Opinion on tools or techniques to find shorted wiring

Maybe someone out there knows an easier way, but its cut and trace for me. I follow the affected circuit in sections. If a circuit is shorted, I cut the wire every few feet so i can concentrate on one section. Just need to make sure you repair the cuts properly so that doesn't become a problem later on down the road. I use the crimp connectors you heat and seal, never had any issue's with them.

If by chance its shorted to Power/Ground and blowing a fuse(or have a current draw), Ive often found a Thermal Imager to be Extremely helpful.

No I been dealing with a battery power wire shorted to a ignition power wire. So all it causes them to stay running when the Keys off. And I can normally …rrow down with in a few feet of it but some times touching the harness causes it not to be shorted any more and so the whole harness then needs to come out for inspection .

Hi Nicholes, How I would approach this would be to look at which wire(s)/circuits are getting power that should not be. First thing a very close inspection of the area where the fault could be. Any new parts, any repairs done, the harness retaped, leaks?... At this stage I'm very careful to try and not touch a thing. If you've ever …d anything and violently moved the harness, now all of a…

Once you identify the problem circuit running an overlay is an acceptable repair for most manufacturers.

The problem with overlaying wiring for a short is what about the wire next to the one that was shorted? When not if.

an overlay is a good repair and the wire left in the harness is cut on both ends so it is effectively an open circuit, when cars get a little older it can be ill advised to manhandle harness to remove or locate bad wires, many times you get it all back together and have communication or other faults that were not previously there, don't get too intrusive with a harness, this is coming from a guy…

Running a new wire is the easy way out. Not a good option if you are interested in root cause diagnosis, but I admit it is sometimes needed if the harness is inaccessible or poor harness condition.

Charles, an overlay is never acceptable for a shorted wire. Cut the shorted wire and then run a new conduit. Louie

I like to place a Halogen light bulb in place of the fuse. With a low current draw, the light may glow slightly dim. A short or high current command will light the bulb brightly. I have my lamp connected to about 12 Ft of wire and used it for load testing and also for short finding. Disconnect inline connectors until the light goes back to dim or watch the light and wiggle the harness from one…

We use the Power Probe kit with the short open finder it work fairly well. Old school is to use an auto-reset circuit breaker and a compass, the compass will change at the short.

I have a power probe short finder but I’m not sure how I would use it to find a igntion power wire shorted to a battery power wired.

Is the ignition wire actually hot all the time? Or is it a code saying shorted to power or open circuit. Can you pull the ignition relay or fuse and still have power on the line. Is there anything on that ignition circuit that can back feed power? Bad grounds can cause weird issues.

How about a signal tracer? I see a fault finder ff300 on fleabay for 50 bucks right now.. … is the item number. Mine works really well..

I don't know all of the details but if you can pull the fuse that powers the circuit that is “staying hot when it shouldn't” and the circuit is still hot, I'd try adding a significant load on the power wire of this circuit (match it to the fuse for safety of the wiring), then test voltage drop across each B+ fuse on the vehicle. Your test load should be by far the largest consumer key-off so the…

If you can access the fuse in one of the circuits that is causing a problem we have a new tool that may help you with troubleshooting. This tool simply watches for a change in the circuit and alerts you when the change occurs. All you have to do is the standard wiggle test. When you get to the location of the trouble, the tool will beep to let you know there has been a change in the circuit…

Kevin , Let me know when your new tool is available and price. I would like to try also. Thanks

Hey Michael, hopefully it will be available later this year through Lisle and the cost will be less than $100. BTW, I should have mentioned that since it only senses a “change” it works great for opens, intermittents and any sort of flaky wiring, ground or power connection too. Wiggle testing is a quick way to scare up a wiring or connection problem.

Hey Michael, I happened to remember that I made a video a couple of months ago for this tool. Let me know if you think this would help you with troubleshooting. youtu​.​be/CSzThJcaidA Thanks, Kevin.

Hi Kevin, Did you make that or buy it? It is more compact than what I use. I am interested.

Hello Glenn, This is something that I made. It is covered in-part by an earlier patent of mine and is pending a separate patent now. What is it that you use now? Thanks, Kevin

Hello Kevin, I use an older MAC tool, fault finder among others like a power probe. I did cobble together an old door buzzer with an inline circuit breaker. I use it when dealing with issues far away from the fuse box. Over the years I have collected a tote box of electrical circuit testing tools, most of them were made on the fly while chasing unique circuit issues.

Regardless of a short, open or draw, I like to cut the circuit in half figuratively between power/ground and load. I check schematics and find all the connectors in between. Then access the easiest to get to and disconnect to see which way to go next. Limits unessarily pulling interior components. I also agree with Chris about overlays. You may be missing something that could be building that…

I usually take power off from the circuit that has a problem(remove fuse/disconnect connector). The I check when do I get power to that circuit. Is it during key ignition On? Key Start position? Key Accessory mode? Key in any position? Once I know in what position does the key need to be to power the circuit. I take a moment and start thinking what other circuits power up on that specific key…

Hi Nicholes, A large paper clip and feel for any wires getting hot…??? That was actually a test method a body shop was using at one of the companies I worked at. Needless to say, I was the guy in the mechanic shop who usually had to pull the full harness out of a dash and repair the damage. A screw driver in the back pocket and a vehicle with heated seats do not mix. I was using my Superman…