Anyone have after market sound system cause battery/alternator issues?

[IMOLAredNC4.8is]

I have been doing a lot of research on the typical " transfailsafe, dsc 4x4 inactive, self level susp inactive, lose of power steering, abs light, tire pressure light, nav screen flickering on and off " issue. Took the car to the dealer and they tested the alternator and they say its fine.... The only thing that makes sense would be the alternator going bad. I started to thing about terminal connections and i thought back to my sound system. I had best buy install 2 10" subs about 1 year ago. They connected directly to the terminals. I am thinking this could have cause the issues. Mabye the sound system was drawing too much power from the battery and the alternator could not keep up to charge the car so therefore I was loosing power to all my accesories. About one week ago completely disconnect the system and the problems are still present. I took the car to the dealer they could not find any thing wrong with the car. The service tech drove it home two nights in a row and the only resolution they came up with was replaceing the EHC module. ( controls dsc and self level suspension). I am picking the car up this afternoon praying that this solved all of the issues. Could it be possible that the alternator or battery is bad even though it is testing good? And even though I disconnected the system could it have permanatly damaged the battery and alternator. If anyone has an knowledge about this issue please help. Always appreciate the help I get on her, Thanks alot guys.

[IMOLAredNC4.8is]

Another factor might be that there was a loose bolt at the bottom of the oil pan that caused a slight leek, I am not sure if this could have anything to do with this issue but it might.

[CharlieHustleX5]

Originally Posted by IMOLAredNC4.8is

I have been doing a lot of research on the typical " transfailsafe, dsc 4x4 inactive, self level susp inactive, lose of power steering, abs light, tire pressure light, nav screen flickering on and off " issue. Took the car to the dealer and they tested the alternator and they say its fine.... The only thing that makes sense would be the alternator going bad. I started to thing about terminal connections and i thought back to my sound system. I had best buy install 2 10" subs about 1 year ago. They connected directly to the terminals. I am thinking this could have cause the issues. Mabye the sound system was drawing too much power from the battery and the alternator could not keep up to charge the car so therefore I was loosing power to all my accesories. About one week ago completely disconnect the system and the problems are still present. I took the car to the dealer they could not find any thing wrong with the car. The service tech drove it home two nights in a row and the only resolution they came up with was replaceing the EHC module. ( controls dsc and self level suspension). I am picking the car up this afternoon praying that this solved all of the issues. Could it be possible that the alternator or battery is bad even though it is testing good? And even though I disconnected the system could it have permanatly damaged the battery and alternator. If anyone has an knowledge about this issue please help. Always appreciate the help I get on her, Thanks alot guys.

First, when you say the installers connected the system directly to the terminals, did they connect both the power and ground wire to the terminals of the battery or did they just tag the power wire to the + terminal and the ground wire to the chassis of the car? What amp are you using and are the gains turned all the way up? What subs are you powering with this amp?

How old is your battery? If its around 4-5 years old, it might be time to replace. Although a battery only really affects starting the car or powering the electronics with the engine off.

I currently run a 800 watt RMS amp for my sub and have had it in the car for almost 3 years now. Installed at 45k miles, voltage regulator on the alternator went out @ 63k miles. Replaced it, no problems since and currently @ 84k miles.

Battery finally went out on me just a month ago @ 82K miles. My X was purchased in Feb. 2004 and has a Jan. 2004 production date accoridng to the VIN.

I've had the trans fail safe lights go on a total of 4 times. All after 50k miles, at random times without warning or any prior problems with the vehicle. When it does happen, I just park the car, turn it off, wait 10 minutes, do the throttle adaptation reset, and the car is back to normal.

Maybe a Trans. program update might help your X out. There's so many reasons why the failsafe can turn on, its not too easy to diagnose without the proper equipement. From what I hear, even the MAF sensor can cause the failsafe to activate.

I'm just throwing my experiences up there with my X to hopefully help you out.

[BlackE32_SilverE53]

the only reason I could see the system being an issue is if you have it playing often without the car running......

In my 740iL I have 4 monitors 4 amps and a whole slew of electornic items. I rode that system for years without any issues until one or two of my three batteries started having charging issues. Since I had a dual battery isolator on the car I could let my two batteries that were dedicated to the system fully discharge and still start the car with the stock battery. My problem came after my two aux batteries reached their 5 year life span and was not recieving their charge properly and I started having my TransFailsafe issue and my alternator is now bad I believe....

[IMOLAredNC4.8is]

Today i took the battery to get it checked and it showed that the battery had a very low charge to it. They said my amp had drawn a lot of juice from the battery and the alternator was not charging it back up it was just maintaining the low charge of the battery. With the system completely disconected i am going to re-charge the battery and see if the alternator will keep it at that full charge.