I need to quit making excuses and start making videos. I had a perfect one this morning and I missed the chance. It was a 2002 sierrra with a 5.3 that came from another shop. It had coil control circuit codes for cylinders 2 and 4 with intermittent drop outs of those cylinders. The control would occasionally go from a 5v square wave to around a 1.5v square wave when it would randomly drop out. The heater hose quick connect would drip about once every five minutes and it was rolling down the harness into the number 8 coil connector. It wicked up the wiring all the way into the main coil connector in the center of the valve cover and was building up inside the connector and shorting out the bottom row which was cyl 2 control, cyl 4 control, and the ground wire. The only spot you could find wet from just looking was the wiring going to the number 8 coil at the rear of the valve cover. The drip was so random the other shop didn’t even notice it and we were all pretty amazed at how far that water wicked through those wires over to another connector that looked bone dry. Would’ve been cool to have on video.
Water wicking up can blow your mind. Had an i/o boat with a Mercury outdrive and Chevy V-6. Water was leaking out of the shift cable above the intake manifold. That cable ran out of the outdrive horizontal for about 1 foot then vertical for a couple more to the top of the engine. The seal on the outdrive end was bad and couldn't believe it could climb 2ft. Crazy.
Only time I believe in luck is when I look at my beautiful children. The rest is all thought process. My buddy Paul said it right. Heat and vibration kills wires. It's all in keeping that in mind as you fly along . But those diagrams are the road maps into the unknown minefield. They make the decisions much easier
Your logic and thought process, I can emulate. Your experience and uncanny ability to zero in on frayed or corroded wires and connectors, not so much. I might have spent two hours finding that broken wire. You are at the summit of your art. You make it look too easy.
I have never seen anyone fly through tests and make decisions as quick as you Keith! So impressive watching you work and process information and instantly know the next step!
Thank you so much for sharing. I can honestly say i have been a better diagnostician since discovering your channel. Makes me take the time to confirm instead of assuming or dare i say guessing to save time. Please keep it going sir.
Keith, another good video. thanks for taking the time to film it and explain what you were doing. Like seeing you using the Noid light to see if power was present. Thanks again ❤️️
This is the one instance where it would be nice to have one more arm/hand... nice quick diag and repair. Wiring diagrams are invaluable. (And knowledge to be able to read and follow them)
I really enjoyed your video! This was the first one I've watched but it was very informative and you were clear with the steps you were taking throughout the process! Thank you and I'll definitely subscribe!
Great video Keith ! I find wire issues in this spot all the time . Just had a Grand Prix gxp 5.3 where it would pop fuses when you gave it gas and the motor would tilt . Had 3 wires that were exposed and shorting . Would have been a quick fix however there was over 50 fuses on the front floor sooooo melted for over 3 feet it was 😂 . Thank you Keith
I had an 86 Olds years ago that decided to blow the fuel pump fuse with the whole family inside, 100 miles from home. First mechanic said it was the fuel pump and replaced it. In a few days it blew the fuse again. I took it to the Olds dealer. They poked around in it, gave it back to me "fixed." In a couple of days it blew again. I limped back to them and told them to fix it, that there was a short somewhere. Sure enough, a wire rubbing on the engine was the problem; they repaired that and insulated the harness so it wouldn't happen again.
Impressive!! For me it would be undoing the air box just to get to the pcm. Then of cuz I'll have to look at the connector end view on Mitchel to find which is our ground control wire. Then do a bidirectional control just to make sure the driver is all good. Then maybe another 30-60mins on top of all the above and find that broken wire. Keith just went there and he saw something he didn't like already lol.
WOW! WOW! WOW! I just burst out laughing when you turned that wire bundle over and saw the green crusty and the hole in the loom. In the words of the past, you, Sir, are a steely eyed missle-man!!!
