bad alternator?

Sometimes while driving my car the radio will cut out and the lights will dim really low. Then when the radio turns back on all the radio presets are erased and all the bass/treble settings are gone. Could this be a sign of a dying alternator or maybe a bad ground somewhere? I was thinking a short at first but no fuses blow. The past two times it has happened, it was raining. Thought I'd throw that out there and see if maybe that could be a cause.
 
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Good advice so far.

do you have other components that require constant power to retain their memory (dash clock, etc)? if so, do they lose power (memory) also? If not, I would be lookin at the actual stereo circuit itself. there is constant and key-on power to the deck.

good luck.
 
yea clean your battery terminals and clamps check your wires see if that helps. If not you can always pull the alt and take it somewhere to get it checked for free. Worth the time getting it checked for 2 reasons 1. Saves you from buying a new one and that not being the problem 2. (BIG ONE) Getting stuck along side the road when it dies for good
 
HISSIN50 said:
Good advice so far.

do you have other components that require constant power to retain their memory (dash clock, etc)? if so, do they lose power (memory) also? If not, I would be lookin at the actual stereo circuit itself. there is constant and key-on power to the deck.

good luck.


The dash clock keeps its memory. I'm thinking there could be a bad connection at the headunit and/or the battery. It's weird that the radio loses settings but the clock doesn't. This is why I hate electrical problems :notnice:
 
milewsky80 said:
The dash clock keeps its memory. I'm thinking there could be a bad connection at the headunit and/or the battery. It's weird that the radio loses settings but the clock doesn't. This is why I hate electrical problems :notnice:
I have not disconnected my battery yet, but if you normally lose the clock setting on the dash clock, this would suggest to me that your battery cables, etc are alright, and that like you said, it is a possible issue with the wiring for the headunit or constant 12 volt feed to the deck.

good luck.
 
MysteryMachine said:
It could be getting a good enough connection for the clock and **** but just not for anything else batterys can be funny like that if their dirty. Its something to check and its an easy fix


Well I had very little freetime today(brother graduated from 8th grade), but I still got around to cleaning the battery posts and cable ends with one of thoe battery terminal cleaner things. After doin that I made sure the cables were nice and tight. Driving tonight it didn't happen but it didn't rain and thats when the problem was showing itself. Thanks for the help this far and I'll get back to you guys if it happens after I check the headunit connections.