Check For A Short Between Multiple Circuits

CHECK FOR A SHORT BETWEEN MULTIPLE CIRCUITS





1. Turn the ignition off.
2. Disconnect the wire harness connectors of the components that contain the circuits that are suspected as being shorted together.

NOTE: Check connectors - Clean/repair as necessary.

3. At this time leave all in-line connectors connected.

NOTE: Before you measure the resistance between any circuits, first measure the resistance between the two leads of the multimeter. Take this value and subtract it from the value recorded after measuring the resistance between the circuits. The leads of the meter can add up to or over 0.5 of an Ohm of resistance.

4. With all the component wire harness connectors disconnected, use a multimeter set to Ohms (Ω), and measure the resistance between the applicable circuits in one of the harness connectors.
5. Use one lead of the multimeter and carefully probe the circuit suspected as being shorted.
6. Use the other lead of the meter and one at a time, carefully probe the other circuits in the harness connector.

Is the resistance below 10k Ohms when probing any two circuits?

Yes

- Repair the short between the circuits. Use the wiring application as a guide to trace the circuits and look for any in-line connectors where the short could occur.
- One way to help isolate the short is to disconnect any in-line connectors that the circuit being tested runs through and measure for the short again. If the short goes away, the short is on the other side of the in-line connector.

No

- The circuit is not shorted or the condition that originally caused the short may not be present at this time. Continue to measure the resistance and wiggle the wire harness and connectors while checking for an intermittent short.
- Use the wiring application as a guide to trace the circuits and look for any in-line connectors where the short could occur intermittently.
- Look for any chafed, pierced, pinched, or partially broken wires.
- Look for broken, bent, pushed out or corroded terminals. Verify that there is good pin to terminal contact in the related wire harness connectors.
- Perform any Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs) that may apply.