Rep Power: 0

Today I installed a Rockford Fosgate 12" P1 sub and a Rockford Fosgate RF2002 amp in my 98 EX. Everything works fine, however my car hesitates to turn over for 2-5 seconds now and the lights on the dash are all dim while its trying to turn over. It just cranks for a while then finally starts. I have never encountered this problem before and I'm not sure where to start troubleshooting. I'm not pushing the bass hardcore loud or anything the amp is only putting out about 100 watts, and I have had amps putting out 1000+ watts without a capacitor in shittier cars and have never had this problem. So whats the problem??

 
Rep Power: 195

Does the display on the radio go out when you are starting the car?
Do the lights on the amp go out when the car is off? Are they on when trying to start the car? It could mean it's mis-wired.
It also could just be the battery is going bad. You might have it checked.

 
Rep Power: 228

battery or alt

 
Rep Power: 291

How did you wire the amp?
Did you install remote wire?

It could be your battery, alt, grounding, or something else.

The more specific you can be, the easier to diagnose

 
Rep Power: 0

its wired the way it should be, remote wire is hooked up and the amp is grounded to the frame. This isn't my first time hooking up a sub. The system works fine and the car runs like normal. Its just when I go to start the engine it takes a while to start up. I'll probably go get my battery checked out soon.

 
Rep Power: 291

Check your batt/alt and grounds

You might be looking at a big 3 upgrade in the near future

Make sure batt terminals are clean and not loose

 
Rep Power: 0

Sounds like your battery is low on cold cranking amps, I suggest just giving it a boost and let your car run for 10-15 minutes without turning on the deck/any lights let the alternator charge it up a bit, than turn off your car and try starting it again. If it still takes 2-5 seconds to start than its possible your terminals are loose try tightening them, if that doesnt fix it than your battery and alternator are most likely good and its probably your starter, if your located in Canada, unhook your battery and take it to Canadian tire, they run free battery tests.
Hope this helps.

 
Rep Power: 0

agreed with a_a91,

i have the same problem now and then, do you listen to your sound system when the car is off? or in the ACC position? as you would know that drains your battery, and therefor when starting your vehicle the battery is low and doent have that 'umphhh' to get the started motor cranking as normal, either that or you need a new battery? try that for now, if thats your problem, mite need a new abttery. if its not that maybe your alt, but get it checked to be safe

 
Rep Power: 211

If the REM wasn't installed correctly the amplifier wouldn't turn on at all. I agree with everyone else. Battery terminals or just the battery in general. Double check your connections to make sure nothing is loose.

 
Rep Power: 812

loose battery connection. it cant be the battery dying already if you just installed everything today and there was no problem yesterday. try to turn each clamp around the terminal using both your hands. if it moves, its loose.

 
Rep Power: 0

Turns out it was the battery, I disconnected the amp and sub, and it completely died the next day. So I have a new battery now but it still hesitates to start after sitting for a while. I haven't reconnected the sub and amp yet. The guy I bought it from changed the starter before he sold it to me, so I don't know why its having trouble starting still.

 
Rep Power: 291

Sounds like you still have a loose connection

Check all your grounds and terminals

 
Rep Power: 211

If it's a brand new battery then grounds and terminals are unlikely. With a brand new battery, new starter and the sub and amp are both unattached, then my guess is it's either your spark plugs, ignition wires and/or distributor cap.

 
Rep Power: 812

are you monitoring the battery voltage? fully charged should be around 12.6v but can drop around 11.2v and still start the car fine. see what the voltage is just before trying to start, and also with the car running. any multimeter can be set to measure 12v and then put the probes on the + and - battery terminals.