Bought my 09 Fit Sport last year, ever so slightly used at 7000 miles. From about a month after I got it I noticed that the headlights would blink often while driving, and later on the heater would shut off then back on. to further this problem, I of course added a 12" sub 450W with a 300W bridged Rockford Fosgate Amp. Since the bass I found severely inefficient with the factory system. !! Had a guy at a car stereo shop wire it up from the speakers in the back and all.. since I know NOTHING about it.

For several months afterward I enjoyed nice bass in the car until the sub started shutting off during songs. It would come back on eventually but it got worse. Likewise, the lights would dim worse, in fact turning them on would cause my stereo to shut off completely and come back on, would have the same effect if I turned on the heater while driving. I have since disconnected the power to the amp, but the problems are still there. When I pull in to the parking lot at work often the power steering will go out too. I've even driven it 40 miles to work without using anything but the lights, hoping the battery would charge. Everytime I go to start my car, it makes a clicking noise and acts like it's all it can do to get the car started, so I know it has to be the battery not charging right, or draining somehow.

I haven't considered taking it to Honda for a warranty repair, since I installed the sub I figured they would probably void it for any problem revolving around the amp&sub I had installed.

questions I have are:

1. any ideas of what this problem is? or what caused it?
2. Is it the battery has been weakened to the point of replacement? Can I possibly find a bigger better battery for my car?
3. Is it maybe the alternator, and if so, should I consider installing a more powerful alternator and where would I find one that can fit in the FIT?
4. Should I consider installing a capacitor?


thanks for any input.

 

I also forgot to mention another weird thing happening. while I drive the seatbelt notification light blinks on randomly.. which is stranger considering I always wear my seatbelt and no one else is in the car with me!

 

been checking out the other threads on this subject, glad to see I'm not the only one with this problem. I forgot there was a search option with Vbulletin boards. anyway..

some of you guys are pushing awesome 1000+ watt systems, and with minor upgrades. I just have a measly 300 Watt amp, but somehow it's still enough to be causing me the problems. after all that reading I still can't decide where my problem lies.. alternator, battery, ugh..

I just use the flash drive with MP3's.. yes I do have BASS and TREBLE at highest (6) with the stock stereo. And of course wanting the eardrum numbing bass I cranked the frequency to max setting (haven't touched the gain though).

I even saw someone went as far as to set apart how different the decibles are for each type of music. Well in that category I listen to just about everything in my car. Punk, BASS, trance, comedy, country, death metal, spoken word, 80s.. lol .. so I'm jumping all over the place. I'm not one of those types who only pumps bass music everytime I get in the car. It's fun, but I just enjoy other types of music too.

 

try a 1 farad cap.

 

any brands better than others?

 

ok what's going on?

This morning when I was leaving from work I couldn't get my car to start at all. Had to get a jump, drove home ok then shut off my car and it wouldn't start again. Tried to jump it with wife's car, noticed that one of the posts added to the battery for the amplifier power cable was a little loose, and tightened it a bit. couldn't figure out how to even get to the wife's negative terminal as it was buried under a fuse box so you can only get to the positive. So, frustrated, I put away the jumper cables and decided to try starting my car again.. IT WORKED! I turned it back off, hooked up my sub, turned on the car again with no problem, cranked the bass, turned the AC on full blast, cruise, lights, had no problems whatsoever. I drove it about 4 miles came back home and it still turned back on just fine no power drains at all!

Could it be this loose bolt on the added terminal that has been causing my power drain all this time? I wouldn't think so because the battery is tightly connected to the other things in my car, the loose bolt and terminal was a modification (I think maybe a voltage regulator or fuse something it's a small metal box where the wire is connected after wire goes to the battery, then on to amp/sub) for the amp.

man I wish I would have went to school to learn this stuff

you guys are probably like "what a dumbass lol"

 

is your amp remote wire hooked up so it turns off with the car?

 

it was.. I unhooked it since it killed power to the amp when I started having problems with all the power about a month and a half ago.. I kept thinking I probably should just unhook the main power to the amp and not just the remote line. didn't know if that was a factor in anything really.

 

also had a theory.. it appears as the remote line wires as in positive negative are often touching each other, maybe if the sub moves or I hit a bump whatever gravity.. if those 2 wires touch could that cause a problem? If so I can blame the guy who rigged it because those wires are stripped a bit too far before they go into the metal piece that connects to the amp.

 

If those wires touch, it creates a dead short. Fix that and see if the problem stays away. Electrical problems can drive you nuts trying to find them, especially intermittant problems, because they always disappear when you try to look for them.

 

since fixing that I haven't had a problem since. no power drains.. nothing