Date:         Sat, 9 Jun 2012 16:36:43 -0700
Reply-To:     Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject:      Re: Preliminary...Headlight weirdness? (long) Solved!
Comments: To: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <CAHTkEuKNHStwzoLLd9+ZuUvhqoqExZ64Zjzc-eS2n=P4-EGQwQ@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

On 6/9/2012 2:10 PM, Don Hanson wrote:
>    When I go to identify the Ground wire in the wiring to the plugs for my
> headlights...How do I determine that?
>
> The ground wires are the brown ones.
Additionally, a test light can be used to find either ground or power.
> For example....clip the aligator clip to the front bumper, turn on the headlights ...use the test light to find voltage on a headlight wire.  ( should be power  on either the high beam wire, or the low beam wire )  Then, stick a paperclip or spade connector into that hot wire, clip your aligatorclip to it...now your ice pick end is 'looking for ground' .
>    Whatever ground it touches will light the light bulb..including the brown ground wires that lead to a decent ground. Always test your test method....like make sure the bulb lights when you touch the front bumper with the ice pick end.  The chrome bumpers are always good grounds in my experiece.
>
> I would not use a volt meter for this type of test usually. A 12v Test light is real good in a situation like this.
>   I might want to measure how many volts are getting to the end of each headlight wire when they envergized , but for normal tail light/headlight troubleshooting I use a 12 volt test light a lot.
>    If reading voltage on a headlight wire with a meter...you could compare readings between when you are using the front bumper for a ground on your meter's other lead, and the brown ground wire that's at the headlight connector.
>    If say you got 12.1 volts using the bumper for your meter's ground connection ..but only 11.8 volts using the brown wire, you could conclude that the resistance in that ground connection is higher than it should be.
>
> Generally you don't need to look at a wriing diagram for testing at the headlight connections. You only need to know one wire is low beams, one is high, and one is ground.  Real easy to tell which is which with your test light.
>
>