Notices
Evo General Discuss any generalized technical Evo related topics that may not fit into the other forums. Please do not post tech and rumor threads here.
Sponsored by: RavSpec - JDM Wheels Central

car die's when lights are turned on. why?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old May 28, 2010 | 07:41 PM
  #1  
EvoDan2004's Avatar
Thread Starter
Evolved Member
iTrader: (94)
 
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 8,984
Likes: 8
From: New Jersey
car die's when lights are turned on. why?

hey. at night if my car is just idling and i turn my lights on ''2003 evo with HID'S'' the RPM drop and sometimes the car will die. the battery is good and so is the alternator ''stock''. what can i do to fix this issue? its getting annoying. if i am driving and then turn my lights on and come to a stock the car is fine. its only when at an idle and i turn them on.

i was thinking a more powerful alternator but i dont think that will do it. any tips??
Reply
Old May 28, 2010 | 07:43 PM
  #2  
yahh's Avatar
Evolving Member
iTrader: (20)
 
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 172
Likes: 0
From: Richmond Va
How many watts is your HID kit?
Reply
Old May 28, 2010 | 07:43 PM
  #3  
EvoDan2004's Avatar
Thread Starter
Evolved Member
iTrader: (94)
 
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 8,984
Likes: 8
From: New Jersey
its stock hid's
Reply
Old May 29, 2010 | 06:44 AM
  #4  
EvoDan2004's Avatar
Thread Starter
Evolved Member
iTrader: (94)
 
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 8,984
Likes: 8
From: New Jersey
any ideas?
Reply
Old May 29, 2010 | 07:07 AM
  #5  
buchnerj's Avatar
Evolved Member
iTrader: (19)
 
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,497
Likes: 2
From: the burgh, pa
Well turning on the lights in the car will affect your RPMs a little. Wouldn't think that it would cause THAT steep of a drop. Did you check the wiring? Nothing shorting or grounding out? My only guess is that somewhere in the HID wiring (either by your fault or a short in the system) is that the wiring is faulty and overloading the alternator at startup, thus causing a big drop in power at idle. If you are running the car under load and turn them on you likely have a better source of power coming from the alternator and battery (i.e. the alternator is really working to output power and not just the meager voltage at idle). This is just an idea, could be completely wrong. If it barely dies and you can't find any issue with the wiring then you could always up the idle a little bit. If it is only a little drop and it still dies, maybe your idle is set too low.

Did this just start to happen all of a sudden?
Reply
Old May 29, 2010 | 07:20 AM
  #6  
Acree's Avatar
Evolved Member
15 Year Member
Photogenic
Photoriffic
Shutterbug
iTrader: (8)
 
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 787
Likes: 1
From: Dallas
What rpm does your car normally idle at?
What rpm does it drop to with the lights on?

-Acree
Reply
Old May 29, 2010 | 07:58 AM
  #7  
Boost_Inspired's Avatar
Evolving Member
iTrader: (37)
 
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 396
Likes: 0
From: Killeen,Tx
are you sure u had ur battery tested? sounds like its bad to me , once a load gets put on it the car stalls, is normally a battery issue. Did you do any installs lately that required wiring?
Reply
Old May 29, 2010 | 09:28 AM
  #8  
yahh's Avatar
Evolving Member
iTrader: (20)
 
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 172
Likes: 0
From: Richmond Va
Originally Posted by Boost_Inspired
are you sure u had ur battery tested? sounds like its bad to me , once a load gets put on it the car stalls, is normally a battery issue. Did you do any installs lately that required wiring?
This, also check the battery terminals, are they loose, worn? Check the grounds.
Reply
Old May 29, 2010 | 09:45 AM
  #9  
goldenEvo's Avatar
Newbie
iTrader: (1)
 
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 100
Likes: 0
From: Northern Ca.
make sure the charging system is at 14.5 volts and amps. you made have a bad idle speed motor not kicking up the idle under electrical load. does this happen when the ac is turn?
Reply
Old May 29, 2010 | 10:08 AM
  #10  
EvoJoeIX's Avatar
Evolved Member
iTrader: (16)
 
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 3,574
Likes: 2
From: Maryland
if you can drive and turn the lights on and the car still runs fine, its not going to be a battery or alternator guys.... if it was the alternator, the car would only be able to drive for so long then completely die and not start again.

i would check the idle speed motor like stated above me
did this just start out of nowhere? or did you install a part or do something to the car then this started?
Reply
Old May 29, 2010 | 10:10 AM
  #11  
bevolucion's Avatar
Evolving Member
iTrader: (6)
 
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 346
Likes: 1
From: MA
battery volt to low or bad alternator can't keep up any more
Reply
Old May 29, 2010 | 10:41 AM
  #12  
barneyb's Avatar
Evolved Member
 
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 6,902
Likes: 151
From: Grand Island, NE
When my battery was going bad this lights would dim at a stop sign but the engine never died. So, I suspect the ISC. That, or the voltage is going so low the ECU is stopping.

Put a volt meter across the battery posts and see what is happening.
Reply
Old May 29, 2010 | 09:25 PM
  #13  
EvoDan2004's Avatar
Thread Starter
Evolved Member
iTrader: (94)
 
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 8,984
Likes: 8
From: New Jersey
Originally Posted by buchnerj
Well turning on the lights in the car will affect your RPMs a little. Wouldn't think that it would cause THAT steep of a drop. Did you check the wiring? Nothing shorting or grounding out? My only guess is that somewhere in the HID wiring (either by your fault or a short in the system) is that the wiring is faulty and overloading the alternator at startup, thus causing a big drop in power at idle. If you are running the car under load and turn them on you likely have a better source of power coming from the alternator and battery (i.e. the alternator is really working to output power and not just the meager voltage at idle). This is just an idea, could be completely wrong. If it barely dies and you can't find any issue with the wiring then you could always up the idle a little bit. If it is only a little drop and it still dies, maybe your idle is set too low.

Did this just start to happen all of a sudden?
the wiring is stock. nothing is added. there stock hid's

the problem has been like this for a long time. probably some time when tuning and the car started to make big power.

Originally Posted by Acree
What rpm does your car normally idle at?
What rpm does it drop to with the lights on?

-Acree
idle is 1200 ish. when the lights go on it drops 500ish. sometimes stalls out. when i fire it back up it kinda runs like crap for a minute.

Originally Posted by Boost_Inspired
are you sure u had ur battery tested? sounds like its bad to me , once a load gets put on it the car stalls, is normally a battery issue. Did you do any installs lately that required wiring?
Originally Posted by yahh
This, also check the battery terminals, are they loose, worn? Check the grounds.
battery is good. holds a charge just fine. the terminals are not loose.

Originally Posted by goldenEvo
make sure the charging system is at 14.5 volts and amps. you made have a bad idle speed motor not kicking up the idle under electrical load. does this happen when the ac is turn?
the IAC in this car is brand new. it did this even on the old one witch is also good. i changed to a new one for another reason and it turned out the old one was good.
Reply
Old May 29, 2010 | 11:30 PM
  #14  
cybertrax's Avatar
Evolving Member
iTrader: (4)
 
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 365
Likes: 1
From: Kentucky
This also happens to me, but the car never dies.
Reply
Old May 29, 2010 | 11:49 PM
  #15  
goldenEvo's Avatar
Newbie
iTrader: (1)
 
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 100
Likes: 0
From: Northern Ca.
have the computer had an after market reprogram ?
Reply



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 12:54 AM.