As
an
owner of a car, I find myself becoming
educated on the subject of automotive wiring. Since I am just about the
last person who should be playing with anything that
has electrical current running through it, I was hesitant to attempt to
tackle the issue of automotive wiring. However my
vehicle decided otherwise when it started to randomly select electrical
systems that it wanted to me tamper with. When the
electric seat belts started to slide back and forth without reason as I
drove down the highway, I decided I better figure
out how to tamper with the electric systems, considering the exuberant
rate of automotive repair.
I
found myself with a decision to either, break down and spend $100 an
hour for a so-called expert to look at it and try to
repair it, or I could learn how the electrical system of my car worked.
Considering my level of ignorance I probably was going
to try to conquer the impossible. After all the only thing I knew about
electrical systems is that AC/DC was a rock band and
that dummies and wiring usually did not get along.
However
despite my reluctance, I set out to learn
what I could about automotive wiring. I quickly learned that there is a
huge supply of information available on the subject
of automotive wiring. A quick search on Google provided me with an
array of information. There are many different levels of
sites offering information.
Some
sites provided a basic overview of the average
electrical system of most cars. A company named Long Island Customs
offered some great basic information. They stated that
their information was simply for a basic understanding and not for a
detailed explanation of particular models. However they
actually provide some thorough information on basic systems such as AC
and lighting. They also provide some great trouble
shooting information.
Another
site for general information on electrical systems is TBud.com. This
educational
website offered general programs on electrical systems in their
integrated publishing section.
AllDetailDIY.com
considers itself the leading source of professional diagnostic
information. They offer full diagnostic flow charts of automotive
electrical systems. Their charts offer both system and component
perspectives.
I
found
a great site for
individual systems that covered all American made cars from 1985 to
2009. Wiringdiagram.com breaks it down by system, such
as headlights, computer data lines and AC systems. Their individualized
charts start at $5.99. They also offer information
on 1960-1984 models starting at $6.99. They print the information into
an Adobe PDF document and offer rushed service guaranteed
to provide you with the diagrams for your particular car in less than
24 hours.
Bulldog.com
offers a basic explanation of electrical information in an MS Word
document; however they do not supply charts or schematics.
Two
other sites that I found to offer great information were Freeauto.com
and 12voltresource.com. Freeauto.com provides
complete color diagnostics for most makes and models. What I found
interesting(?) is freeauto will provide you these color
automotive electrical charts and all the other information on their
informative website for $11.99. They also assist you with
basic electrical theory, electrical harnesses and test equipment.
12voltresource.com
offers a CD-ROM
that contains wiring systems for every car from 1979 to 2009, for only
$17.98. They also offer CD-ROMs and instant downloads
for specific models of cars. They only charge $14.98 for this
information.
I
also
decided to look around
to see if I could find manufacturers’ manuals that offer automotive
electrical diagrams for
particular
makes and models. What I found was that Haynes Auto Repair Manuals
offer a repair manual for just about every major make and
model of car. These thorough repair manuals explain every system on
particular models in an easy to understand format. I found
that these manuals offer electrical charts for their models. I found
Haynes manuals available at several sources including
their own website for $24.95 and Barnes and Nobles for $22.95 with a
membership. The best deal I found on these manuals was
Books-A-Million, who offers most Haynes manuals for only $16.45.
So
whether you are like me and you
don’t know the first thing about automotive electrical
systems or even if you are educated in electrical systems you
will find these sources to be of great help. If you still desire
additional information you may want to contact your local
car dealer or mechanic.
