Visitoron Jul 3, 2010
It does seem like the battery is the likely culprit. Depending on what you are pulling from the battery when you play the radio you may have destabilised the battery rendering it no good or not good enough to keep using it for the car under a full load. Mine would start at times and not at others and it was not the alternator. When getting a battery checked ask for a load test not just a check. You can get a battery checked to see what it has for amps, but you will get a different reading when its under a running load. Meaning you are running the radio, running the lights, the heater, the wipers and so on. This draws much more power as does running a high output amplifier and if that is the case you would do best to also run a farad cap or cap as they are called to compensate for the power/pull you put on the battery and system and therefore destabalise it at the same time.
The optima battery is a very good battery if you are running high output radio systems as they are high output batteries and handle more than a normal battery. Check/search for Optima an or high output batteries and see what you read for info and also check/search farad cap while you are at it. The farad caps can be bought on ebay in all different price ranges and all differnet sizes depending on your needs. Need is based on high enough cap to power what you are running/pulling from use of your radio system.
Hope this is of help to you and a possibility for another answer besides just the alternator, as that is not always what it is. Many things run in unison on vehicles today so if your starter is bad or going, for instance, then you take a chance of taking out your alternator and battery along with it and in any other order for these items. Hence, the reason for keeping a good check on everything and regular preventative maintenance that when you hear a new sound or if your lights flicker or something else is not running as usual, get it checked. Or if you are capable then do it before you take out whatever is in the string of running parts for what is/has gone bad.
I know this from owning a 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo, 5.2 v8 4x4 with m1 intake. My brother always taught us to start at the cheapest end, such as relays and fuses, and move up from there if there is a problem with electrical or mechanical for that matter, then the battery, and then your other components. You do not just replace things to find it is not it. Use deduction- what was it doing prior to the breakdown as this usualy leads you to the correct answer.
Best of Luck to you and I hope some of these suggestions help you in your dilemma!
