I have a 1982 280zx. ever since we put my stereo in it has had power problems the battery drains extremely fast when using lights or a/c and if you leave something on it will drain. I was told earlier you could put a gm alternator in the car, what i need to know is if you do that is there any modifications you have to make w/ the wiring or any other type of thing.

 

It sounds like you may have a power lead going directly to ground. Double check all of your power wires to ensure that's not the case. Have you been blowing fuses? How many watts is your system?

 

I haven't been blowing fuses, we've checked ground wires, we did find an error in wiring the cd changer and we fixed it still drains.

 

Could be something internally grounding as well. May even be the stereo, even if it is new. That's a lesson I've learned more than once...

 

Depending on how much stereo equipment you have installed it may just be that your alternator just cant keep up. May be either weak battery or alt. I would suggest taking it to a parts house like autozone and have them tested. You can get higher amp alternaters for a price and the GM alternater can be used. I have not done the GM swap but if you do a archives search I am sure you will find some post there Or if you have a older parts book on American cars just look up the GM alt. and wiring. If you have a automotive eletrical shop near that builds atl, starters, etc. you could have them rebuild yours and setup it to a higher amp output..