With each new model year, advances in vehicle electronics bring challenges and opportunities to service professionals. Keeping all those advanced systems running properly can be simple with the right tools. With electronics, the vast majority of problems and failures often come down to basic, simple solutions, such as bad connections, broken wires, failed components and inadequate power or ground.
How many times have you performed a diagnostic scan, found trouble codes for a defective component, then replaced it only to find the problem still exists? That’s when you have to go back to basics and analyze the involved circuits one by one to find the true source of the trouble.
To do that, you need proper tools. A scan tool is a great start to point you in the right direction. A decent voltmeter/multimeter is also a must-‐have. You may even have access to an oscilloscope for more advanced diagnostic techniques. But, connecting such tools to a vehicle isn’t easy. Each manufacturer uses unique connectors and all you may have are a few alligator clip leads that keep falling off. Or, you must take measurements on components that are difficult to reach and inaccessible.
The solution is a comprehensive set of diagnostic test leads, such as those from Strategic Tool & Equipment Company, in the many different connector sizes that you encounter on today’s vehicles. Simply unplug the device in question, connect the mating correctly sized test lead, connect your meter or scope, and begin taking measurements. Strategic has even analyzed what connector sizes each manufacturer commonly uses, and provides an application guide to assist. Strategic offers two kits with a comprehensive array of connection possibilities. The ATLK96 kit has male/female adapter leads in many commonly used sizes that go directly to banana sockets, ready to connect to your equipment for taking measurements. For the more seasoned tech, the ASLK12 kit offers an assortment of “Y” cables, each with a male, female, and banana socket, so you can connect and measure up to five circuits or signals simultaneously, powered or unpowered. In addition, these kits also have adapters to plug into various size fuse sockets, insulation piercing probes to access signals when no connector is accessible, needle style back probes, LED test lamps for checking power or watching injector signals, and airbag simulators for simplifying your work when you must remove an airbag to access other components and don’t want to accidentally set troublesome airbag codes.
You will quickly find these kits dramatically reduce your diagnostic and test setup times, thus increasing your productivity when working on electronics. They enable quick and easy access to all the test points and circuits you need to track down your particular problem.
