You've got something weird going on. 25 amps (at) 12 volts equal around 300
watts. I would be surprised if the entire stock electrical system would be
capable of dissipating that much energy. My suggestion is to start looking
for bad grounds and shorts and check the 4TR control box.
Good Luck,
Tom Hill
----------
>From: Christopher.Albers(at)bubbs.biola.edu (Christopher Albers)
>To: alpines(at)autox.team.net
>Subject: Electrical gremlins
>Date: Sat, Jul 31, 1999, 12:56 AM
>
> I am beginning to be convinced that I can't drive my car at night. The
> thing must have cut out on me 4 or 5 times this evening while sitting
> at a stop. At 900 rpm the ammeter drops to something like -20 or -25
> amps. What is going on? A little drop I can understand, but 25 amps!
> And this is driving with only my lights on, no killer stereo. I had
> run the stereo earlier, but gave up because of the drain at stops.
> Still, I only ran the stereo for less than 10 minutes, and the volume
> wasn't even that high (although the ammeter read +30 amps at speed).
>
> After I decided to turn off the stereo, the ammeter bumped up to about
> +15 amps. But this condition only lasted a few minutes. The meter
> soon returned to around 0 at speed. However, the needle would
> sometimes jump to +30 or +35, and then at stops would drop to -20 to
> -25 amps. I just don't understand it. I don't think the stereo was
> run long enough to be a factor, but I guess I could be wrong. At 30
> amps draw, how long would it take for a battery significantly drain?
> But even if the battery had drained some, why won't the alternator put
> out enough to keep the engine running?
>
> Whenever I came to a stop and the idle dropped below 1500 the motor
> would start to fade, like it wasn't getting enough fuel. It wouldn't
> just die, it would slowly putter out. To keep the engine running I
> would have to hit the starter before the motor petered out. It seemed
> like hitting the starter gave the coil extra spark or something. But if
> the motor died, I would have a helluva time getting it started again,
> like the battery was low, but not completely drained.
>
> What gives? Anybody have a clue? I am more convinced than ever that I
> need a 60 amp alternator.
>
> Christopher
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