Car electrics for us dummies....DIY
 

Give me a spanner and I am good to go, but when it comes to car electrics and reading electrical diagrams I am F#cked.

I thought it would be a good idea to educate myself to car electrical fault finding.

I searched the web and came across this site Udemy - Automobile Do Do it Yourself - Automotive Electrical Diagnosis - Beginners.

While I am not completely useless at this stuff, this was great, and I learned quite a bit. And to add if you have NO idea then this is perfect, starts right back at the start, tutor is good and explains everything.
It took me many months to complete (LOL) and every time I clicked on the link it took me back to where I was up too. So no worries it will disappear if you slack off.
Can't recommend it enough. I will do the next course if there is one.

I also purchased - Power probe 111 - this thing is the best thing I have purchased for some time and I have used it quite a few times. (tonight)
Connect it to your battery and touch something with the probe and it will tell you if the wire is live or an earth. Hit the button and you can supply 12V or earth to the wire.

Again can not recommend this enough. This was recommended on a post I saw on this forum and had to have it.
BUT - I will add it is not a multi-meter so when you are testing for resistance etc like on my cruise control fix, I needed a multi meter.

The newer version even has a injector test built in but the reviews were not so good so I went with the PP111 version.
And it came down to $$. I can't have everything I am told! (How can a hair cut and colour cost $200?) that's what I say! Mine is free...

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Very Good, I do like.

Waaaaay back, when I learnt about Automotive Electrickery, it was "Red to Red, Black to Black, flick the switch and stand right back".

My teacher had a sense of humour, and a BIG stick, and we learnt FAST to follow a systematic search, and STICK to it. Still the same today.

Mind you the Good Old MK7 only had about 12 wires all up, and NOT a computer in sight, motoring bliss.

Some of my mates had +ve earth cars, now that was fun, especially after a few beers, and the brain cells collapsed. Many stay sparks in those days.

This little write up by Sir Joseph :Lucas has served me well.

Ah yes, there are car electrics and then there are Lucas Electrics.

One quote from Joseph Lucas’s Electrical Theory reminded me of a recent addition to my tool cart:

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Those cables look long enough to reach from ABS computer clear on up to the solenoid box!