For a while now I thought for sure my car was haunted by some evil idle demon. I would come to a stop and my idle would be all over the place...

 

Turns out the power being consumed from my amplifier was causing surges in the electrical and causing the idle surges. I turned it down and it would idle fine.

 

 

Time for a capacitor. Man I felt stupid!!

For a while now I thought for sure my car was haunted by some evil idle demon. I would come to a stop and my idle would be all over the place...

 

Turns out the power being consumed from my amplifier was causing surges in the electrical and causing the idle surges. I turned it down and it would idle fine.

 

 

Time for a capacitor. Man I felt stupid!!

Geez...how many watts are you running?

Okay, so what about those of us with stock stereo setups who are still having idle problems that are so bad they develop into stalling problems :-\

Okay, so what about those of us with stock stereo setups who are still having idle problems that are so bad they develop into stalling problems :-\

Yeah, I just started having a problem yesterday. The Brat runs fines as long as I'm driving or its under a load (let off the clutch and idle forward) but when I'm just idling it runs way down like its going to stall then comes back up to normal. It hasn't actually stalled but comes really close. I'm thinking maybe a vacuum line or something carb related. Any ideas???

Time for a capacitor.

 

Sorta sounds like a lot more than what a cap will be able to fix. Caps mostly just increase the amp's pulse-power and/or reduce alternator noise. You might end up needing a second battery, and maybe a high-amp alternator.

 

Another thought, check your groundings. There's always a remote possibility that you might be developing a bit of a ground back-feed of some sort somewhere in the system which is causing one of the ECU sensors or maybe the ECU itself to hiccup by way of driving it's reference ground above zero every time the amp delivers a lot of current. Start with the battery negative post, then move on the the rest of the system systematically.

 

Ground back-feed is one of those weird conditions where stepping on the brake causes the wipers to quit, ect.

Between the Bridged subwoofer amp and the amp for my mids and highs I am running about 1400 watts. I used to be an installer so I know that the ground should be just as thick as your positive cable. I have have 1guage going from the battery to the rear and then split to the amps. The ground goes from one of the bolts in the trunk latch (floor of wagon near bumper) and then splits to the amps. There is zero noise in my system..not even a turn on thump. The rough idle only happens when the bass hit, and that is when the most juice is being consumed. Therefore a cap will fix this problem. I figure it is better to just get a big one now so if I upgrade in the future I will be better off. I am thinking a 10 farad should do the trick.

I am thinking a 10 farad should do the trick.

Damn, what are the physical dimensions of a cap that large. Must be the size of my leg.

 

Also, that is 1400 RMS, right?

 

Crazy system.

 

I have a slight idle problem, but i am thinking it is an O2 sensor.

I used to be an installer

Yeah, me too. Back in '88 when organized competition was in it's infancy, I would try to explain the benefits of adding caps in the system to my boss and workmates before it was something that was widely done, but all I got strange looks. All the mindless drones I worked with thought the big obnoxious boom from the subs we typically installed was great, but I would speak up and proclaim that for the most part, it sounded like shyte. Y'know, I'd explain that the sub was lagging behind the rest of the system because of physical inertia. It's tough being an idiot savant.

I remember when people were going to the local electric store and getting 1 farad caps.

 

I saw a guy blow his finger off when his wedding ring bridged the connectors. That was some messed up sheeot.

 

The 10 farrad cap looks like a big shiny box with a voltage display on top. They tend to be a bit pricey.