| Other Electrical Repairs |
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What else could go wrong? The most common electrical repair on your car will probably be replacing a light bulb. As with most repairs on the modern (meaning cramped) car the problem is getting to the part. Some car manufacturers make it relatively easy to replace burned out bulbs while others think you should have a mechanic for everything. Tech Tip The filament, the part of the light bulb that glows, is typically the first part of the bulb to fail. Frequently, a bulb doesn’t glow because the connection to the car is loose. Carefully turning a bulb (be careful not to break the bulb’s glass) may solve the problem. Of course, check the car’s fuses first to see if the fuse is blown. This is especially true if more than one light is out at the same time. In general, most car lights are replaced by removing the front lens or the rear of the light fixture. Taking a few minutes to study the problem should tell you which is the right way. If the lens cover has screws on it, chances are they are for accessing the bulbs. If you can easily see the rear of the light fixture and it has a boot where the power wire comes in, carefully removing the boot may yield the bulb as well. You can perform dozens of other electrical tests and repairs using the VOM introduced earlier in this section. Because modern cars are 12 volts DC, make sure you set the scale to a higher range (such as 20 VDC) before testing. And don’t forget to use the ohmmeter part of the VOM to determine whether a specific part intended to conduct electricity actually will. Basic instructions come with a new VOM.
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