kick your amp into protect, so there is something else severely wrong with your install. Most amps will not protect due to low voltage until the low 9 volt range, so unless your car battery is 9.4 volts dropping to 9 volts I highly doubt that is the issue. What can cause the amp to go into protect is loose connections on the positive wire, the fuse connections (if you have any), the ground wire. The amp will also protect if your running it under its lowest stable ohm load. It can also protect due to the gain, bassboost, or both being turned up too high. Another thing that may cause the amp to protect is if you have any stray speaker wires touching each other on the amps speaker output terminals, or on the subwoofer.

I dont know why someone would want to do that, but this exact thread is just that... However since he has butyl is applied first not only will the vibraflex not work as proper, it may cause the first deadeners adhesive to fail since it is rather heavy. But lets say the butyl deadener hangs on good with the vibraflex over the top of it, but now you just spent all that money on putting the vibraflex on for wishy washy results since it wont work as intended. Vibraflex will stiffen panels like no other and is GREAT in the world of SPL. No other deadener will touch it in that specific field alone, some may come close though, and that would be SecondSkin Im sure since they are the ONLY rigid aluminum foil deadener on the market. Every other butyl deadeners foil is like tinfoil, where as SecondSkin is like a aluminum can for its foil. Putting the Vibraflex down first will raise resonance, the only reason I could see to do butyl over the top would be to combat some road noises (which in that case I would say closed cell foam like Luxury Liner and insulation matting like HeatWave Pro maybe a better choice). Would the butyl deadener on top of the Vibraflex cancel out one or the other? probably not, because at no point will a butyl deadener make that panel less stiff once vibraflex is applied, but using butyl first and then vibraflex will cause the vibraflex to not work how its intended due to that thick gooey butyl base its adhered too.

Vibraflex is not used for the same purposes as normal deadener. People often get this confused. Vibraflex is used when you want to raise resonance, normal deadener is when you want to mass load and lower resonance. If anything you would want to do Vibraflex first, and follow it up with a butyl deadener after.

That sub looks beastly, wonder if I can fit one in my car. LOL

All users who followed the directions/rules up to this point (page 37) are entered! Again if you do not see your name on the list that means you have either not shown a photo of yourself with the vehicle, or a photo of the trunk/hatch/cargo area, or possibly both. You still have time to fix your photos to get entered! Simply find your first post, then click on "QUOTE" and reply to that with your needed photo(s) so that your post gets added to the new posts I havent updated yet. If you dont do it this way I wont know that you fixed your photo(s) because I can not go through 340 posts and check them one by one against who has entered. It is just too time consuming. Thanks! -Brian

And a quick google search I found you a simple fix it looks like. Seems to be exactly the issue you described. http://strongforsubaru.com/subaru-alternator-fault-fix/

Higher output alts typically dont turn on until a certain amount of rpms. So at a stop light with low idle the alt would essential turn off if no draw/load is seen. Also the higher the amperage alternator, the less it will make at idle output. Though the hairpin technology yields much better results than the standard wound style stator. Granted this is irrelevant if the alternator is turning off at lower speeds. So now if your alternator is turning off at low rpms this means your entire vehicle is running off battery power at those times and the reason your battery is dropping to the 12volt range when parked, stopped, or moving slowly. Sometimes you can fix this issue by going to a even smaller underdrive pulley on the alternator if you already dont have the smallest one made, granted you will need to make sure you have excellent belt wrap since you would have less belt on pulley contact which could make it easier to slip under demanding loads. I know you said they sent you a smaller pulley, but I am not aware if thats the smallest you can go or not, maybe another manufacture has smaller ones Im not sure. As for going to an external regulator this would do nothing in your case, because the alternator would still only turn on when the rpms are high enough. All the regulator would do is allow you to change your charge voltage, so if your oem computer controlled the charge voltage and it was too low then the external would help. Now if your alternator is indeed by your cars computer, and that computer is programmed to turn the alternator off at lower rpms when your stopped or parked to increase fuel economy then a external regulator may help. But say if it was and you did this swap you would then have the idiot battery light illuminated on your dash so you would have to trick the computer with a resistor to get that light turned off, or pull out the bulb in the instrument cluster, or put some black electrical tape over it if those idiot lights drive you nuts. I would contact the builder and see what rpm the alternator is to turn on at, and then as if that is engine rpms or alternator rpms. Those are 2 different rpms and its usually a 2-3:1 ratio (the alt spinning 2-3 times per 1 engine revolution), but this can be slightly different from vehicle to vehicle. So another option would be taking the vehicle to someone who has a nice scan tool, or a speed shop that has a dyno which has the ability to program the ecu. You can then have the idle rpms raised permanently that way since its a fly by wire vehicle. Chances are your alternator is NOT a paper weight, but the issue is with the cars computer one way or another and how it controls the alternator. Lastly not to scare you, if your sub amp has nothing hooked up to it and its being turn on when ever your driving your at risk for blowing it. Something about amps that just dont being like left on unloaded, or even loaded but volume muted. Ive blown a few this way just sitting in the drive through waiting to order food. So I would really pull the remote wire off the amp until your ready to use it.

Id love a 3rd gen cts v, maybe in 10 years though. Hell even a 2nd gen, but thats no where near in the budget. Though I really have no need for it. I like my v8s though and wasn't looking at normal cts's until I learned that they have the basic bitch base models, and the nicer di models and fact that it was more hp and better gas mileage than my Seville sold me. I was just looking at the 2004 and up STS models, which are like the first gen body cts, but had a nicer cluster and center console imo, then I splurged a little more to step up to the cts.

I would do a processor and go that route. when Ive been looking for a cts it was mandatory that it had the screen too! but not a V, but not the little engine either, it has the DI that is 304hp v6 which is more power than my v8 northstar. lol

Good shit man! Love this thread! No idea how your finding this kind of time, but awesome of you to do that. Going to pin this!

Bought a new car finally. Dealer said that was their best price when I asked on Wednesday I said alright thank you and walked towards the door, then he said he can do 300 less. Told him have a nice day. Went to the bank today took out some cash and talked to him some more and asked if he can take another $400 off and put the pile of cash on his desk. He gave me a strange look then looked at the money then looked at me again then turned his back and started doing the paper work without saying a thing. LMAO Its so much nicer than my 01 Seville STS, and its like a whole new car at night, the headlights turn whatever direction you turn the vehicle when driving, it has some accent lighting across the dash and doors which I didnt even know about. Granted its not CTS V, but its not the base model either. It has the 3.6L DI engine that is 304hp which is more than my v8 northstar (I think the non DI 3.6L is only 250hp), awd as well, has the luxury 1 and luxury 2 package and performance package. There are windshield washer squirters for the headlights as well (but no wiper like the older Benzs). Also really like the fact that it has an oem 3.5mm aux cable, oem usb to play flash drives/phones/ipods/etc, and has a 40gb hard drive as well. Only took a few pics

I actually like the body of them as well, just the cluster and center console seemed to lacking for me. They dont look no where near as bad if you have the factory screen though.