How to Fix Electrical Shorts in Your Automobile
Shorts in a car's electrical system can cause all sorts of extraordinary behavior. The short may cause the battery to discharge rapidly or the car stereo to power off unexpectedly, or it may cause fuses to blow. Once you've located the short, you must fix it to return the automobile to its normal operating state. If the short is internal to a component such as the alternator or a switch, replacing the deficient component will solve the issue. If the short is in the wiring, however, the wire must be repaired and the cause of the short remedied.
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Things You'll Need
- Soldering iron
- Spool of lead-free solder
- Solder flux
- 2-inch piece of heat shrink
- Heat gun
- Safety goggles
- Damp rag
- Wire loom or braided wire covering
Instructions
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Repair the Short
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1
Plug-in the solder iron to allow it to heat up. Disconnect the negative cable from the car battery to prevent personal injury or further damage to the automobile.
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2
Sever the shorted wire just above and below the damage that caused the short. Strip the protective insulation away from both ends of the severed wire to expose 1/2 inch of bare wire.
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3
Slide the heat shrink tube over one of the ends and slide it out of the way.
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4
Weave the exposed strands of the two ends into each other to essentially make one complete wire. If they will not sufficiently combine, slightly twist the two ends together for support while soldering.
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5
Put on the safety goggles.
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6
Dip the tip of the iron in the flux then wipe it clean with a damp rag. Continue this step until the tip is perfectly clean. The tip is clean when solder will completely cover the tip without voids or clumps.
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7
Heat the exposed wire slightly with the iron and apply a couple drops of flux to clean the wiring.
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8
Heat the exposed wire again with the iron, this time getting it hot enough to melt the solder. As soon as the solder begins to melt on contact with the heated wire, run the solder across the exposed wiring. The solder is extremely runny and will work itself between the individual wire strands, then rapidly cool to form a strong, conductive bond.
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9
Slide the heat shrink tube over the repair section of wire. Melt it in place with the heat gun.
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10
Reconnect the negative battery cable to the negative post.
Prevent Repeat Damage
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11
Inspect the wire bundle for foreign objects which may have caused the damage the remove them. Wrap the wire or wire bundle with protective loom or braided wire covering.
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12
Inspect all of the support braces or brackets holding the wire or wire bundle in place. If any are loose, deteriorated or missing bushings, make the appropriate repair.
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13
Inspect the movable surfaces around the repaired wire. If any contact the wire or wire bundle in any way, either reposition the wiring or reseat the movable surface to reclaim its factory range of motion.
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14
Inspect the automobile surfaces around the short for burrs or splintered material. Use sandpaper to remove any surface irregularities.
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1
Tips & Warnings
If the discrepant wire is too short to repair after removing the damaged section, install an additional length of same-gauged wire using two solder joints.
References
- Photo Credit Dynamic Graphics Group/Dynamic Graphics Group/Getty Images
