Well, for the last few weeks my car's been acting up. When i turn on my headlights or heater.....or anything electrical, my cd player shuts off momentarily and the tach needle jumps from time to time. The cd player also shuts off when i hit my brakes. It's fine during the day for the most part because i dont have the lights / heater on. I've checked for loose wires and checked out my guage cluster. I checked all my wiring down by the ecu, and in the engine bay. I checked all of my grounds also. The car has a new alternator and distributor. Someone told me it could be a bad ignitor, but i dont see why that would affect the cd player.
I have no idea what else to look for, so if anyone could help me out i'd really appreciate it.

 

faulty alternator would make electrical components in the car fail...

but the only thing that can make your tach jumpy is the distributor.

check that 10mm bolt on top of the alternator to make sure its tight, and also that its not corroded in any way.

make sure your battery has a clean ground to the chassis (thick wire) with the paint stripped away.

but thats about it for the free checks, next is alternator or dizzy, whichever you determine to be your problem.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by doublethink &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">faulty alternator would make electrical components in the car fail...

but the only thing that can make your tach jumpy is the distributor.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

there you have it, good luck with the troubleshooting

 

Well i replaced the alternator first, thinking it might have been the voltage regulator. The problem persisted. The distributor is a new reman. one from carquest, but i suppose i shouldnt rule it out. Very helpful info though, now i have a few things to try. Thanks a lot!