Well the car is at APE and to make a long story short, the previous owners worked on the car and did NOT complete it, and the new owner and staff(Chris,Brian,Nick) have graciously been helping me with getting it tied up finally but we have one gremlin that is causing a major headache.
When the car was picked up last year the ALDL port was dead, they have put 6 hours into locating this short and have yet to find it. Brain said they concentrated primarily under the dash but with no luck, and they dont have the tools a dealer would have. Everytime they try to put a fuse in and power it up it pops the fuse. I am running some aftermarket electronics but unsure if they are off the same fuse(DVD,CD,Stobe light kit,Amp,Sub)
If anyone has the tool to locate the short in the wire(dont recall the name of the tool) or have someone at a dealership that would be gracious enough to check this out at APE I would greatly appreciate it. I am 2 1/2 hours away and cant readily access the vehicle. If any of you guys could help, Id be more than happy to buy you a dinner, or case of your fav beer whatever the case, we just need to get the car on the road and tuned. Thanks guys!

Andy

 

hehe, well i know one method...
jump the fuse with a paperclip and see which wire fries...that's the bad one!

lol, couldn't help it... good luck, electrical's can be a bugger...

 

Thanks, anyone else?

 

Id help ya out if I had the time and/or the car was closer. fist thing you/someone needs to do is isolate that circuit. which fuse is blowing? there may be only one, or several things powered by that fuse. if more then one, there will be a splice in the harness where that one wire turns to multi. wires. you need to go there and seperate all the accessories off that fuse wire. one by one add them back till it blows the fuse, or temp. fuse ea. circuit to fig. out which one is shorted. then its as simple/hard as tracing that one wire to the thing its powering. if its really hard to get at, you can always run a new wire from the fuse panel to the accessory its powering. it really is kinda a pita, but once you seperate it into sections, it is easier to narrow it down to find the short. doesnt APE have a GM manual with a wireing diagram in it? I know its not there cup of tea, but maybe w/some guidance they can find it. I can fax them a diagram of the circuit you need to trace if you call me and tell me the fuse its blowing and give me a fax # to fax it to tomorrow. is it the power wire that feeds the aldl? as in the scan tool wont power up when trying to connect? if so make sure to check the cigarette lighter/socket for anything in it that would make it short like a penny or even something plugged into it like a cell phone charger.
chris
313-655-2983
Im not sure how much time I'll have tomorrow, but I should at least be able to fax over some diagrams and locations of splices.

 

Chris
It is the power wire going to the ALDL exactly! It will not power the Tech II at all.
Thanks for the info, Ill fwd it. They have done alot of checking but specifically Im not sure what they checked. The cigarette lighter fuse has come up empty. Those diagrams will help possibly, Ill get you a fax # and email it to you or post here if that works better for you. Thanks alot for the help bud, they have almost given up on the car so anything is helpful at this point!.
Andy

Got the fax number here it is: 586-954-3184
Just label it for Andys Car c/o Brian
I let them know it will be there sometime tomorrow
Thanks again Chris

 

well those things can be very frustrating. you'll need to call my cell cause I dont have internet access at work. if you want have them call me so we can discuss exactly what they have looked at and what info I can get for them.
chris

 

Chris
Sounds awesome buddy, thanks alot for the help, Ill get with them and give them your #.
Thanks again
Andy

 

Another thing you can do Andy is put a voltmeter in place of the fuse that blows and wiggle the harness until the voltage changes. If you have a short all the time the voltmeter will show 12volts when you power on then when you find the short and wiggle the harness to eliminate the short the voltmeter will show 0 volts.

I did this to find an intermittent short in my O2 wiring harness.

 

I had the power wire keep blowing a fuse and checked a wiring schematic. turns out (at least on an lt1) that half a dozen power wires are all tied in on the same fuse. I kept blowing the fuse for ignition and turned out to be a wire INSIDE the transmission shorting on the valve body. what a pain in the *** to track down

Hope you don't have to go that far....

 

Thanks guys for the input, I hope Chris can steer them in the right direction.

Killerjello- It is a hard pop when it blows, worse comes to worse Im going to have to go get the car, maybe if you have time I could scoop you up on the way down and we could look at it there, or if I have to I could drive it back up to Flint town, My uncle and grandmother live there so its no problem, let me know bud.
Thanks again
Andy

 

well no call today. I did look into it. I have all the diagrams here if they want me to fax them over tonight when I get back. that is a very simple circuit thankfully in your car. again, as long as it is the cigar/accessory fuse thats blowing. the only things on it are the aldl conn., cigar lighter, the power output (looks like a cigar lighter), and there's a batt. output in the fuse panel directly below that fuse that one could use to get a power source poss. for one of your aftermarket elect. items. this should be very easy for them to fix once they know where/what to look at. I wont be home till 10:30 tonight though. let me know if you want that info later
chris.

another idea, if they dont want to really find it, they can just cut that wire from the aldl and put in there own fused power source to finish your tune (or what ever else they need to do there)

 

Chris
Thanks for the heads up, I guess Ill have to get ahold of them again, Im pissed they didnt try to call you. Your info has helped, Ill relay the info to them and hopefully they can get ahold of you! Thanks again man
Andy