Help on Alternator/electrical System upgrade

[Sestaley13]

Hey y'all. My first post here so here goes nothin.

I recently turned my 2002 Subaru forester into less of a mom car by installing an alpine SWR 12 D4 (in a ported FatBox) with an alpine mrx m110 amp (1100watt RMS) and Polk audio db651s door speakers. Couldn't be happier with the sound quality, but a few days ago a check engine light came on while I was driving and listening to some really bass heavy stuff. My lights also flicker quite a bit. I know about capacitors, but I would rather fix this problem rather than patch it. I'm thinking my stock alternator needs an upgrade. I'm looking at a DC power engineering HO Alternator that has a 180amp max output with a 120 idle amperage. My buddy also has an extra big 3 upgrade he's willing to give away for the price of a few beers at our local watering hole. Would upgrading these two elements be sufficient and/or excessive?

Cheers

[CNF Kevosinn]

yes its worth the upgrade but I dont think thats whats causing your check engine light. I would say do the big 3 and get a nice battery under the hood and see what happens. Also hook up a nice volt meter to your amp and see where you are dropping to. Check out the SMD VM-1. its the last volt meter you will ever buy.