For 1990-2009 cars

Most intermittents are caused by faulty electrical connections or wiring. Some items to check are:

• | Poor mating of connector halves, or terminals not fully seated in the connector body (backed out).

• | Dirt or corrosion on the terminals. The terminals must be clean and free of any foreign material which could impede proper terminal contact.

• | Damaged connector body, exposing the terminals to moisture and dirt, failure to maintain proper terminal orientation with the component or the mating connector.

• | Improperly formed or damaged terminals. Inspect all connector terminals in problem circuits carefully in order to ensure good contact tension. Use a corresponding mating terminal in order to check for proper tension. Refer to Repairing Connector Terminals in Wiring Systems for the specific procedure.

• | Use the J 35616 Connector Test Adapter Kit whenever a diagnostic procedure requests testing or probing a terminal. Using the adapter will ensure that no damage occurs to the terminal and determines sufficfient contact tension. If contact tension seems incorrect, refer to Repairing Connector Terminals in Wiring Systems for the specific procedure.

• | Poor terminal-to-wire connection. Test for the following conditions:

- | Poor crimps

- | Poor solder joints

- | Crimping over wire insulation rather than the wire itself

- | Corrosion in the wire-to-terminal contact area

• | Wire insulation which is rubbed through. This causes an intermittent short where the bare area touches other wiring or parts of the vehicle.

• | Wiring broken inside the insulation. This condition could cause a continuity check in order to show a good circuit, but if only one or two strands of a multi-strand type wire are intact, resistance could be extremely high.

In order to avoid any of the above problems when making wiring or terminal repairs, always follow the instructions for wiring and terminal repair detailed in Wiring Repair .