Info: How many ohms should I have?
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Joined: Apr 2022
Posts: 10
How many ohms should I have?
I just bought an 01 and the previous owner ran wire from the driver fuse panel to the radiator fans. The car obviously had cooling issues such as temp gage not working, but from what I can tell it hasn't been over heating since I've had it.
I ordered new hoses, t stat, and temp sensor. I found the original wires that were cut from the connectors and rewired them. With everything thing back in working ordered, my investigation begins. I ohmed out the wires and relays one by one. I have 1 ohm on 3 out of 4 wires. I'm not an electrician but that seems really low to me. So my final conclusion is no continuity. I plan to run new wires from the back of the relay box to the fans. After this I'm going back to hardwire like it was when I got it
I ordered new hoses, t stat, and temp sensor. I found the original wires that were cut from the connectors and rewired them. With everything thing back in working ordered, my investigation begins. I ohmed out the wires and relays one by one. I have 1 ohm on 3 out of 4 wires. I'm not an electrician but that seems really low to me. So my final conclusion is no continuity. I plan to run new wires from the back of the relay box to the fans. After this I'm going back to hardwire like it was when I got it
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 6,465
Unfortunately its not clear enough what 2 places you're checking between for us to provide input on the result you got.
Are you trying to check resistance from one end of the wire to the other (/ continuity check)? Are you checking ground path?
1 ohm might seem low, but it sounds high if you're just checking one end of a wire to another. If I remember back to the few EE classes I took, 16 gauge copper wire is like 4 ohms per 1000 ft. A 20 foot or less run (ie pretty much any length you'd see in a car) shouldn't even be a tenth of an ohm if its just checking one end of a wire to the other.
Lack of continuity would be no reading at all (same as holding the probes up in the air). The one caution with checking continuity is that it only confirms theres at least a single strand of the wire remaining. It can't tell if say a mouse chewed through 90% of the wire or if the insulation is gone and it occasionally shorts out in a certain condition (ie accelerating/ turning / etc).
Are you trying to check resistance from one end of the wire to the other (/ continuity check)? Are you checking ground path?
1 ohm might seem low, but it sounds high if you're just checking one end of a wire to another. If I remember back to the few EE classes I took, 16 gauge copper wire is like 4 ohms per 1000 ft. A 20 foot or less run (ie pretty much any length you'd see in a car) shouldn't even be a tenth of an ohm if its just checking one end of a wire to the other.
Lack of continuity would be no reading at all (same as holding the probes up in the air). The one caution with checking continuity is that it only confirms theres at least a single strand of the wire remaining. It can't tell if say a mouse chewed through 90% of the wire or if the insulation is gone and it occasionally shorts out in a certain condition (ie accelerating/ turning / etc).
Last edited by bumpin96monte; May 1, 2022 at 03:41 PM.
Thread Starter
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Joined: Apr 2022
Posts: 10
Not the news I wanted to hear
Unfortunately its not clear enough what 2 places you're checking between for us to provide input on the result you got.
Are you trying to check resistance from one end of the wire to the other (/ continuity check)? Are you checking ground path?
1 ohm might seem low, but it sounds high if you're just checking one end of a wire to another. If I remember back to the few EE classes I took, 16 gauge copper wire is like 4 ohms per 1000 ft. A 20 foot or less run (ie pretty much any length you'd see in a car) shouldn't even be a tenth of an ohm if its just checking one end of a wire to the other.
Lack of continuity would be no reading at all (same as holding the probes up in the air). The one caution with checking continuity is that it only confirms theres at least a single strand of the wire remaining. It can't tell if say a mouse chewed through 90% of the wire or if the insulation is gone and it occasionally shorts out in a certain condition (ie accelerating/ turning / etc).
Are you trying to check resistance from one end of the wire to the other (/ continuity check)? Are you checking ground path?
1 ohm might seem low, but it sounds high if you're just checking one end of a wire to another. If I remember back to the few EE classes I took, 16 gauge copper wire is like 4 ohms per 1000 ft. A 20 foot or less run (ie pretty much any length you'd see in a car) shouldn't even be a tenth of an ohm if its just checking one end of a wire to the other.
Lack of continuity would be no reading at all (same as holding the probes up in the air). The one caution with checking continuity is that it only confirms theres at least a single strand of the wire remaining. It can't tell if say a mouse chewed through 90% of the wire or if the insulation is gone and it occasionally shorts out in a certain condition (ie accelerating/ turning / etc).
Thanks for the info
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 6,465
So you're saying you got a reading on 3 of the 4. If thats the case, doesn't that mean you've found a problem (that the 4th wire should have continuity, but doesn't - assuming you're reading the wiring diagram correct and its supposed to be an uninterrupted continuous piece of wire)?
Last edited by bumpin96monte; May 2, 2022 at 08:10 AM.
Thread Starter
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Joined: Apr 2022
Posts: 10
So you're saying you got a reading on 3 of the 4. If thats the case, doesn't that mean you've found a problem (that the 4th wire should have continuity, but doesn't - assuming you're reading the wiring diagram correct and its supposed to be an uninterrupted continuous piece of wire)?
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 6,465
Thats odd - are they all about the same gauge and run length? Over 1 ohm is pretty suspicious if they're all basically the same wire type / run. Is there any corrosion you can see in the connector ends?
Have you identified what the 4 wires do and checked to see if that output was present on both the input and output side of that wire run. Or were all 4 not providing the expected output (ie 12v, ground, signal, whatever they were supposed to have)?
Have you identified what the 4 wires do and checked to see if that output was present on both the input and output side of that wire run. Or were all 4 not providing the expected output (ie 12v, ground, signal, whatever they were supposed to have)?
Last edited by bumpin96monte; May 2, 2022 at 06:58 PM.
Thread Starter
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Joined: Apr 2022
Posts: 10
Thats odd - are they all about the same gauge and run length? Over 1 ohm is pretty suspicious if they're all basically the same wire type / run. Is there any corrosion you can see in the connector ends?
Have you identified what the 4 wires do and checked to see if that output was present on both the input and output side of that wire run. Or were all 4 not providing the expected output (ie 12v, ground, signal, whatever they were supposed to have)?
Have you identified what the 4 wires do and checked to see if that output was present on both the input and output side of that wire run. Or were all 4 not providing the expected output (ie 12v, ground, signal, whatever they were supposed to have)?
I got a piece of test wire that measured out to be 8 ohms.
I did locate a questionable ground and made a repair. Retested factory wire from the relay box to the fans. Also between 8-5 ohms, so I did not run new wire. After a coolant flush and new sensors I'm pleased to say that fans are working properly and was able to remove someone's ummmm, mess.
Coolant system is closed and moving forward to vacuum leaks. Thanks for everyone's help and suggestions.
Never thought this car would capture me
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