#wiring
11 posts in Car Diagnostics blog about "wiring" — OBD-II diagnostics, DTC codes, repair. ← All posts
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Boot or tailgate will not open: latch, switch or module
A tailgate that refuses to open has a small set of causes, and one of them is a wiring loom that flexes every time you use it.
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OBD port has no power: fuse, pin 16 and what to test
A dead diagnostic socket is nearly always a blown fuse, and the fuse blew for a reason. Here is how to confirm it in two minutes and what to check before replacing it.
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P0102 and P0103: MAF circuit low and high input
These two codes mean the MAF signal left its electrical window entirely. Unlike P0101 they point at wiring, connectors and power supply far more often than at the sensor itself.
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The rear wiper and tailgate electrics
A tailgate houses several systems, and all of them run through one loom. Why they fail together.
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Aftermarket accessories: why the car started misbehaving after the dash cam went in
Dash cams, alarms, seat heaters, and audio are the most common cause of electrical faults that then get hunted for weeks inside factory systems. How they cause damage and how to avoid it.
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Washing the engine bay: why codes appear afterwards and the car will not start
A clean engine bay looks good and occasionally costs a lot. What actually suffers from pressurised water, why the problems arrive days later, and how to wash without consequences.
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Towbars and electronics: why cheap wiring produces faults across the whole car
The mechanical part of fitting a towbar is simple. The electrical part is not: a modern car has to "know" a trailer is attached, or the stability systems operate on the wrong rules.
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Burning smell in a car: eight sources and how to tell them apart by scent
Burning wiring, a slipping clutch, oil on the manifold, and overheated pads all smell different. Diagnosis by the character of the smell, when it appears, and what diagnostics shows alongside.
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The LIN bus: half the car that never appears at the diagnostic port
Window motors, mirrors, the rain sensor, the alternator, the climate system — all of it lives on a second network, cheaper and slower than CAN. The OBD port cannot see it at all, which is why some faults "cannot be diagnosed".
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P0201–P0206: injector circuit — when the wire is at fault, not the injector
These codes name a specific cylinder, which is why they get read as "the injector died". In fact the module is complaining about an electrical circuit, and the injector is only one of three elements in it.
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U0100: lost communication with the engine module — and why the car still drives
The most common network code. Somebody on the bus stopped hearing the engine control module — and that almost never means the module itself has died. Causes from a voltage sag to a broken bus wire.