So ok... Basically, I installed an amp and sub over the weekend. I used 4 gauge wire and wired everything correctly. (There was a DIY on here and I followed that to the T). Everything works perfectly and sounds awesome. The problem: After my car is warmed up, I try to start the engine and the RPM drop and the car turns off. It starts back up without any struggle and if I give it a little gas, the engine will stay running.

This doesn't happen in the morning when the engine hasn't been run for a few hours (as the RPM are higher in the morning). I'm puzzled here. Prior to the amp install, I had no issues with my car dying.

I have a few other things hooked up to my car: DVD player, 3 screens and fog lights. And now this amp. All this is running off my stock battery and stock alternator. Though everyting isn't directly wired to my battery.

I have no CELs or any battery lights and my nav screen isn't displaying any warnings. I honestly think my battery is fine b/c like I said, the car always starts without any hesitation. So, based on all that I said, anyone have any ideas of what could be going on here? Any help is much appreaciated.

 

Any ideas folks?

 

Thats really hard to catch?

Interesting?

I would'nt think its any of your installs. Might check your ground wires and might be that all the extra equipment is causing something, not an expert. If its your idle, take it to the dealer or your local shop and have them check your idle settings. This is a guess but it could be all the things you added causing something...

Good luck, I know this is not much help. Just a thought.

 

You have the Injen CAI it looks like from your signature. This is a common problem that peope have with the CAI and if you have a manual transmission it is even more common than with the autos. I think one of the ways to fix it was to reset the ECU. There are a few threads out there that discuss how to fix it.

https://g35driver.com/forums/showthr...=car+shuts+off

https://g35driver.com/forums/showthr...=car+shuts+off

Hope this helps just search around some. Also, you might want to get some mass airflow sensor cleaning spray. Dont spray anything else on there except the airflow sensor cleaner.

http://www.crcindustries.com/auto/co...x?PN=05110&S=Y

That could be your problem as well.

 

nismo g has great advice...

also verify that you didnt disturb the air intake tube/box connections, causinf a VAC. leak...this vac leak will cause it to stall...

good luck...

 

This is good information as well but, if it was a vac line you would be able to heard it. Im just assuming that your talking about a vacume hose? If it is, the car would idle extremely rough and then stall like he said. You would also be able to hear the air leaking.

 

Thanks for all the replies. But it's not my intake. I've had the intake on for almost 2 years and while I did have stalling issues with it at first (only over 60mph), I quickly got that handled. The engine dying at startup started happening the exact moment I hooked up my amp and restarted my car.

Funny thing, I drove my car to a friend's house yesterday and when he came out to check it out, I restarted it and it started. The RPM fell quite low like it would stall again and then it recovered without me hitting the gas. I haven't tried it again. I think I'm just gonna keep driving it around, seems like my problem may be getting better. Who knows...

 

Sounds like a vac leak.

 

No, it's not that. Everything was good up until the point of the amp install. So its somehow related to my amp.

 

Also, once started, my idle is perfectly fine. No roughness or RPM irregularity.

 

Have you tried taking the power wire off the amp just to see if thats the problem? I cant see how a amp install would effect the car.

 

See, it doesn't make sense to me either. So I will try to take the power for the amp off my battery and see what happens. I'm almost 100% sure the car will start up fine and not die.

Suppose for a second it is my battery. How would I go about fixing the situation? Would buying an Optima red/yellow top cure this engine dying? What I don't get is if it is the battery, wouldn't my car struggle to start? Wouldn't my lights be dim when the car is off? The amp I have for my sub isn't even that beefy. It's a 2-channel 250W RMS amp.

Ya know, I just remembered something: About a month ago, before I had any amp or sub, I went to start my car in the morning and it was completely dead. The car wouldn't even turn over. I jumped it, and all was well since then. My car battery hasn't been changed since new. And I have an '03. Maybe my battery is in its final stages of life?

 

take your battery to sears or autozone and have them LOAD TEST it...
should stay abouve 9.6volts during test if it falls below replace the battery..

as noted before try to take off the power lead to the amp or pull the fuse & see it the eng. stalls..

NOTE : after disconecting the battery during installs/svc. sometimes the LEARNED memory for the engine control is lost. causing a short term stalling/low idle speed..... may take a few miles of driving to relearn...

good luck

 

Wouldn't discount the other theories just b/c it happened at the time of the amp install. If you ran power from the batt for the amp, you might have bumped something loose. I wouldn't think an electrical problem (well, typical elec problems) would cause the engine to drop rpms. But hey, with ECUs, TPS, blah blah drive by wire blah blah these days, who knows?

 

I see what you're saying. But, I ran my wires for the amp two days before my amp even came. And nothing got knocked around or unplugged. My car started up fine after I ran all my wires. It's when I installed my amp that things went to hell. That's why I'm discounting any theory about intakes, or air leaks... Simply not the issue this time around.