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Kid Rock · 07-12-2017, **(Subject: Finding shorts with this? )**

link: https://amzn.to/2VcCky2

Anybody ever use this in our application of big trucks? Did it work well? Im trying to find a short to ground in either my fuel shutoff or my fan circuit and this tool looks to be a real time saver?- and would just be cool to have around it seems

Basically one part of the tool hooks up to say the 12v hookup on tge shutoff solenoid- then a tone gets sent back through the harness and the can be traced with the wand until theres a break in thr circuit

Just concerned about its useability... with the ecm harness off it shouldn't spoke the ecm by sending the tone down say the fan supply circuit or the fuel shut off circuit? Its sending 12v I believe ~Because hypothetically, i should be able to follow that tone until theres a break in the wire hopefully locating the ground to short?

Any thoughts on this? Seems like a fair price. Better than a harness if its a ground out that i could reattach.

snailexpress · 07-12-2017, **(Subject: Finding shorts with this? )**

Depends what make is your truck.
In most modern trucks fan solenoid ON signal and fuel shut OFF signal coming from vehicle computer. Really hard to trace wires under dash with this device.
But not big money to try.

Nostalgic · 07-12-2017, **(Subject: Finding shorts with this? )**

I have used the Power Probe version one time since purchasing it. I found the break in a fuel pump on a car, but you have to pretty much have direct access to the wire loom. Buried in your dash - not much help.

https://amzn.to/2VbdJcJ

Kid Rock · 07-12-2017, **(Subject: Finding shorts with this? )**

(07-12-2017 )snailexpress Wrote: Depends what make is your truck.
In most modern trucks fan solenoid ON signal and fuel shut OFF signal coming from vehicle computer. Really hard to trace wires under dash with this device.
But not big money to try.

ten four, may be good for chasing down the external part of the harness though? I was going to try and check for continuity from the ecm harness to the fan solenoid/ 12v fuel solenoid with a multimeter... 2009 387 pete... just looking behind the dash disapoints me, such a mess of wires not sheilded and bundled well... i know better now, but seemed like a higher chance of the short being out in the elements rubbing on the frame somewhere? No?

Signature620 · 07-13-2017, **(Subject: Finding shorts with this? )**

If you have fair access to the wiring then just check the resistance at each end of the wire and from each end to ground. If it's got high resistance - Manipulate the harness until the reading changes and you've found the general area. If it's OL then you've got a completely broken wire.

Rawze · 07-13-2017, **(Subject: Finding shorts with this? )**

(07-12-2017 )Kid Rock Wrote: https://amzn.to/2VGMWUZ

Anybody ever use this in our application of big trucks? Did it work well? Im trying to find a short to ground in either my fuel shutoff or my fan circuit and this tool looks to be a real time saver?- and would just be cool to have around it seems

Basically one part of the tool hooks up to say the 12v hookup on tge shutoff solenoid- then a tone gets sent back through the harness and the can be traced with the wand until theres a break in thr circuit

Just concerned about its useability... with the ecm harness off it shouldn't spoke the ecm by sending the tone down say the fan supply circuit or the fuel shut off circuit? Its sending 12v I believe ~Because hypothetically, i should be able to follow that tone until theres a break in the wire hopefully locating the ground to short?

Any thoughts on this? Seems like a fair price. Better than a harness if its a ground out that i could reattach.

We used to call the a "fox and hound" when working on electrical wiring systems on industrial machinery. Pretty much useless for finding broken wires, the rf signal will usually jump right past the break in the wire. They are better suited for finding where a wire goes more than finding problems.

What i tend to do for finding bad wiring is that I will strip off all the wire loom from the circuit and look for the obvious sign of a discolored spot in the wire. A place where the insulation is slightly darker color than the rest, usually in a bend. If I can't find it that way, I will pull very hard at each wire in the group where it makes bends and turns corners, or where moisture can get to them. That will find the weak point every time.

Had a passenger headlight go out on me down in Miami Florida in the pouring rain one night. Bulb didn't fix it and We were on a tight schedule. I pulled off into a dirt parking lot (only place I could find to park) and laid in the mud and rain under my truck for 2 hours ripping apart wire loom and yanking hard on wiring for the headlight circuits. I found one that the insulation stretched then snapped after pulling hard on it in a bend at the bottom of the frame. I ended up finding 3 other wires getting ready to do the same thing in that same spot when I yanked on them too. I patched them and then after we delivered I fixed the problems correctly and put it all back the way it should be.

Kid Rock · 07-13-2017, **(Subject: Finding shorts with this? )**

Makes much sense... $75 saved, thanks.

Kid Rock · 07-13-2017, **(Subject: Finding shorts with this? )**

Is there a good way to rule out the ecm? Maybe by testing for voltage at the particular pin that sends the signal for the circuit I'm testing?

Rawze · 07-13-2017, **(Subject: Finding shorts with this? )**

(07-13-2017 )Kid Rock Wrote: Is there a good way to rule out the ecm? Maybe by testing for voltage at the particular pin that sends the signal for the circuit I'm testing?

most of the time when it is the fuel shutoff issue, it is the solenoid going bad. A short in the coil can also burn out the circuit in the ECM sometimes too.