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<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Mike,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>The wording of your questions lead me to believe
that you have very little experience servicing electrical circuits, so my
response below is written about as simple as I can make it. I hope it helps you
find the problem.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>All fuses can be tested with a multi meter that is
set to Ohms and the RX1 scale with the meter turned on. Remove
the fuse and touch the leads one to each of the fuse contacts while holding the
fuse in your hands. With both leads connected to the fuse the meter should read
9999 (infinity) before you touch the leads and nearly 0.00 ohms when the
leads are connected. If the meter stays at or near the 9.999 reading, the fuse
is bad. If it reads anywhere near 0.00 ohms the fuse is good. Plug it back in
and go to the next fuse, remove it and do the same test on it. You can test all
of the fuses this same way in about 10 minutes. The one that doesn't read close
to zero ohms (doesn't deflect the meter needle) is the bad one. Find or buy
another</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>fuse of the same type and with the same ampere
rating, test it just like you did the other fuses to be certain that it's good,
and then install it. The multi meter should never be connected to a voltage
source when it is set to any Ohms or Ampere scales. You will damage the
meter if you do this. Always set the meter to the correct scale for the
iintended test BEFORE connecting the leads. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Fuses are designed to shut off the power to a
circuit when an overload condition occurs. You will need to find and correct the
reason that the fuse blew out before replacing the fuse. If you don't, the new
fuse will blow out too. It's a good idea to keep a set of spare fuses in the
vehicle to help keep you from getting stranded. Carrying a copy of the
electrical diagram and a multi meter in the car is a good idea too.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>You can buy a multi meter for as little as about $6
from Harbour Freight that will be sufficient for voltage and resistance tests,
but don't expect it to last forever. You get what you pay for. Similar, but
much better made, multi meters are available for as much as $300. They will last
longer and be more accurate, but the Harbour Freight meter will be adequate for
finding basic electrical problems in your Interceptor. Heck, at $6 you
can buy a new one each time you have an electrical problem. I have several good
quality multi meters for serious electrical work, but I also have about a dozen
of these Harbor Freight meters scattered around where I might need them, one in
each car, one in the boat, one in each tool box, etc.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>You can do many other tests with your multi meter
once you have a basic understanding of electrical circuits and how to use the
meter to diagnose electrical problems. With the multi meter set to DC Volts and
the meter turned on you can test your battery voltage by touching the leads of
the meter to the battery terminals, one lead to each terminal, and you can also
look to see if voltage is reaching your tail lights by connecting the black lead
to the vehicle frame (bare metal) and the red lead to the wire connection (bare
metal) at the tail light. When the light is supposed to be lit the meter should
read about 12 volts DC. You can follow the wiring back toward the
headlight/tailight switch checking each electrical connection point where
the tail light wiring connects to see if voltage is present the same way,
looking to see where there is voltage present and where it is not
present.Working from the tail light to the headlight/tail light switch
the problem will be between the first place that has voltage present and the
last place that you tested where the voltage was not present. Looking carefully
at the wiring between these two points should allow you to see the
problem. It helps a whole lot to have a wiring diagram of the circuit that
is malfunctioning, so you can see where all the places are that the wire
connects. It's like a road map for the wires and it makes finding electrical
problems much easier. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Charley</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial> </FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=silly_little_cars@lists.sillylittlecars.com
href="mailto:silly_little_cars@lists.sillylittlecars.com">Mike Aisenfeld via
Silly_little_cars</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=sillylittlecars@sillylittlecars.com
href="mailto:sillylittlecars@sillylittlecars.com">Silly Little Cars</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, October 13, 2015 3:14
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Silly Little Cars] Brake Lights
Out</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 16px">
<DIV id=yui_3_16_0_1_1444702427334_5540>Hey Everyone,</DIV>
<DIV id=yui_3_16_0_1_1444702427334_5554><BR></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr id=yui_3_16_0_1_1444702427334_5555>This question isn't nearly as
exciting as some of the recent posts, but it will be very helpful to
fix. I have a 99 Interceptor (Ford powertrain) and my brake lights went
out a few weeks back. I would usually check the fuse and then replace
the switch if it wasn't a fuse. I hit a wall with both of these simple
tasks. <BR></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr id=yui_3_16_0_1_1444702427334_5680>Rather than a standard fuse
box, there seems to be a series of large square fuses along the engine
compartment just behind the cab. The previous owner painted over all of
the fuses when the car was painted so I don't know which is which. I
also don't know how to test these types of fuses. Any idea which one
would control the brake lights or how to test them?</DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr id=yui_3_16_0_1_1444702427334_5681>I then thought I would just
replace the brake switch, but you can't access the back of the master cylinder
from the front when you remove the sheet metal panel and the dash is riveted
together. I can drill through the rivets, but I thought I would check in
before I started taking things apart. Any pointers here?</DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr id=yui_3_16_0_1_1444702427334_5725><BR></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr id=yui_3_16_0_1_1444702427334_5731>Many thanks,</DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr id=yui_3_16_0_1_1444702427334_5733><BR></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr id=yui_3_16_0_1_1444702427334_5735>Mike</DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr id=yui_3_16_0_1_1444702427334_5737>SF<BR></DIV></DIV>
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