so had some troubles trying to start the Jeep. after installing my new head unit and speakers i tried starting the jeep and seemed as if the battery was dead... ran some jumpers wouldn't start seemed as if it wasnt getting power eventually got it turned over while having to step on the gas while turning the key after letting the gas go it seemed as if it was going to die. had to keep RPMs up for it to stay on.

Long story short thought it was the alternator. hooked up Voltmeter to battery while idle 12volt... classic sign of dead alternator... pulled on the throttle cable while hooked up to the voltmeter... probably 2.5/3k RPMs running at 13 volts...

im assuming the battery doesn't charge at idle which would make sense bc the night before after playing around the with the new head unit i cranked it over let it run for a bit and then shut her off. next day had the issues.

soo leaves me to think the signal that is sent to the alt to charge the battery isnt going right away... PCM BCM... any thoughts?

 

So how old is the battery? More important, how long since you've cleaned the battery terminals (cable & battery)?

 

Alternator should charge at idle.....

 

Cables are fine... battery just under a year old and I am aware that it should charge at idle.

 

I would bet anything that what you have sir... is a badly discharged, possible bad battery...

Very classic symptom is having to keep your foot on the gas to stay running...

Remove the battery, have it fully charged at a local parts store, or a trickle charger overnight, re-install and fire it off...

You could possible have a parasitic draw coming from your new stereo... that possibly killed the battery...

A deeply discharged battery will not jump start very well either..

I think your problem lies with the battery.. start there

 

I forgot to add that the jeep.. After that one time of trouble starting it. The car cranks over fine. Runs and everything but it still doesn't charge at idle. Battery is fine. The stereo wasn't in when the issue occurred. I took it out after testing it the night before to finish solder everything. Went to start to bring it into the garage. To finish install.. Great advice but these aren't the issues the main problem I'm having now is the battery doesn't charge at idle i did some testing on the Alt everything is good connections belt and all. This leaves me to believe there's something wrong with the signal being sent to alt to charge the battery.

Thanks again for the replys!

 

How do you know it's not the alternator?

 

Personally I would pull the alt. and have it bench tested. Any parts store will normally check it for you for free. Also double check the battery cables. Give them a bend and if you can hear or feel like that they have a cracking sound or if they feel brittle it more then likely time to change them out.