Bavarian-Board.co.uk - BMW Owners Discussion Forum Homepage
Forum Home Forum Home > Technical & Model Specific Forums > BMW 7 Series
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - trouble finding a short?- For beginners
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Register Register  Login Login

Forum Lockedtrouble finding a short?- For beginners

 Post Reply Post Reply
Author
Message
shogun View Drop Down
Really Senior Member II
Really Senior Member II
Avatar

Joined: 22-February-2005
Location: Tokyo/Japan
Status: Offline
Points: 564
Direct Link To This Post Topic: trouble finding a short?- For beginners
    Posted: 25-July-2005 at 22:37
If you are a beginner in electric issues, this walks you through it, hopefully:

I'll try to make it simple, ...

The meter should have an A scale (Ampere) for reading current. Preferably, a High amp one (10A for example). In some of them, this high amp scale requires the red plug of the wire probes to be connected in a different hole. We do not know the magnitude of the current involved, so in order to preserve the meter, it is better to start reading in this high amp scale.

Disconnect the ground (negative) lead to the battery (electronic devices in the car will loose status when battery is unplugged, so you will need radio code for example), connect the positive (Red) meter probe to the negative thick wire to the battery, and connect the negative (Black) probe of the meter to the negative battery post. Be sure that the probes are inserted in the proper holes in the meter for the readings (Amp) you intend to take.

If you have a leak as you assumed before, you should have a significant reading in the meter (maybe/sometimes more than 50 milli amps, > 0.05 Amp). If the selected scale do not allow you to have a clear reading of the leaking current and you want to change down scales, do so. Remember that some meters require to select a new hole in the meter for the red probe in order to select a lower Amp (Current) scale.

Once your meter is properly set and you have a good steady reading of the leaking current, proceed to remove, one by one, the fuses on the fuse box. Keep an eye to the meter in order to identify which fuse removal is dropping down the current in the meter. The leaky circuit is feed by that fuse.

Investigate what devices are associated to that fuse, plug the fuse back, and start disconnecting all devices one by one until you get again a reading drop. That device would be the culprit.

Written by Javier, and slightly changed by me to fit such question in general.
Hope that helps.
Any further comments welcome.
E32 750iL,E36 M3

7 Series Tech Tips

Back to Top
Sponsored Links


Back to Top
Philip View Drop Down
Really Senior Member II
Really Senior Member II
Avatar
E23 the forgotten 80s BMW

Joined: 28-January-2005
Location: Essex
Status: Offline
Points: 1425
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26-July-2005 at 07:09

that is simply brilliant Erich. Pitched at just the right level of detail.

My E32 suffered for ages from a current drain that would flatten the battery after 3 days of not using the car.

Eventually after much head scratching the fault was traced to the Rectifier stage of the alternator. Fitting a used Alternator bought from Ebay cured the problem

Philip
'86 E23 735iA SE - Polaris - The Silver Surfer
'85 E23 735iA SE - Cosmos Blue - VJ
'86 E28 528iA SE - Dia Black - Helga
'86 E23 728iA SE - Polaris - The CHAV mobile
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply
  Share Topic   

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down



This page was generated in 0.156 seconds.