Diesel Data: Automotive Repair

Checking For Open or Short Circuits

CONNECTOR CONNECTION AND TERMINAL INSPECTION
When checking for an open circuit or short circuit, it is important to check the connector connection and the condition of the terminals.




Open Circuit
This could be due to a disconnected wire harness, faulty contact in the connector, a connector terminal pulled out, etc.




HINTS:
- A wire rarely breaks in the middle of it's length. Most cases occur at the connector. In particular, carefully check the connectors of sensors and actuators.
- Faulty contact could be due to rusting of the connector terminals, to foreign materials entering terminal or a drop in the contact pressure between the male and female terminals of the connector. Simply disconnecting and reconnecting the connectors once changes the condition of the connection and may result in a return to normal operation. Therefore, in troubleshooting. if no abnormality is found in the wire harness and connector check, but the problem disappears after the check, them the cause is considered to be in the wire harness or connectors.




Short Circuit
This could be due to a short circuit between the wire harness and the body ground or to a short inside the switch etc.

HINT: When there is a short between the wire harness and body ground, check thoroughly whether the wire harness is caught in the body or is clamped properly.