The whole idea of an electrical system is to get electricity from one point on your racecar to another point. The hard part is that you can’t see electricity. The good part is that even though it’s invisible you can measure it.
Think of a wire as a garden hoses. Electricity flows through the wire the same way that water flows through a garden hose. Sometimes your garden hose springs a leak and the water never gets to the place you need it. Sometimes the garden hose gets kinked and the water flow stops.
The big difference is that when you mess around with your garden hose you can actually see the water. Since we can’t see electricity we need some special tools to measure (or see) electricity.
There are three items that concern us when we measure electricity.
Resistance – This is anything that impedes the flow of electricity. How well is the electricity flowing through the wire. We measure this resistance in ohms.
Current – This is the amount of molecules flowing through the wire. We measure current in amps. Remember as the diameter of the wire increases so does the amount of current that can pass through it. Bigger wire is simply a bigger hose.
Voltage – This is the amount of pressure, or strength, of the electrons. This pressure is measured in volts.
Now lets look at the tools we need.
Most of the time you’ll be testing continuity and using the Ohms scale. You want to see if you have electricity getting from point A to point B. Probably the most common use is to check spark plug wires for excessive resistance.
Test Light – This looks almost like a screwdriver except instead of a blade the end has a very sharp point. A wire comes out of the top and there is an alligator clip on the end of this wire.
The idea is to attach the clip to a good ground wire and then use the pointed end to probe a connection. You’re using the light to see if you have voltage flowing through the wire. You just keep checking the system to see exactly where the voltage stops. When the light no longer illuminates you’ve located the problem.
If you pay over $25.00 you’ve just purchased an expensive test light. The difference between this expensive one and the $5.00 one is so insignificant that it doesn’t really matter. The more expensive tool is actually a better value. The expensive ones not only last a lot longer but also are a lot easier to use.
Test Leads – You can make these from parts you buy at Radio Shack. They’re simply wires with alligator clips on both ends. You want two of them. One of them should be long enough to go from the front of the car to the back. The other one should be about two or three feet long.
These leads are used to actually replace the in car wiring during a test. Perhaps your fuel pump isn’t working. You can take the long lead and connect one end directly to your battery post and the other end to the fuel pump. If the fuel pump works with the lead in place then you have a wiring problem, not a fuel pump problem. You use these leads to trouble shoot electrical components by bypassing the wiring in the car.
Wire Strippers – Admit it. You’ve used your teeth to get the insulation off a wire. You’ve also purchased a cheap wire stripper at some flea market. Get over it. Just buy the best wire stripper you can find. This tool is going to last you the rest of your life. The expensive ones actually work a whole lot better than the cheap ones.
Sandpaper - I believe that ninety per cent of all electrical problems are caused by bad ground connections. A ground connection can only work if there is a metal to wire connection. When rust builds up you have a bad connection and an intermittent problem. Remove the ground and sandpaper everything until all the rust is gone. You now have a good ground.
Fuse Tongs - Sure you can remove fuses with your fingers but these tongs are so cheap why bother. These can be found at any local parts house. Like every other electrical tool you’re never going to wear it out so just buy the best one you can find.
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| This is why I like my Lola. Very basic. |
Get a small toolbox and put all the electrical stuff in it. This means tape, wire, shrink-wrap and connectors. There’s no need to keep your electrical tools in the main toolbox.
The most important thing is to keep all of the smoke in the wires. At one point in my life I had an MG TD. I accidentally let the smoke out of the wires and the car refused to run. The bad part was I had to buy some very special Lucas smoke from the MG dealer. Since that time I’ve been very careful around the electrical system in my cars.
