To cold at least for me.  I have no idea how some of you turn bolts when so cold.  Right now my temp is 29 degrees.  Some of you might think 29 is a heat wave compared to your temps. 

In the mean time, till it warms up….After reading lots on this site, seems to me after the (2^nd gen) fuel system that the electric system is talked about a lot. 

But I know very little about vehicle electronics. We couldn't snowbird this year because of medical reasons.  At least I could keep warm inside by the learning something.  Just trying to keep my mind active and maybe learn something new. 

Any recommendations for free online vehicle electronics?

 

Thanks

 

 

First thing I would ask is if you have a quality Multimeter?  

 

There is a wealth of elextrical info in our articles section, troubleshooting etc.  Electrical learning for me stems from having an issue to troubleshoot rather than looking to learn about something.  The electrical world is a big place.  

'

 

You might start off looking into how to test sensors based on their specs resistence when they are not being used.   

 

 

Edited January 6, 20178 yr by Me78569

  On 1/6/2017 at 7:43 PM, Me78569 said:

First thing I would ask is if you have a quality Multimeter?  

 

There is a wealth of elextrical info in our articles section, troubleshooting etc.  Electrical learning for me stems from having an issue to troubleshoot rather than looking to learn about something.  The electrical world is a big place.  

'

 

You might start off looking into how to test sensors based on their specs resistence when they are not being used.   

 

 

Thanks...

I've been thinking about vehicle electronics for some time.  Mrs Santa gave me a Fluke 117 for Christmas.  Fluke has free online classes and I'm about 1/4 the way thru the measurement class.  Surprisingly my old harbor freight meter was accurate for voltage.  Thanks for tip on sensors, and as a side bonus, I'll also learn where they are located  

 

So a tip that I have found to use A LOT is to always keep a paper clip handy when troubleshooting electrical issues.   

 

Most, if not all plugs in the engine bay can be jumped using a paper clip from the sensor side.  This will allow you to use the multimeter on the other end to check resistance from the ecm / computer side to check for breaks in the wire.    This comes in VERY handy if you are looking for where a break is in the wiring.  Always start from the end then move closer and closer to where the sensor is until you find the break.  

The multimeter is good.  If you are just doing basic stuff like tracing wires and whatnot, you will also want the wiring diagrams we have here in this linked section... https://mopar1973man.com/cummins/articles.html/24-valve-2nd-generation_50/51_engine/electrical/ 

 

You will also want a basic understanding of what relays do.  Here is some good reference for the relays... 

http://www.12voltplanet.co.uk/relay-guide.html

 

What Me78569 says is correct, but I also add in one more laziness step... I check fuses and swap relays from something I know is working to the problem circuit.  

 

If you are looking into the CCD system or some of the actual digital communication between the ECM, PCM, or VP44 computer... thats a little more complicated and out of my realm. 

Me, I am electrically illiterate. I can do some basic stuff but have not taken the time to learn a lot. Barely enough to get me by. But I am learning, but slowly.

Edited January 7, 20178 yr by dripley

  Another thing that come in handy is a length of 16-14 AGW wire 4-5ft long with small alligator clips at each end.  This can be used to bypass suspected open circuits, run power to a system or use as and extension of the probes for the meter to a point in a circuit that is not readily accessible.