Electrical Shorts everywhere. Ididit Steering Column possibly?

Old Aug 2, 2024 | 03:51 PM
  #1  
Kruegmeister's Avatar
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Default Electrical Shorts everywhere. Ididit Steering Column possibly?

I get a 3 ohm short from Negative to Positive with the Battery Disconnected.
When I pulled the Fuse in the Top Left Corner it goes away.
So with my meter on Continuity so I can listen to the Beep
While that fuse is out if hit the Brake Pedal it shorts. If I turn the Key from off it shorts. Wiggle the Key it goes away & comes back.
Looks to be an Ididit replacement column



 
Old Aug 5, 2024 | 10:16 AM
  #2  
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I'll try to help...let's think about what you are describing:

I get a 3 ohm short from Negative to Positive with the Battery Disconnected. 3 ohms may not necessarily be a short, it may indicate something is just on. Can be due to a 4 amp circuit draw somewhere when the 12V is present. There are circuits that run from the battery that are not defeated when the ign. switch is off.

When I pulled the Fuse in the Top Left Corner it goes away. On my car (68 Corvette with similar fuse block) this fuse is connected on the left side to the cigarette lighter, the courtesy lights and the clock. The fuse is directly connected to the + battery on the right side. Was the door open causing the lights to be in the circuit?

So with my meter on Continuity so I can listen to the Beep. While that fuse is out if hit the Brake Pedal it shorts. On my car the brake lights are also directly connected to the battery and the brake lights will come on when petal is pressed no matter what position the ign. switch is. There again you may be seeing a low resistance due to the brake light bulbs being in the circuit.

If I turn the Key from off it shorts. Again something may be on that should not be or normal running current.

Wiggle the Key it goes away & comes back. Looks to be an Ididit replacement column. This could be an issue here...perhaps a loose connection at the switch back or a pinched wire or even a defective switch.
​​​​​​​
You may want to get the colored wiring diagrams of your car and the Ididit column to further help with your investigation. Best of luck.



 
Old Aug 5, 2024 | 10:26 AM
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Originally Posted by ChevyGuyToo
I'll try to help...let's think about what you are describing:

I get a 3 ohm short from Negative to Positive with the Battery Disconnected. 3 ohms may not necessarily be a short, it may indicate something is just on. Can be due to a 4 amp circuit draw somewhere when the 12V is present. There are circuits that run from the battery that are not defeated when the ign. switch is off.

When I pulled the Fuse in the Top Left Corner it goes away. On my car (68 Corvette with similar fuse block) this fuse is connected on the left side to the cigarette lighter, the courtesy lights and the clock. The fuse is directly connected to the + battery on the right side. Was the door open causing the lights to be in the circuit?

So with my meter on Continuity so I can listen to the Beep. While that fuse is out if hit the Brake Pedal it shorts. On my car the brake lights are also directly connected to the battery and the brake lights will come on when petal is pressed no matter what position the ign. switch is. There again you may be seeing a low resistance due to the brake light bulbs being in the circuit.

If I turn the Key from off it shorts. Again something may be on that should not be or normal running current.

Wiggle the Key it goes away & comes back. Looks to be an Ididit replacement column. This could be an issue here...perhaps a loose connection at the switch back or a pinched wire or even a defective switch.

You may want to get the colored wiring diagrams of your car and the Ididit column to further help with your investigation. Best of luck.
Yes Door was Open. Now that you've explained about the lights it makes a lot of sense. I wasn't thinking old school enough where everything is running off switches & not to an ECU...
 
Old Aug 5, 2024 | 10:48 AM
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Originally Posted by Kruegmeister
Yes Door was Open. Now that you've explained about the lights it makes a lot of sense. I wasn't thinking old school enough where everything is running off switches & not to an ECU...
Another somewhat non-intuitive thing is that the control switches are often in the ground side wiring.
 
Old Aug 12, 2024 | 12:31 PM
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Out of curiosity I measured the resistance on my car (68 Corvette) and got an even lower 1.8 ohms for the courtesy lights and also a low .8 ohms for the brake lights (4 light bulbs). This seems quite low and my meter may not be measuring very accurately at such low values. No lights on measurement was in the 1000's of ohms. So the values you measured may be normal for your car.
 

Last edited by ChevyGuyToo; Aug 17, 2024 at 09:45 AM.
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