Short Finder tool

They say if you don;t use something in year you should get rid of it.  Well I don’t take that advice on tools. I can;t remember how many years its been since I last used this tool but today it was really handy to have.

When I was trying to figure out the trouble with my Porsche tail lights I found the at the previous wonder had modified the wiring for the left side tail light.  Also, the front corner markers have never worked since I have had the car.

Tracing the circuit, I found a dead short in the left side wiring that would blow the fuse. I assume this is the reason why they have jumpered the tail light wires and disabled the front markers.

Using the above tool, I was able to trace the short to somewhere in the front fender area. Without it I would have just been guessing.

I made a jumper to use the tool to put power to the load side of the fuse and took power straight off the battery. Since there was a dead short I did not want to stress the light switch while searching for the short.

I was able to use the little meter to follow the wire through the car and down into the fender. I then put the car on the lift and removed the belly pan to get access to the wire. Since there was just a short section of wire to inspect I decided to do a visual inspection instead of continuing with the tool.

It took some searching, but I finally found the problem.  The wires inside the left side marker were twisted together and the ground was touching the power lead inside the rubber cover.

I hooked them back up correctly and the short went away.  I then redid the wiring at the tail lights to put it back like the factory intended. now there is a fuse for the left and a fuse for the right. And a another fuse for the tag lights.  Germans like fuses I guess.

Thanks goodness I had this handy Short Circuit finder tool.