Rep Power: 0

Well, I recently installed an amp (360W RMS) and sub (300W RMS). The amp only turns on when the car is on AND the faceplate is on the HU. But I think the battery is being drained when the car is off. My remote starter sometimes doesn't work, it just cranks but never starts up. I turned the light on the gauges on and when I start up the car, it flickers. It doesn't flicker on and off, but it dims, goes back to full brightness, dims, etc. But when the car is on, it's always at full brightness. After this, the car idles at around 1.5k RPM. it used to idle at around 800. And finally this morning, I went to start up my car, the battery was dead. I'm confused, I don't know what's wrong. I've checked the amp and it turns off whenever I shut off the car. Anyone else have this problem? It's an 04 LX Coupe.

 
Rep Power: 811

Are you playing the system loud when driving? If so, your alternator may not be able to keep up and charge the battery. Then the system will draw from the battery and drain that. If your battery drains to the point you're describing, the ecu computer will reset and the idle will be erratic. Try getting an optima yellow battery and turning down the system. There could always be something else that's draining it, but I doubt it. To get the idle back the way it was, drive around to warm the car, turn it off and disconnect battery or pull fi-ecu fuse for a few secs. Then put it back and start the car with no other accessories on. Let it idle for at least 5mins and the idle will be set. This will be fine as long as the battery doesn't die again.

 
Rep Power: 303

u have only 360rms watts. thats not enough to drain the battery

i think its ur remote start that u had it installed

 
Rep Power: 0

I have the volume at 30 which is around halfway. It's a small system, only 1 amp power 1 sub so I don't think it can drain the battery entirely. I unplugged the power, remote, and ground wires on the amp a little while ago and I'm gonna see if everything works tommorow morning. I looked around the car and I don't see anything that could be draining the battery while it's off.

What do you think could be wrong with the remote start? You think that could drain the battery?

 
Rep Power: 0

one time i took out my sub and when i put it back in, i messed up the wiring, then it kept draining my battery too, but i figured out that when i messed up the wiring it kept my amp on 24 hours even when the car wasnt on. i bought a new battery and everything too -_____-'

 
Rep Power: 305

Have you ever deep cycled the battery, meaning you ran it down to almost dead or dead. Primary batteries can not do this. When you do it, it sulfates the plates and the battery never is as strong. Have a shop load test the battery. Any Autozone or Kragen can do this for free.

It is not necessarily the wattage, but the current drain on the battery. You could get the car load tested to see how much current the accessories such as the alarm and stereo pull, both off and on.

 
Rep Power: 305

Also, the Optima yellow top for our cars works excellent.

 
Rep Power: 0

You can do a load test yourself. Remove negative battery cable from the battery. Using a 12-volt test light, hook one end to the negative battery post the other end to the negative battery cable you just disconnected. The test light will glow or “light” if there is a drain. If the “light or glow” is faint, that is probably normal draw for the clock or computer. If the “light or glow” is bright, then there is a large drain. That should be corrected. Now start removing and replacing the fuses one by one until the light goes out; that one will be the circuit with the drain.

 
Rep Power: 0

Pn0y: I checked the amp, it's off when the car's off. It even turns off if the car's on and the faceplate's not on the HU.

Rick: I never ran it down till it's dead/near dead until it died on me yesterday. I have 2x20A fuses on the amp and a 40A inline fuse and it's not blown. So that means the amp is drawing less than 40A. The only other things I need power for are the head unit and headlights (at night). Could that be drawing too much current?

Happy: I have a multimeter, I'll measure the current on it and see how much it's drawing.


This morning, the remote start didn't work again I'm starting to think it's a problem with the starter, I'm gonna bring it down to the shop. When I started up the car, the guage light didn't flicker at all but I still idled at 1.5 RPM. I drove around, restarted the car and it idled at 800 RPM again. Could there be a problem with my alternator and/or battery?

 
Rep Power: 0

To isolate your battery and alt./starter, without putting your key in the car, turn on the headlights. Does it light up?

If no, check if there is any higher than normal current draw when the car is off.

If no, then your battery is fine.

 
Rep Power: 303

that sounds like alot of work, and for sure its not a 1 person job.

 
Rep Power: 305

Your car with everything turned on pulls about 35 amps. Did the load test myself. The alternator only puts about 50 amps when hot. Add in a stereo pulling 20 amps and you are draining the battery.

1. Do a load test on your battery. Autozone does it for free.

2. If it passes check the voltage at the battery when running, should be about 14 volts.

3. Could be a bad starter, but they don't usually wear out that fast.

 
Rep Power: 0

you can try gettign a capacitor, so incase ur system is draining your battery then that would solve that problem, aside from helping it can't do any harm I think you can find them around 50 bux and up my friend got a hook up for 25 bux for one but he was prolly bsing...worth a shot

 
Rep Power: 301

OPTIMA!

