Electrical Automotive Troubleshooting

Diagnosing Voltage Drop

One of the most rampant electrical maladies showing up in automotive service bays today is
the phenomenon known as voltage drop. Left unchecked, voltage drop causes countless
unsolved electrical mysteries, especially when it infects the ground side of a circuit. It can
also trick you into replacing parts that are not bad.

The more connections and wiring a vehicle has, the more vulnerable the electrical system is
to voltage drop.

To contain electrical voltage drop, practice safe electrical service. This means measuring
voltage drop before reaching any conclusions. "Voltage dropping" a circuit tell you when the
circuit is too restricted to operate a component (motor, relay, light bulb, etc.) or operate it
correctly. If the circuit is restricted, repair it and retest. If there is no restriction and the
component still does not run or run correctly, then replace the component.

In this example, if the water pipe completely collapses, water stops flowing, pressure drops
to zero and the water wheel stops turning. Electrically, the same thing happens when a wire
falls off or a connection breaks. Current stops flowing, voltage drops to zero. A starter motor
would quit or a headlight would go out.

Symptoms of voltage drop 

Often confusing and contradictory, electrical voltage drop symptoms vary according to the
circuit's job and the severity of the voltage drop.

 inoperative electrical parts

 sluggish, lazy electrical devices
 erratic, intermittent devices
 devices that work sluggishly or erratically during periods of high electrical loads
 excessive radio interference or noises in the radio
 damaged throttle or transmission cables or linkage
 repeated throttle or transmission cable failures
 damaged drivetrain parts
 engine or transmission performance complaints
 no-starts or hard starts
 high sensor or computer voltages
 erratic engine or transmission computer performance
 false trouble codes in the memory of any on-board computer
 premature or repeated A/C compressor clutch failure.

This symptom list brings up several points.

1. Visual inspections miss most cases of electrical voltage drop. You usually can't see
the corrosion inside a connection or the damaged wire that is causing the problem.
2. Ground-side voltage drop, a commonly overlooked cause of electrical trouble, can
 cause most of these symptoms. Any circuit or component is only as good as its
ground.
3. The more sophisticated electrical systems become, the more important their grounds
are. The number of electrical components has increased rapidly and most do not
have separate ground wires. Instead, these devices are grounded to the engine or
body. Rust, grease, vibration and/or careless repairs often restrict the circuit from
the engine/body back to the battery.
4. Many components such as engine sensors share a common ground. Therefore, a bad
ground complicates diagnosis because it affects several components at once.
5. Some shop manuals and diagnostic charts or fault trees recommend checking
grounds last. In reality, it is much quicker to check ground circuits before you climb
that fault tree.
6. It's quicker and smarter to routinely check a circuit's voltage drop than it is to
memorize long lists of symptoms. If experience has taught us nothing else, it's that
chasing symptoms is no substitute for routine and thorough voltage drop testing.

Experience has taught us other reasons to check voltage drop first. Voltage drop, usually on
the ground side, causes inaccurate or bizarre voltmeter readings and oscilloscope patterns.
Moreover, when you connect a voltmeter or scope to a system with bad grounds, the test
equipment itself can create a good substitute ground. This can be frustrating: as long as your
equipment is connected, the circuit works and you can't find anything wrong!

Basic procedures 
Whenever an electrical problem gives you fits, take a deep breath and think of the basic
electrical building block, the series circuit. Drawings 1 through 7 show basic series circuits.
No matter how complicated a system is you can always simplify it into mini-series circuits.
Then, inspect each circuit for voltage drop.

Also, relate electricity to water flowing through a water circuit. Water pressure inside the
reservoir pushes gallons of water through the pipe. The water turns the water wheel and
then flows back into the reservoir. In an electrical circuit, electrical pressure (voltage or
volts) pushes electrical volume (current or amps) through the circuit, operating a load. The
load may be a computer, a motor, a lamp, a relay, or other device. In the water circuit, the
water uses up most of its energy turning the water wheel. Water continues flowing toward
the reservoir, but it flows at a lower pressure.

Likewise, electrical pressure (voltage) is used up operating the load. Therefore, voltage falls
to about zero on the ground side, but current keeps flowing toward the battery. Because the
voltage in a healthy ground circuit should be about zero, some technicians call it ground
zero.

A kinked return pipe restricts water flow back to the reservoir, slowing down the water wheel
and causing a pressure reading on the return side of the wheel. Likewise, ground side
voltage drop hurts load performance and causes a voltage reading at the ground side of the
load.

Resistance—Restriction 
When you think of excessive resistance, imagine a dent or kink that is restricting water flow
through a pipe. Common sense should tell you that a kink anywhere in the water circuit
(supply side or return side) restricts water flow, causing the water wheel to slow down or
stop turning.
Excessive resistance has the same effect on an electrical circuit. Bad connections and broken
or under size wires act like a pipe with a kink, restricting current flow. Like the water circuit,
restricting current flow anywhere — hot side or ground side — hurts the performance of the
load. The effect on the load is hard to predict because it varies with the severity of the
restriction. For example, the motor in a restricted circuit may stop working or just run slower
than normal.
A restricted circuit can cause an A/C compressor clutch to slip and prematurely burn out. A
computer on a restricted circuit may shut off or else work erratically. When corrosion, loose
connections or other types of resistance restrict a circuit, volts and amps both drop. If volts
drop, amps drop too. That is why when you find a voltage drop in a connection or cable, you
know the connection or cable is restricted.

Look at the water circuits in our drawings and remember two critical points. First, a free-
flowing ground side is as important as a free-flowing hot side. Second, a ground side
restriction is the only thing that causes voltage readings greater than 0–0.1V in any ground
circuit.

