Everynight my car runs out of battery power and needs a boost. Also, there is quite a bit of dimming of headlights/interior lights when idling vs revving the car. My friend has a feeling that it may be the Unorthodox racing underdrive pulley that the car has.

Since I've just picked up the car I don't know if it's the pulley that causes the problem or not. Please help.

 

change the alternator

 

It's got a brand new alternator and battery. Still I have the problem.

 

Put the ragular pulley on, problem will go away.

 

if your battery runs down everynight and needs a boost to start it everymoring i higly doubt your under-drive pully is causing the problem. you have a current draw in your electrical system.

check everything you installed that is aftermarket like a alarm system or sterio systems etc.......something must be staying on and causing a battery drain.

there is no way that a underdive pully would cause this. yes it under-drives the alternator but there is only a .5-1v loss while the engine is idling. once you have it over 1000rpm it's charging pretty much like normal.........

 

If it were your alternator your car would die while you were driving it, and would never hold a charge

If you only need a boost sounds to me like it's the battery

Like non-vtec said check all your electrical stuff a good way to check is pull the negative baterry terminal over night, and then hook it up in the morning. If you car starts no problem then that means something is draining from your battery over night

 

You might be able to change the brushes out in the alternator... It's alot cheaper than buying a new or reman one. You might have a shitty battery too....

Had underdrives on for a year w/ two 12's pushed by Punch 500.2... No problems!

 

Hmmmm - I'm at 103,000 miles with that pulley & haven't had a problem yet (not counting having the bolt fall out at the last expo while chasing down a viper )

Have the battery tested(even if it's new), then check for other current draws/shorts.

 

Which pulleys do you have? still have them? do you notice the lights dimming as you idle? Does it affect the audio system when idle?

Jason - curious cuz he's got a maddd system too yo


[Modified by Hukd Up, 10:51 AM 4/4/2003]

 

i've got teh aem pulley & my lights & gauge cluster dim at idle, as does my cd players face. once i rev up it's bright & normal. my battery is always charged & fine- it's got to be something else.

 

I HAVE THE AEM AND THE LIGHTS DIMMING IS A NORMAL THING. YOU SAID YOU GOT A NEW BATTERY. I WOULD CHECK IT AND MAKE SURE ITS GOOD , BECAUSE IT STILL IS POSSIBLE TO GET A BAD ONE.

 

I've had the Unorthodox UD Pulley for the last 5 years and I get the light dimming bit at idle... but have had no battery problems or failures to charge.

All of you without UD Pullies, try this... while driving at a constant RPM over 4000 (so the Alt is generating current), roll your window up until closed and then key the up switch again. Do your lights dim for just a moment? I've always thought that odd, since it ought not be UD Pulley related if the Alternator is spinning fast enough to generate current (there is a point of diminishing returns: you don't make more electricity when your motor is turnign at 8000 rpm, ya know?).

I suspect the voltage regulator.