I've had my 97 GXE for about 3 weeks now. One thing i noticed when driving is that when i turn something on/off everything dims, like headlights, radio display, etc even when changing gears and using my brakes. I have never owned a manual car before and i asked my one friend who has a manual civic about it and he says it happens to a small extent in his car too. I never have any trouble starting my car in the mornings or anything, so i dont think its the battery itself. Is it something to do with the alternator or what? Has anyone had similar problems? I'm just curious because i'm swapping my system from my 91 GXE to the 97 tomorrow and i dont want to kill my electrical system. I had two amps in my old one and i am planning on keeping the same setup in the new one. The one draws 50x4 watts RMS and the other at least 300x2 watts RMS. Will this draw too much power from a stock alternator? (anyone know what they're rated at, btw?) Thanks in advance, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

I think all cars do this to an extent, its a phenomena that is common to all things that use electricity, I believe its called a current surge; if I remember correctly.

If you've ever turned on a cloths dryer or any other device that uses alot of power and watched the lights in the house dim for a second your seeing this effect occur. For example when I use my power seats in my car the lights on my car dim.
But if the dimming becomes excessive while the engine is running then I would say you might have a problem with the alternator or the electrical system. Also keep in mind that some 97~98 Maximas have had a recall on there alternators, so it might be worth it to check it out to see if your car is on the recall list.

Also the GXE Maxima alternator is rated at 100 amps, your proposed stereo setup will draw an estimated 65 amps at maximum power; you might want to consider getting a 1~1.5 Farad capacitor for your amps so the bass from the stereo wont make your headlights flicker.