well i was just driving home and it is cold outside...below freezing. My e-brake was frozen but it wasnt parked with it cause it froze last night while it was and i didnt want it to freeze to my rotors again. Can this be prevented?
Another thing. When i had my heat on high and subs on, i would put it in neautal and my lights got dimmer. Then i turned off the radio but had the heat on high they still dimmed. Therefore i turned the heat off and they didnt dim.I had my alternator changed a year ago and my battery so i dont think they are bad. But could it be that it is cold outside and the heater takes a lot of energy??? thanks, adam.

 

i blame the cold!

 

the heater itself takes no energy since it comes from the heat of the coolant. it could be that you had the blower set very high which i'm sure could cause large power drain but i'm not positive. if it happens to be your alternator i'd say i'm not surprised, if you got a rebuilt alternator. the rebuilt/remanufactured ones are JUNK! i had to go to 2 or 3 autozones before i found a good one... right out of the box that is. only one of them i put on my car. the other one or two were bad out of box not even producing any voltage.

ranting over now... your best bet is to take it to an autozone to get tested just to make sure you alt isn't bad. more than likely its not and just having the blower on high is putting a lot of load on your electrical system.

 

it shouldn't put that much load on your system. i had the blower on high while my system up and experience no dimming. like mtcookson said, it could be your alternator is not putting out the proper amount of power.

 

if you had the stereo on, the blower on high, headlights You will definitely be outstripping your alternators output.
I have seen this on many occasions (usually worse with the AC running)
turning off the radio doesn't help because you've already overran the alternator and it still as to charge up the battery from the previous discharge.
I'd suggest adding a cap or two.
or don't run everything full blast all at once.
cars are not designed to be run like that.

 

mine runs fine like that. even worse in the summer when my a/c is on too. then again i live in florida

 

i would invest in an optima battery and a farad (sp?) cap.

 

The optima is still a battery no better no worse than any other.
and farad is a measurement

 

optima is made for high output stereos and a farad cap is a component that stores one farad of electricity for peak times in your system so your lights don't dim and destroy your alternation.

 

no...optimas is made to handle deep discharges and not necessarily for high output stereos. they're also designed to last longer unused than other batteries.

and it's alternator...not alternation

 

well thanks...i guess i might check the alt. just for the heck of it. STUPID COLD WEATHER!!!!

 

capacitors are measured in farads..0.5 farad, 1 farad, 1.5 farad, 2 farad, etc..if you want to describe a 1 farad cap, you'll get better response saying 1F cap than farad cap..and optima batteries deliver current a little faster than standard batteries(or so I'm told), and they hold a charge longer when sitting unused..

I solved my light dimming problem (well, most of it..) by adding a 2nd battery..I just bought a marine deep cycle (Everstart Maxx Marine), put it in a home made box, SEALED the box (lid is sealed but still removable easily for checking/adding water and tightening connections), including around the wires, and ran a 3/8" O.D. vinyl tube from the box to the outside of the car for a hydrogen vent (my trunk is abnormally well sealed from the outside)..my sub box keeps the battery from tipping over (L bracket on the back side of it, screws into both the sub box and the battery box)..The only dimming I get now are on tracks with VERY loud bass notes, and the dimming is far less noticeable than it was before (not only from my opinion, but from people who have seen the car before and after)..I'll probably EVENTUALLY add 2 or 3F of capacitance (either a 2F or 3F cap or multiple 1F caps, since you actually get quicker delivery and recharge from multiple caps than you do from one big one)..I might also stick a 0.5F cap on my H/U so it stops dimming..it dimmed before I got an amp and sub setup anyway..

Oh, and backtrack a little here, having 2 batteries really improves my cold start abilities..with my battery maintainer plugged in, my car cranked right over and fired up instantly tuesday when it dropped to -24*F (this is without windchill), and with just 1 battery even with the maintainer when it dropped this low last year, it hesitated to start..the extra 700 or so CCA really helped (the Everstart Maxx marine batteries are starting AND deep cycle batteries)..Friends of mine spent an hour or more trying to start their cars/trucks, and mine cranked over first turn all day (even after I unplugged the maintainer..the batteries stayed warm for the 4 hours between starts throughout the day, just not the 12 hours at night)..I run my heater all the time throughout the winter as well..so, this may be a good option for you to try..just a thought..

 

[QUOTE=Golden Ice
Oh, and backtrack a little here, having 2 batteries really improves my cold start abilities..with my battery maintainer plugged in, my car cranked right over and fired up instantly tuesday when it dropped to -24*F (this is without windchill), and with just 1 battery even with the maintainer when it dropped this low last year, it hesitated to start..the extra 700 or so CCA really helped (the Everstart Maxx marine batteries are starting AND deep cycle batteries)..Friends of mine spent an hour or more trying to start their cars/trucks, and mine cranked over first turn all day (even after I unplugged the maintainer..the batteries stayed warm for the 4 hours between starts throughout the day, just not the 12 hours at night)..I run my heater all the time throughout the winter as well..so, this may be a good option for you to try..just a thought..[/QUOTE]

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Just a quick post regarding wind chill (in case you make it to Who Wants to be a Millionaire). Your car (and any other inanimate object) can not be any colder than the outside temperature. Wind chill only affects animate objects as the wind increases the rate at which moisture evaporates from the skin and subsequently carries heat away from the body. When this happens, an animate object will 'feel' a lower apparent temperature. When the wind blows on an inanimate object (like your just parked warm car) it will reach the ambient temperature faster, but the object itself can never be colder than the current ambient temp. Clear as mud? Regardless, -24f is damn cold.

 

thanks for clearing the "wind chill" out...i didnt know that about the rate of the moisture thing.

 

I learned that in boy scouts..I just didn't want people thinking I was including the wind chill..I know I work outside 3 hours in the morning and another 3 hours in the evening..and I know it was REALLY DAMN COLD...I haven't gone and dug out my wind chill calculator, but there was a 20mph wind blowing too..I got more done Tuesday than I did Monday and today combined..I ran everywhere I went trying to stay warm..