I just wanna day this is awesome stuff. A lot of people wouldn’t take the time to explain something like this to someone with probably little to no electric background. Great explanation and exactly what I wanted to learn. Good stuff!
@@FixyourNissan My check engine light comes on with a po601 code but then a few minutes later my check engine light goes off could this be the pcm unit itself which is bad or a connectional problem
Caveat to this excellent informational vid. Take caution to the relative size of the probes. Otherwise connectors may get stretched out which will result in a faulty connection
I'm learning how to do continuity and voltage tests on my Corvette, thanks to RU-vid channels like yours. Wish I had T-pins to do the back probe as I didn't know what that meant! LOL Cheers, Bob
I was worried at first at this video wasn’t going To answer the question that I was looking for, but it indeed did thank you so much. This is super helpful. I assume you can also use a paperclip and bend it around to do the same.
Hey I'm checking for my brake light wiring because I want to install a trunk led emblem and seeing what's my positive and I'm probing it but nothing gives then I use a paper clip and still nada... does it have to be specifically t pin? What am I doing wrong
I stretched some female connectors to my ECM by front probing. You have to be really careful and mindful of your probe size vs. the female size. My ECM connector is on a 37 year old Porsche 944 and they deformed easily. Back probing is likely better in most cases, maybe not 100% of cases, but most. Also, there are many newer modern automotive connectors with tiny females and almost any probe can deform them by front-probing. People be aware of this as a possible issue -- damaging connectors.
Good evening sir hope your day is going well! Are you able to film a video to show me how to backprobe with a t-pin and zoom in close so i can see how you probe the t-pin inside the connector correctly?
Thanks for video. I'm trying to troubleshoot a persistent P0713 on my 2004 Toyota Rav4. Repair manual suggests checking the voltage between 2 wires from 2 connectors of the ECM with 1 serving as the ground wire. The voltage between the 2 wires should be less than 1V when engine reaches operating temperature. How do I approach this?
So quick question, i will be trying to install ambient lighting to a door panel and using the power window harness. I get the red voltage but i also have to ground to a pin as well. How would i know if the pin is a good ground?
thank you! I am having an issue with a chevy aveo, I cannot remove the key from the car, it stays in ACC. Everything else (brake lights, shifter) works. I'll give this a try on the lock solenoid and make sure its getting power.
Great. For weather packing, do you keep T Pin right up against the wire when inserting? I want to backprobe an 18 year old coil...carefully. ..for the labscope.
Could this method be used to check for a shorts? I’m new to electrical and I’m trying to learn more and find a shorts in my car I might have a shorts to ground cause my fuse blow.
Do u actually mean to pierce the pin into the red wire or slide it in the gap to back probe ? And could plz explain about continuity and variAble voltages and ground wire as well.
You don't need to pierce the wire when back probing. You are pretty much just laying a pin next to a connector pin to check voltage. If you would like to learn how to check wire Continuity, there is plenty of video's on it.
Depends on what you are checking. If you are checking for voltage, you would use the Red Lead to connector or pin that you are checking for voltage, and the black lead to a known good ground
I'm looking for a lead for a multimeter to be able to attach to just one pin inside an automotive connector. Such as one pin out of 16 pins. I need a female lead that will slide over just one of those small pins. I've seen them used in videos. I just don't know how to search for one. Anyone have a link or the name of it?
My tractor has the blocks/housing that has the latch in the housing. the spades do not have a tab/tangs that flips up to hook into are onto the housing. Where can I find this type of housing and what is it called , my spades have a little hole in the center when you slide it in, the housing clip catches it. My spades and wiring are good but the housing is old and crumbling apart---just need to know where to get this type of male to female housing with built in latch for 2 pin spade and the same for a 3 pin spade
@@darenleiter9490 Your not exposing any wires doing this. You are simply accessing the electrical pin of the connector to check what ever voltage or ohms you are needing to do
Never use to big of a pin and force it in. It should take very little pressure to slide the pin in to back probe. When you front probe the wire, if the pin does not fit, find one that does. That should have very little resistance to insert to test. If you use to big of a pin, you can expand the electrical connector which can cause pin fit issues.
Bro, this is a great explanation on fundamentals of electrical circuit integrity checks but its not the best idea to front probe any terminal, it may lead to a splayed terminal and high resistance.
Hello, thanks for your video. Can you even use a needle or a little metallic piece? And also, please, when you test a pin on a connector for continuity, do you just need to test the red wire? For voltage, also the ground wire important and why? What's the purpose of "back probe" if the end of the connector has continuity, please? Thank you.
Back probe is when you can leave the connector plugged in and test the connector. That is the benefit of back probing. You can check power , Ground and Ohm wires in any of the ways needed with how I showed you in the video
@@FixyourNissan thanks for your reply. Well, a specific example: I need to test a fan into an ECU box, so if power comes to that connector from the ECU. Do I need to insert a t-pin or something like that on the back of the connector, then ignition on and by V-- on the multimeter can I see the voltage coming or not? And is irrelevant the wire color to point the tips? Thanks
Put meter at lowest setting closest to what your measuring. For example 5 volt circuit use the 20 volt selection on volt meter aka multi meter. Ohm measure a resistance. No resistance faulty part usually
Why-o-why are you shoving something into the female side? That can ruin the spring of the connection and ruin that circuit. That's just wrong even with a T-pin. ALWAYS back probe --- never front probe.
I agree with you. But the pin I am using will not stretch these style pins. Yes pins are much smaller, and those are the ones you really have to be care of doing this to. But this is just an example
Front-probing with a T-pin! Yikes! Not a good way to check for voltage at the pins. I've fixed quite a few terminals that were spread open by other technicians. I recommend finding the male terminal of the same size with a short length of wire to clamp the alligator clip to. Better yet, just stick with back-probing with a T-pin.
@@FixyourNissan yeah, but consider the fact that T-pins are not designed or manufactured to the specification of the terminals. If they are too big, they will over stress the terminal, making it loose. If they are too small they will just slide out when clipping your alligator clip to them. Also, the ends of the T-pins can become bent from use or can easily tilt in the female terminal simply from the weight of the alligator clip and lead, again causing excessive strain on the terminal and making it loose. In fact, I noticed the T-pin in your video is bent at the end. There are a couple of other reasons I prefer not to front probe, namely, front probing means you've disconnected the connector and if you are checking for voltage, you'll simply be checking open circuit voltage. Most diagnostics are better performed by performing a voltage drop test or an available voltage test with current flowing. That way any resistance in the circuit will show up during diagnosis. One can argue, that a check with an ohmmeter can be performed to check for resistance, but what if the terminal you are probing from is the cause of the excessive resistance because it is a spread terminal. You'd never know it by front probing with a T-pin; or what if a wire has broken strands and still has a couple of strands touching. The low voltage from the ohmmeter may not be enough to heat the wire causing excessive resistance like it might when the full 12V is applied and normal current tries to flow through the circuit. One other item to think about, whenever I front probe, I try to use a terminal of the same size or a tool like OTCs terminal test kit (No. 3587). That allows the terminal tension to be checked while testing with a DMM.
