Absolutely a great tip for finding the break in a wire. Saves a ton of time and frustration. I don't know why I didn't think of doing this on my own. It's so simple! Thanks for sharing.
I am 78 years old and have worked on a lot of vehicles, but honestly that is the first time I have seen that tip with the thumb nail. Great tip indeed, yes you can teach an old dog new tricks. Just curious, what would cause those wires to break like that, it is stranded wire. I can see solid wires breaking but then again you don't see solid wires in vehicles. Thanks for sharing....Ken
it is the wire they use now in everything it as weak as a coat hanger if it bend back and forth or even vibration it breaks clean it's stranded 18 gauge wire it's all low voltage 5 volt so they use small wire cheap wire on everything
@@Rusty411 absolutely, vibration even on a small 3 cylinder engine (along with poor routing without enough strain relief) and the wires will just fatigue break in as little as 15K miles.
This is one of the best automotive videos I have seen on You tube! I am having an electrical issue with my truck now, this is how I found your video. A thousand thank yous!!!
Just came across this video for the first time, really helpful tip, as I am currently diagnosing some possible wiring harness failures and can't pinpoint the break based off of looks alone. Thank you for posting!
i know you say its basics. but its good to see the little tricks from the guys in the field figuring stuff out. this is why i go to you tube, to get the other guys idea and maybe save time and learn some simple stuff. thanks for the thumb nail trick. been chasing a dead wire on my boat trailer. was about to just install a new harness. but now armed with a good way. i can hopefully save some money.
Thanks Rusty , for sharing your knowledge . especially the finger nail tip . although whole video was spot on. great for helping others save on the cost of those new expensive cables !
Great bush mechanic tip. A solder joint would have been the icing on the cake but again great trick for an old dog like me. Keep up the great work. 👍🇦🇺
Awesome trick using thumb nail to locate the break in the wire and way cheaper than one of those annoying devices that beeped until it locates the break. Thank you for this gem . I've watched so many videos where they over explain everything and I end up more confused than I was before their video.
I don't even know why I continued to watch this video to get to the thumbnail part but damn I am glad that I did. I thought it was just a video on basic continuity but that thumbnail trick is some seriously valuable stuff! Thank you very much for posting that
I like that thumbnail trick. I had a no crank problem with my XJ after I bought it and couldn't find the problem to save my life. Finally bought a FSM and traced it down to the wire between the clutch safety switch and the starter relay. I never did find the break. Was lazy and spliced in a new wire next to the connectors and ran it through the firewall... Ain't pretty, but it still works.
Thanks for the tip. I`m retired from working as mechanic in new car dealer and truck lease company. Lotta broken wires on trucks. New stuff can have bad wires from the supplier too.
Thank you my friend! You are an artist. This is once again proof positive why you should do what you love. There is a job for how you are wired. When you have an artist in any field that loves what they do, what a pleasure it is a to watch an artist at his craft! Bravo
wow cool learned something to add to my tool box of "tricks" much love brother!!!!! cant wait to bust this one out on as buddy sometime hahaha i love to be the guy that fixes the problems
I like that trick with the thumb nail man I'm glad I watched this video now I'm about to start working on my dads old truck to fix the AC in it and we know its a wiring problem cause we changed out every thing so ill be sure to use that trick thanks man
thanks for sharing your knowledge. its tips like this that you only learn from years of experience and understanding of your trade. much appreciated ill be sending you good vibes from texas.
Rusty, Happy new Year God bless you Sir that was an awesome way to find those breaks in the wires and reading comments you also mentioned the cheap wires been used and vibration causes as well thank you so much for this information.
So how do you check continuity where you don’t have access to one end? For example a wire got pulled while you were dropping the transmission and forgot to unplug a sensor but unsure if the wire was stretched to the point where it broke inside the jacket...
THANK YOU BRO! This is Legendary and under rated information for real men. Cheers to all the MEN out there, we meet again! Not those "thirst" videos for simps. Just real info for real men.
Really helpful man,I have a 99 Honda 450 ES wire harness to go through.I have an idea it’s my fan wires but I’m gonna check some other stuff too so thanks for the info
In my experience, broken wires are pretty rare, unless it's running between moving parts, like the taillight harness to the boot lid, or speakers & window winders in doors. Opening and closing these things flexes the wire till it eventually breaks from metal fatigue. It's more an older car problem IME. The more usual continuity issue is the connection between wire & plug contacts, or the contacts themselves. If it's a high current circuit, there may have been enough heat to distort the plastic plug right at the problem contacts. So, that can be a clue, but not always. The reason for the loss if continuity between wire & plug pin is generally corrosion/oxidation of the wire or the pin. Sometimes the pin may not have been crimped tightly so the air & moisture got to the metal building up oxides between the surfacers. You can often get something working again with some Deoxit contact spray, but it's not 100% over time. Deoxit is a good product that lasts longer (often a lot longer) than most any other contact cleaner, but it's really just sweeping the problem under the carpet. If you want to preserve the original plug routing, occasionally you may be able to repair the connection but taking the pins out crimping harder or soldering the wire to the pin. However, the more sure way is cut the old pins away and install a new connector that bypasses the original plug entirely. If you want to test continuity through a plug, you can either disconnect the plug either side of the suspect one & probe the exposed contacts, or you can push sewing pins through the wire insulation & conductor & use those to probe. Just remember to remove the pins after because shorts are not fun for anyone but spectators.
I've got a 40 ton excavator with 10k hours .. now we're talking vibration digging in rock .. I've got some work ahead of me chasing down breaks with the codes showing up ..thanks for the info