Most intermittents are caused by faulty electrical connections
or wiring. Some items to check are:
| • | Poor mating of connector halves, or terminals not fully seated
in the connector body (backed out). |
| • | Dirt or corrosion on the terminals. The terminals must be clean
and free of any foreign material which could impede proper terminal contact. |
| • | Damaged connector body, exposing the terminals to moisture and
dirt, failure to maintain proper terminal orientation with the component or
the mating connector. |
| • | Improperly formed or damaged terminals. Inspect all connector
terminals in problem circuits carefully in order to ensure good contact tension.
Use a corresponding mating terminal in order to check for proper tension.
Refer to
Repairing Connector Terminals
in Wiring Systems for the specific procedure. |
| • | Use the J 35616
Connector Test Adapter Kit whenever a diagnostic procedure requests
testing or probing a terminal. Using the adapter will ensure that no damage
occurs to the terminal and determines sufficfient contact tension. If contact
tension seems incorrect, refer to
Repairing Connector Terminals
in Wiring Systems for the specific procedure. |
| • | Poor terminal-to-wire connection. Test for the following conditions: |
| - | Crimping over wire insulation rather than the wire itself |
| - | Corrosion in the wire-to-terminal contact area |
| • | Wire insulation which is rubbed through. This causes an intermittent
short where the bare area touches other wiring or parts of the vehicle. |
| • | Wiring broken inside the insulation. This condition could cause
a continuity check in order to show a good circuit, but if only one or two
strands of a multi-strand type wire are intact, resistance could be extremely
high. |
In order to avoid any of the above problems when making wiring or terminal
repairs, always follow the instructions for wiring and terminal repair detailed
in
Wiring Repair
.
