alternator/headlight Help.

**Firebirdformula** · 07-06-2010, 10:26 PM

alright i have found out that my passenger side high beam head light is not getting any power......could this be causing my alternators to mess up....i hardly drive at night tho....and ikeep talking to the guy who is fixing my alternators and he is using brand new parts.....BUT i have bought a new alternator and it has jus came in today but i dont wanna put it on then have it go out if this is problem....what do you guys think..

**cocobolo95** · 07-07-2010, 04:40 AM

Don't think the headlight not working is causing you alt to go out, unless you have a dead short in the headlight wiring thats causing the alt to overwork itself. If it were that bad of a short you would be seeing smoke and maybe fire.

**Firebirdformula** · 07-07-2010, 05:56 AM

Ok good because I even have it load tested and nothing is over loading the alternator

**sjsingle1** · 07-07-2010, 09:59 PM

what do you mean by new alt?? and what kind of parts is your alt guy using?

**Firebirdformula** · 07-07-2010, 10:10 PM

Like not a rebuilt one it's a pro amp....and i talked to the guy for thirty minutes and he said he uses new parts .....I took my alternator off and the wire wasn't even in my pig tail so I got a new pig tail and put it on..... The problem I have now is that when I first start my car it idles low and when I come to a stop the rpms go to 400.... I hope it will run rite tomorrow

**Smittro** · 07-08-2010, 02:28 AM

Originally Posted by Firebirdformula

Like not a rebuilt one it's a pro amp....and i talked to the guy for thirty minutes and he said he uses new parts .....I took my alternator off and the wire wasn't even in my pig tail so I got a new pig tail and put it on..... The problem I have now is that when I first start my car it idles low and when I come to a stop the rpms go to 400.... I hope it will run rite tomorrow

New parts usually means (MADE IN CHINA)... I recommend NEW off the shelf rather than remans imho..

Just a thought have you tried cleaning the MAF, and TB especially if running a K&N?

**Too Fast** · 07-08-2010, 02:38 AM

Firstly, a non-working headlight will not cause alternator problems. When you have the car running, look for 13.5-14.5 volts on the battery terminal.

Second, the idle issue shows up sometimes after a battery disconnect, the PCM has to learn how to idle again. This usually fixes itself after ~10 miles of driving.

**Firebirdformula** · 07-08-2010, 05:21 AM

Ya I got a new pro amp alternator.i haven't cleaned it recently but I cleaned the filter last oil change and I don't use the oil on the filter bkuz all it did was coat my maf

ya I understand how it has to learn how to idle it jus has never took this long before. Lol but hopefully it will be fine once I go to my college class.i will let you guys no what happens when I get back thanks for your advise

**RyanJM** · 07-08-2010, 11:41 AM

I picked up a 220amp and a red top since I have under drive pulleys I just had mmy tuner raise the RPM by 100 I think it isn't noticeable till you see the difference it made in charging the batt. I would clean the MAF and if it continues to idle low aftre that and driving long enought to make sure the brain learns the idle again I would have it checked. I have never heard of a light causing any such problem. Your alt. will overwork especially at night if you have a crap batt.

**Firebirdformula** · 07-08-2010, 09:40 PM

Thx guys well the car idles fine and it says it's charging where it should be I still haven't checked it with my dvom bkuz it's raining but so far everything is runnin top notch.....now it's time for upgrades lol but every time I think I'm ready to do something, something effs up and I gotta fix it haha . Thanks guys for your help