I know how to find an "open" and a "positive to ground" short and how to trace the wires. HOWEVER, I DO NOT KNOW how to find a "positive to positive" short much less trace it and can't find anything on the internet. Any help would be greatly appreciated because I'm not looking forward to tearing the dash apart to get at the "brain box" bolts and main fuse box bolts. The problem is probably under one of those thanks to rodents but I can't be sure. Thanks, Max

 

Tell us about the problem you are chasing.

 

Thank you, JSK, It is a SREEM problem. All components have been checked out twice. Once by SOS diagnostics and once by Needswings. The ECU, the SKREEM, THE FOBS and the transponder ring, all check out as working properly. The diagnostic test as per shop manual indicates a + to + short or put simply a couple of hot side wires with the insulation missing that are touching each other. Visual inspection is only partially possible without pulling the brain box and the fuse box out. It could also be under the induction system between the cylinder banks. I would like to solve the problem without tearing the dash apart to get at the box nuts or pulling the supercharger and intake manifold off. I will try to run a trace off the "too hot" wire and in an attempt to cut and bypass the offending wire or wires. A lot of the guys on this forum are smarter and more experienced than I so I thought I'd throw it out there. Thank you again for your reply, Max (aka JSA) Jeffrey Scott Arnold.

 

Hmmm, sorry I don’t have any useful input.

 

Thanks anyway, Jeff

 

The simple method to solve this is to run new wires and discard the questionable wiring. This gets a solution though its not too elegant to some people.

Another method that I have done is to induce a brief short to see if the wisker shorting the cable wires can be opened , flashing the wire to ground QUICKLY. Have you measured real voltage at the pins your concerned with?? A somewhat gentler approach would be to use a light bulb - not led- to load the wire and see the effects. Are both terminals similar brightness, gives you a feel for which is real and possibly which is bridged.

If you have access to a real good ohmmeter, you could measure each lead to see which is lower, sorta like the lamp test above, this is done with the +12 disconnected. I have a milliohm meter that can resolve microohm resistances but that is uncommon for people to have / use.

If you have a + / + short the first deal is to really study the wiring diagram to see where the leads go and see where they share their physical paths. Sometimes a short is not there, instead it is a backfeed thru a stuck switch or semiconductor. This is the reason I use a lamp LOAD to confirm the relative path resistance, and see which is real path/conductor and which is the victim of some bridging action.

I would suggest that you consider a tick tracer. These are devices that draw an impulse of current and generate a short magnetic pulse. A probe then is used to follow the wire to see where the pulse goes. A receiver follows the cable without cutting into the wires, sorta of a radio signal detector.

Let me know, Woody

 

OOOPS FORGOT THE LINK, this but one supplier, review them and choose what you like, your mileage may vary, Woody

https://www.ebay.com/itm/MS6812-Cabl...EAAOSwf~tfj9y3

 

Thanks Waldig, it's been a long time. It is nice to hear from you. That is some very useful information you gave me and I'm grateful. I just got a tick tracer but have been too busy to use it, maybe tomorrow. Thanks again, Max

 

Max you are really getting in deep. I'm just wondering if you pulled fuse nine and tried starting your car as I explained in your other post. It is quick, easy takes the anti-theft system and the siren out of the picture and may just get your car started. Good Luck!

 

Thanks Zip, I probably did try that considering that I tested all the fuses and all the sockets and remember disabling the door locks. However, it's been a long time in between working on the poor Xfire so I'll try that again. I appreciate you taking the time to reply to my SOS. Max