HELLO CORVETTE FANS!

You own a C5 Corvette. It breaks. You most likely don't have cash dripping out of your pockets to give IT TO someone to fix your car.
Many C5 problems are ELECTRICAL. OH BOY, That scares most people. It shouldn't.
If you own a C5, You should own basic tools to do basic checks, repairs and maintenance. One of those tools is a MULTIMETER.

If you own a meter, you should know about all the functions on the meter and how to use them. You also need to know how to connect the meter leads in the proper jacks.
QUICK NOTE: An Important one. 1- NEVER EVER use the OHM Meter function in or on an energized circuit! Measuring Resistance is always done with the circuit deenergized! 2- Measuring Current is always done in SERIES with in the circuit. The meter POSITIVE LEED will need to be moved to the dedicated AMP JACK. on the meter body. 3. On first use of the day on the meter, ALWAYS test the meter operational capability by switching to OHMs and shorting the leeds together. Verify you have ZERO OHMs when the Meter Leeds are shorted together. This verifies that the leeds are good and the meter functions. I normally switch to VOLTS and test a known good power source (i.e. Directly on the battery terminals to see the 12 VDC reading.)


I came across this BASIC handy You Tube clip on Meter Usage. Check it out. Even if you already have a meter and know how to use it, You may learn something.

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Remember!! If your not testing,,, YOUR GUESSING! Get a meter, learn to use it and save that cash!

Hope this help you enjoy your Car and better understand how it works and what you can do to keep it on the road.

Bill Curlee

 

Thank you, Bill

 

I might add that always plug the positive lead back to the ohms/voltage jack after using the multimeter to measure current.lol

 

ABSOFRIGENLOTELY! IF YOU DONT, you will have a 10 amp short and a blown fuse.

Bill

 

A test light is also a very handy tool. But, remember that current and voltage are two different things and you typically need both for most circuits to function correctly!

In other words, it takes next to no current to light a LED test light. But, this is not the case with an incandescent test light. An incandescent test light is a quick and handy tool to test light circuits and electric motor circuits, for example. The brightness of the bulb gives a quick hint about the condition of the circuit. Meanwhile, a LED test light only tells you if you have voltage present, or not. But, even if voltage is present, there may not be sufficient current flow for the circuit to function correctly.

Long story short. If you are only going to own one test light, get the incandescent type. IMHO, they are much more useful.

 

Electricity is similar to water. Think your kitchen faucet and a fire hydrant. Both have water (voltage), but the hydrant has the higher volume of water (current flow/amps/watts). At least, thats how it was explained to me.......

 

Yes, voltage is similar to water pressure, while amperage (current) is the amount of electrical flow.
Examples:
An ignition coil builds up a high voltage (electrical pressure) in order to force a spark to jump across the gap of the spark plug.
On the other end of the spectrum, a starter motor runs on only a nominal twelve volts, but it requires big thick cables and a lot of amperage (current flow) in order to do the work of cranking the engine over.

On the safety end of things, high voltage, such as the 40k-50k volts generated by your ignition system won't typically kill you (unless you have a heart, or other medical condition), because there is a minuscule amount of current flowing through the plug wire. That is the function of an ignition coil ... it effectively steps up the voltage by trading current for voltage. Note, however, that even a small fraction of an amp will kill you where you stand! Twelve volts is not a sufficient amount of electrical pressure to push current through your body, but the 120V, or 220V in your home may be more than enough to put you in the running for the annual Darwin Awards.

 

I was looking for a good inexpensive DMM recently. I have a couple of very cheap ($10) versions, but want something better and that will accept my full size Pomona shrouded test lead kit. (the kind that work with Fluke) I don't want to buy a Fluke, the price doesn't warrant the occasional need for me.
Any suggestions?
This one looks pretty good and True RMS, but not sure if sockets are deep enough for my leads.

 

When I was a tech adviser I would get calls all day from service techs working on out refrigeration equipment. Two quick stories.....One guy called and asked me how to set his meter for continuity. Then another time I was walking a tech thru a 12 volt circuit to check for voltages and diagnose an open load. Told him to place his negating lead on a ground and we went from load to load and at the end no voltage..an impossibility.....turned out he was holding the negative lead in the air. Thats when I retired......

 

The flat rate system is the worse thing to ever happen to the US car business. It is used as a crutch and an excuse to hire incompetent managers, who then provide insufficient (if any) oversight over techs with inadequate training and experience. Sadly, I suspect this system has slithered into other industries, as well.

 

Get a Fluke brand

 

Those were just two examples of the degradation of skills. Over 10 years I heard many more. None of the newbies wants to actually diagnose the issue, they just wanted me to give them the part number to replace.

 

Define inexpensive. I have one of these Brymen 235 meters. It comes with a pair of high quality leads, threaded for whatever attachments you might need.

 

Yes, the current state of affairs is quite troubling. In fact, it's down right pathetic!

 

Funny but very TRUE STORY. I was a brand new US Navy Submarine Sailor way back in 1976. on my very first Submarine. I was a (Third Class) E4 Torpedo Fire Control Technician, (FTG3)
I was responsible for the care and maintenance of the MK 75 Torpedo Fire Control System. When my Analog Attack Director broke, I was summonsed to the Control Room to Fix it. One of the analog counters that displayed Target Range was not operating. It was DEAD. So, I fell back on my troubleshooting Steps that we were taught in FT-A school. The counter is driven by an AC Syncros motor that is controlled by a Sync Amp. After an Hour of doing all the voltage and wiring integrity checks and physically seeing that the AMP was DEAD. my LT Weapons Officer (Boss) walked by and said. "Do you know what wrong with it?" I said YES, BUT I want to be sure the Amp is really dead. Way back then that part was $5000 ish Dollars. He wanted to know why I hadn't replaced it yet? I told him (Because its $5000.dollars!). His response = I don't care if the damn part cost $500,000! Get the damn thing replaced. From that day on, Price of the part was of NO CONCERN! LOL!!!

All of my time troubleshooting, A meter and basic electrical theory has been a ROCK SOLID tool in resolving electrical issues. Once you know how to use a meter, and can prove or disprove the basic electrical theory in a circuit, the rest is EASY!

95wht6spd Treat your self to a good FLUKE Meter. My very first FLUKE was obtained in1983 and I still have it. Its a Fluke AN/77. It functions first time every time and I know its accurate. Look in amazon for used fluke meters. .

 

I second the Fluke meter. Mine is a Fluke 87 that I purchased in 1989. It still works flawlessly today. Also get a good set of test leads. You cannot troubleshoot without test leads.

 

Fluke is a fine meter but the 77 is $340, the is $139 and is still vast overkill for automotive work. Even for pinball and home electrical work it's way more than most people will ever use. I sold my Fluke after I bought this one.

 

These are the fun sort of videos I store away and pick up when I'm wide awake at 3am. Good info. I still have an ancient one from Craftsman I keep in the shop but drool over Fluke. The wife asks me what I want for Christmas each year and I hand her pretty much the same list. Each year I don't get anything from the list, of course. More is the pity.

One interesting detail I learned recently about the Haltech ecu on the Z06 is that it aides you in diagnosing wiring issues by reporting the voltages on each line routed through it.

Let that sink in for a moment just how awesome a concept that is when you have 100+ wires with various signal ranges and grounds criss-crossing the car in spots which are not always easy to reach.

 

My father is an electronics wiz - watched him tear into the family TV on the kitchen table - he tried his best (including the water analogy) to edjumacate me - but failed - computers I'm better at....

 

I have a Fluke 8060A and have used it for ~35 years. They make excellent, durable equipment. I don't like auto ranging meters that turn themselves off.