The stock battery sucks. I have NOTHING in my car, and the stock battery died without warning on me. I recharged the battery and it was fine for months. Then it just died again for no reason. The charging system on the civic is really hard on the battery. The Optima battery can stomach this much better.

 
Rep Power: 301

BTW, Capacitors do NOTHING to keep your battery from draining. They are only good for a current buffer for those big bass notes. A cap on a bass amp is good for the amp, but does nothing for your battery. Get a stronger battery.

 
Rep Power: 344

couldn't have said it better myself. i had the same problem a while back. thought it was the alternator so i installed a 140 amp but that didn't solve the problem. the thing that saved the day was when i put the optima yellow top in. i couldn't be happier now. no more dimming, no more dead battery....capacitors are just "bandaids."

 
Rep Power: 0

i'm no car wiz, but it could possibly be the alarm... i got an alarm installed by honda in my accord a while back, and without warning the brain decided to fry itself and create a drain equal to leaving the door open all the time when the car was off... just a guess *shrug*

 
Rep Power: 0

Lol, sorry for the lack of updates but I've been really busy lately. Anyway, since I unhooked the system a few days ago, everything's working better now. Remote starter works, gauge light still dims while starting but its not as dim, and no dead battery I plugged my amp back in today and I'm gonna wait a few days and see if the problems come back. If they do, I'll do a load test and post the results. Thanks!

 
Rep Power: 301

Do yourself a HUGE favor, and spring for an optima. It's MADE for constant drain. The stock battery is barely adequate as it is. Don't forget the weird charging system the civic has. It tends to undercharge the battery, reducing it's life. Again, an optima can stomach this very well.

 
Rep Power: 811

I have a yellowtop and it's great. But if there's a drain in the system all the time, no battery will help that. You need to find out why your system is drianing power. Probably someone didn't install right.

 
Rep Power: 301

Well, there is actually ALWAYS a small drain in modern cars because of all the electronics.

However, Gearbox is right. An Excessive drain is bad, and you do need to find it. Start by checking where the power-on wire to your amp(s) is connected and make sure that it/they ACTUALLY turn off when you pull the key.

 
Rep Power: 0

Hey, it's me again. This morning my battery was dead again -_- My mom made an appointment to goto Honda for me but I know they'll just tell me the amp's draining it.


I'm gonna leave the amp unhooked for a week or two and see what happens. Both times it died about a week after I installed the amp. If everything starts working again, I guess I'll have to buy an Optima Yellow. Oh ya, you can see pics of how everything is hooked up here:

http://www.7thgencivic.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=168467

The only difference now is that the ground is connected to a sanded spot behind the rear seats.

 
Rep Power: 322

Takumi - dumb question, but where it your remote (small blue wire coming out of the amp) running to? Is the grounding point for your amp BARE metal? After reading all the posting so far, it almost seems as though your amp isn't functioning right.....

 
Rep Power: 0

Here's a pic of the remote wire at the amp, it's going in between the + and -


It's connected to the back of my HU using a wire tap



Yes, the grounding point is bare metal, I don't have a pic of it right now. I sanded off the paint and primer. The amp seems to be working right because it turns on only whenever the car is in ACC or ON and the faceplate is on the HU. I can't seem to figure out what's wrong with it..

 
Rep Power: 0

Honda says there's nothing wrong with the battery/alternator, lol. So I decided to take out the sub/amp for now and order an Optima Yellow. But while I was taking it out, the +12V wire coming from my battery touched the ground on the amp and it made a bright spark The amp doesn't turn on anymore, I opened it up but the circuitry looked perfect. Is this worth fixing or should I just get a new amp?

 
Rep Power: 0

I forgot to check the inline fuse, I only checked the fuses at the amp. But I remembered today and took a look at it, it was blown. So that's a good thing. I'm gonna try installing the amp again and hope it works. If it does, time to buy a Yellow Top!

 
Rep Power: 322

If the AMP didn't let out any smoke and just blew the fuse you should be ok - unfortunately I've seen (in cheaper equipment) where the fuse doesn't always prevent damage before it blows.

 
Rep Power: 0

As someone earlier said make sure your remote turn on for the amp is not at a constant +12V. with the car off check the voltage between the remote turn on and ground. If its 12V thats your problem. Also make sure the 12V next to the remote isn't shorting to it. I'm not familiar with your amp but just becuase it doesn't light up doesn't mean it isn't "on" .

 
Rep Power: 0

Coop: I don't think I saw any smoke, just a big spark. I opened up the amp and the circuit was still in perfect condition. Just haven't had time put the amp back in and test it yet.

Tbaleno: Good idea, I'll try that once I have my amp back in. And FYI, it's a JBL P180.2.

 
Rep Power: 322

magic smoke = bye bye