british car electrical problems

To check if a wire is good or bad, connect one test probe to one end of the wire, and the other test probe to the other end of the wire. One end goes to a positive and the other end goes to a ground. Click on one of the buttons to the left for more information on … Now what?You're metering full battery voltage. The open is on the ground side for sure. Now we'll measure the battery voltage. Probing between the input and output of the headlamp relay shows a drop of nearly a volt. Be sure to use an automotive test lamp which works with 12 volt systems. If the headlights go dim while the starter turns slowly, either the battery is low or it's connections are bad. Also check ground straps from motor to frame. Back to your dim headlight. Instead, use the voltage scale, which on most DMMs is accurate down to several millivolts.
As cars get old, electrical wires get dirty and brittle and lose conductivity.

First lesson: Electricity always runs in a circle, and the ground side is just as important as the hot side.Second lesson: Use a little systems analysis. If the diagram is too small to read clearly, many companies offer large, laminated posters.

For a classic car that gets driven a 1,000 miles a year, that's a pretty trouble-free system.

Although you can run dozens of tests with a multimeter, I use mine for about two. If your meter shows anything above 50 milliamps, you have a parasitic draw. Also make sure that the cables going to the terminals are in good shape. Compared to late-model vehicles, the electrical and ignition systems in your classic car are simple, but old car electrical problems are still difficult to find and repair.

You should see very little voltage there. If one end of the throttle linkage moves when you wiggle it and the other end doesn't, it's broken. But diagnosing anything more complicated than a burned-out bulb calls for bigger guns. Any resistance between the clamp and the post will cause a measurable voltage drop. Don't freak; I'll go slow with the math.An example: A headlamp low beam normally draws 4 amps or so when it's switched on. The resistance (ohm) scale on your DMM probably bottoms out at 200 ohms, making measurement of single-digit values tricky.

We may earn commission if you buy from a link. Imagine the linkage to a carburetor. It's a broken ground wire, probably caused by someone poking a pointy test light or meter probe through the wiring to examine a problem years ago.
If you're not sure, replace them or add another one. Perking up the dim one suddenly makes you realize they're both less than brilliant--which is what I'd expect when I meter 11 volts at the bulb socket instead of the 14 I'd expect when the engine is running.

If the open resulted from a burned-out filament or a broken wire on the hot side, you'd see zero volts. Luckily for you, automotive wiring diagrams are there to help you speed up the whole process.

Second rule: The second rule isn't just a rule--it's the law. The DMM, with its megohm impedance, draws no current--and you'll read full system voltage until the circuit is loaded down.I'm not happy with more than a few hundred millivolts of drop across any connector. Installing a new set of eight clearance lights on the travel trailer?

Now probe the ground lug at the bulb connector.

Multiply that by 8 running lights--your new lights will draw a total of 8 amps. Check positive and negative battery cables to be clean and tight. You can use the DMM's ohmmeter scale to find the extra resistance, right?Wrong. That's lower than our system voltage at about 12.5--but not low enough to explain the severe dim-out.

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