Nice! I got thrown for a loop the other day by a faulty OBD II connector on my scantool during an ADAS recalibration. Tiny hairline crack caused an intermittent no-com. Just about went down the wrong path until suddenly I couldn't AutoID and realized it wasn't a vehicle issue... LOL It's not the mistakes we make, it's how we deal with them! Good find with that rubbing harness. :D
14:46 ... secret admirer rolls up ... 😜🤣 Geesh, if I only make ONE mistake in a video, I'd call that a MIRACLE! 😁 I say the wrong words, forget to say important words to make a point, lose tools, get mad, cuss for 10 minutes, have to delete all the footage, etc... 😂 Basically every time a camera goes on, it's a friggin disaster over here! GREAT vid Keith! I've been hyper aware of those kinds of chafe points be it wiring or brake or fuel lines over the years, but after watching you guys fix these cars, I check anything I see like this just out of curiosity. I've probably saved myself and a few others many headaches. I keep old motorcycle and lawn tractor inner tubes around - I'll zip-tie a couple layers under something like that if it hasn't gone through yet. Good for fabricated brake or fuel lines, too. On my flatbed car hauler, the manufacturer ran the wiring right through washers that they welded to the frame - not even electrical tape around the wiring! After 3 years of slamming over MA roadways (shocked it lasted that long!), and the endless construction of CT and metro NYC, one chafed through and shorted - lost all my running lights on the left side one night outside of VA coming home from SC. Went through 4 fuses on the 8 hour or so trip back home from there ( I speed ... alot ... 😁). The next day, I wrapped vacuum hose around each wire that went through a washer - no more lighting problems. Modern cars are no different - could just as well be a power feed to an ECU! AWESOME vid, man! Thanks!! 👍👍
Great diagnosis , but quit making me sit in corner lol . Nice work , couldn't imagine trying to film and do the diagnostics . Got to be tough so thanks for sharing .
So the main solenoid was already replaced.. I noticed the wire melting but didn't break like yours, so my next steps would be checking behind the fuse box UH and replacing the solenoid itself
Faded/discolored wires throw me off all the time. One question I have is, some Lexus starting circuits run through modules. I get thrown off with like 3 volt or some single volt number reading when I check.a.module and wonder if it's high resistance or a bias voltage. What's a good strategy to confirm its bias and not a circuit integrity issue?
Hey I really appreciate your reply knowing how busy you are. I'm busy at work too and weekend I'll send you the example that got me stumped with info etc. And describe it!
that is the same spot were i have found broken wires between the TPS and APS ... just a FYI .... did a simulkar reqapir and added a hose over that area ....
how u deal with all the stress of the phone calls and the amount of cars that is expected? seems like domestic cars never use as many wire holders as imports, but also have seem some fords that use way too many. terrible removing them to take a component off.
I'm assuming the calls are service requests... How do you schedule them? Hand written notes? Online/cloud scheduler? Excellence refined in the streets of Staten Island! Kudos jefe! -100
that there is a lesson in wiring diagnostics and tracing. so many get confused because there are so many wires. just concentrate on one at a time from connector to connector. verify intergrity and move on to the next.
Yes he said that’s problem with bosch and launch cause I asked about the diagun that they are paper weight if you don’t update them. I didn’t believe him.
Why is it that the customers you, Ivan, and Eric O. have always have weak or dead batteries? Is this a Northern custom? Tell them to charge or buy new batteries. You should charge extra.
Boom! Mic drop, common lodgic for the win. Seems like wire issues are always from rubbing. Dummy engineers lol let’s put this on the hot intake so it rubs. Yeah great idea let’s do it lol
HEY EVERYONE..., KEITH IS SO GOOD AT THIS DIAGNOSTIC THING THAT IF A SCANTOOL COMPANY WAS TO SAY HEY KEITH HERE'S A SLAB OF STONE COULD YOU FIX A COUPLE OF CARS AND GET BACK TO US ON THAT TELL US WHAT YOU THINK - AT THE OF THE DAY THOSE COUPLE CARS WOULD BE FIXED . THE GUY IS JUST THAT GOOD I'M TELLING YOU I'M SURE YOU'VE SEEN IT BUT I'M JUST SAYING ! ! !