A completely collapsed return pipe stops water flow, stalling the water wheel and causing a
system pressure reading at the return side of the wheel. Likewise, a broken ground wire
totally blocks current flow, shuts off the load and causes the ground side of the load to read
system voltage.

Voltage drop tests 

Electrical voltage drop varies according to current flow. Unless you operate the circuit so
current flows through it, you can't measure voltage drop. Because an ohmmeter's battery
can't supply the current that normally flows through most circuits, ohmmeter tests usually
can't detect restrictions as accurately as a voltage drop test.

Open-circuit problems such as broken or disconnected wires or connections stop current

flow. After you fix an open circuit, switch the circuit on again and check for lingering voltage
drop. Until you get current flowing and check the circuit again, you can't know if the entire
circuit is healthy.

Although resistance-free connections, wires and cables would be ideal, most of them will
contain at least some voltage drop. If your manuals do not list voltage drop values, use the
following as maximum limits:

 0.00V across a connection

 0.20V across a wire or cable
 0.30V across a switch
 0.10V at a ground
Because most computer circuits operate way down in the milliamp range, they don't tolerate
voltage drop as well as other circuits do. Note that a milliamp is one-thousandth (0.001)
amp. The recommended working limit is 0.10V-drop across low-current wires and switches.
Testing low-current circuits also requires a high-impedance (10-megohm) voltmeter. A low-
impedance voltmeter may load a low-current circuit so much that it gives an incorrect
reading or no reading whatsoever! Most professional-grade digital multimeters (DMMs) have
10-megohm input impedance. Using a DMM is the fastest way to accurately measure voltage
drops. If the DMM you own does not have autoranging capability, use a low-voltage (0-1 V)
scale for voltage drop testing. Remember that test lights are not accurate enough to
diagnose electrical voltage drop.

Quick ground tests 

Because ground circuit voltage drop can cause most of the symptoms listed earlier, consider
adopting this new work habit: test grounds first! Before you do a tune-up, check out
electrical problems, or test a starting, charging, ABS or air conditioning system, routinely test
the engine and body grounds. Connect your DMM between the engine and negative battery
terminal. Safely disarm the ignition and crank the engine for a few seconds.

If the voltage drop is excessive, repair the engine ground circuit and retest. Note that on
some distributorless ignition systems, the simplest way to prevent the engine from starting
during the ground test is to pull the fuel pump fuse. Next, connect the DMM between the
negative battery terminal and the vehicle's firewall. Then start the engine and switch on all
the major electrical accessories. Too much voltage drop? Then fix the body ground and
retest.

Once engine and body grounds are within limits, proceed with your diagnosis. Do not be
surprised if fixing these grounds solves the car's problems. The fact that a vehicle passes the
body ground test does not mean you can safely ground your voltmeter wherever you want.
Some technicians have run themselves in circles for hours because their voltmeters were not
well grounded. For safe electrical service, make yourself a 20- or 30- foot jumper wire with
an alligator clip on each end. When you have to test an electric fuel pump, lighting system or
ABS computer in the rear of the vehicle, ground your DMM to the battery with the jumper
wire.

Computer ground kinks 

Because computer circuits operate on such low current, the standard ground tests may not
reveal a marginal ground on an on-board computer. Before you condemn any on-board
computer, check its grounds first. Operate the computer system and backprobe each
computer ground terminal. If you measure anything greater than 0.10V, trace that ground
circuit and locate the problem.

Sometimes, computer grounds are connected to a spot where they are easily disturbed or
prone to corrosion, such as a thermostat-housing bolt. Computer connector terminals also
can corrode. Removing the connector and spraying the terminals with electrical cleaner may
be all it takes to eliminate the voltage drop.

Experience shows that as little as 0.30V on a computer ground terminal can cause trouble.
Try pinpointing that with a test light! Poor computer and/or sensor grounds can cause higher-
than-normal sensor voltages and false trouble codes. In many cases, the bad ground
prevents the computer or sensor from pulling a voltage signal down to or near ground zero.
Sure, accessing the computer to check grounds may be a hassle. Nevertheless, mistakenly
replacing expensive sensors and computers is a bigger hassle.
Connect a DMM across part of a circuit and it directly reads the voltage drop across that
wire, cable, switch, or connection. Here, one DMM would display the voltage loss between
the battery and the load. The other would show the voltage loss from the ground side of the
load to the battery.

Body ground gremlins 

Keep your eyes peeled for missing body grounds. If someone else worked on the vehicle, he
may have forgotten to reconnect body ground wires or cables. Remember that when the
body ground is restricted, current tries to find another route back to the battery. The easiest
alternate route may he through the transmission shift cable or the throttle cable. Not only
can this current weld the cable together, it also can pit or erode bushings and bearings
inside the transmission.

If you find the insulation on the body ground wire is burnt or blistered, you can bet that
starter current overheated the wire. When the engine ground is restricted, starter current
tries to return to the battery through the body ground circuit. Experience shows that if the
body ground circuit can handle the current load, the customer may not notice the problem
right away.

Under periods of heavy current flow, a restricted body ground may hamper or shut off a
component. For example, turn signals have been known to stop blinking when the driver
steps on the brake pedal. Testing confirmed that a restricted body ground choked off the
turn signals. The ground could not handle current from the turn signals and brake lights at
the same time.

Safe service 
Practicing safe electrical service helps you solve electrical problems quicker and more
profitably than guessing and swapping parts. Put your DMM to work wiping out electrical
voltage drop today. It is the responsible thing to do.