Dead Battery...

[silvrhawk7]

Well as some of you Floridians know, Car batteries (especially stock ones) will last the official three years life if you are lucky. As did my AC Delco one did today. I would have went with a yellow top, however the budget couldnt call for it at this moment in time so i had to settle for the Advance Auto parts titanium. One thing i did notice though once the car came back online was it had more kick. My question is would that be because the computers were reset and had to dial themselves back in, i know the idle was running low for the first hour or so, but then improved. and of course i had to reset my stereo and fix the seat belt beep as well (only took like 10 tries until i got it right). At least this happened now instead of driving 8-12 hours to NC, and then another 12 to Connecticut.Do we still have any NC and Conn. Genvibers out there??

[Sublimewind]

There are MANY factors that contribute to performance of an auto, you know this... It's when you get down to the fine details that most people never think about, is when you start finding gems.. Case in point, your electrical system... For starters, from the factory, it's weak.. It's designed to run the car and the accessories that came with it stock, nothing more... When I say nothing more, the wiring harnesses are designed in such a way that, they are engineered to carry rated current, plus the tiniest bit more and that's IT.. If the manufacture can pull 1 STRAND of wire from the harness, they can save a LOT of money, over the course of MILES of wire..!!So, where this leads us... The charging system relys on 2 things, the alt and the batt... The batt, obviously stores the energy and the alt produces is.. well, I think the alt in a Vibe is like 60-80A hot rated... (it makes more when cold, then that drops after it warms up, thermodynamics n all) So you have a relatively weak alt, trying to charge a failing battery, that REALLY was JUST barely sufficient to begin with (remember, they save anyway they can)So, there are improvements that can be made... a better battery, possibly a high amp alt (I just found one for my Subie for ~200 for 140A..!!)But there are some freebies and low cost upgrades that can be made in hours.... Search out info on "the Big 3" which is upgrading (adding to) the major factory grounds under the hood.. And not forgetting the minor grounds all over the car... I've told many a person this, but, if you go through the car, un-bolt every ground you find, sand away some of the paint under the terminal, apply a dab of dielectric grease and bolt it back up... You could easily net yourself a few MPG and possibly a few HP at the same time.. The 3 basics a car needs to run are air, fuel and electric... improve on any of the three systems and you increase performance.. Fuel and electrical are just usually the LAST two to get worked on... But in essence, if it weren't for electrical, nothing in the car would happen..