They say if you don’t use something in a year you should get rid of it. Well, I don’t take that advice on tools. I can’t remember how many years it’s been since I last used this tool but today it was really handy to have.
When I was trying to figure out the trouble with my Porsche tail lights I found that the previous owner had modified the wiring for the left side tail light. Also, the front corner markers have never worked since I have had the car.
Tracing the circuit, I found a dead short in the left side wiring that would blow the fuse. I assume this is the reason why they have jumpered the tail light wires and disabled the front markers.
Using the above tool, I was able to trace the short to somewhere in the front fender area. Without it, I would have just been guessing.
I made a jumper to use the tool to put power to the load side of the fuse and took power straight off the battery. Since there was a dead short I did not want to stress the light switch while searching for the short.
I was able to use the little meter to follow the wire through the car and down into the fender. I then put the car on the lift and removed the belly pan to get access to the wire. Since there was just a short section of wire to inspect I decided to do a visual inspection instead of continuing with the tool.
It took some searching, but I finally found the problem. The wires inside the left side marker were twisted together and the ground was touching the power lead inside the rubber cover.
I hooked them back up correctly and the short went away. I then redid the wiring at the tail lights to put it back as the factory intended. now there is a fuse for the left and a fuse for the right. And another fuse for the tag lights. Germans like fuses I guess.
Thanks goodness I had this handy Short Circuit finder tool.