so the cars lights are unusually dim at startup but once revved up to about 2500 rpms lights brighten and stay bright. car is a 97 dx. my question is this a possible power drain, or could it be fixed with "the big 3" wire upsize.

 

Have the alternator tested.

 

thought that may have been the problem a couple months ago.... replaced the alt, alt belt and battery along with bat terminal connectors. back when i was having an idle issue that ended up being a iacv.

 

Did you install a new alternator or a re-manufactured one?

So now the engine is idling to spec? If so, with the engine idling, measure battery voltage across the two battery posts under no electrical versus high electrical load (high beams, rear window defogger, A/C on MAX).

 

it was a new one, i dont trust remanufactured. are you thinking voltage regulator? i thought that was built in to the alt, and before i replaced the alt under heavy voltage loads it would just drain the battery and kill the car. no such problems now, but ill check to see if the voltage is dropping or not with the new one.