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Old 07-13-2008, 01:05 PM   #16
Cougar4
Scooby Guru
 
Member#: 53443
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Anchorage, AK
Vehicle:
2001 LL Bean Outback
Winestone

Default

Lets check out the grounding for the headlights first. We first need to make sure that you are referencing to a good ground point before we start taking measurments. One way to do that is to check for voltage drops between various ground points. With the engine running and the headlights on, start checking ground connections between the negative battery post and the negative battery clamp. Set the meter to read DC voltage and see if there is any voltage between those points. Since they should be tied together with no resistance between them there should be no voltage difference. If you have no voltage there then move the probe on the battery post to the chassis ground. Make sure there isn't any voltage there either. Keep one probe on negative battery lead and then check the engine ground the same way. You keep moving around from known good test points. The ground problem may be in the dash area so you may need to make a ground lead extension to work from the nagative lead of the battery so you can measure points inside the car. You can also make other ground points your reference point as long as you know they are good compared to the battery ground connection.

I am assuming you have a digital meter to make the checks with so you don't need to keep track of polarity on the meter probes.
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