mortman

I installed a ron Francis harness system and everything was working fine, I made no electrical changes after completion, i noticed the other day one of the front side maker lenses was burnt from the inside. I turned on the lights and in 2 seconds the lens cover was smoking hot. the other side is just fine, the curcut is the same so dont get it!
I have a multi meter but really don't know how to use it

Thanks for any help

hightower2011

Think it has something to do with the bulb? I don't know much on the electrical side of things.

zmetalmilitia

A multimeter is easy to use. Turn the dial to the dc voltage selector usually something that has a v with a flat line over it, representing dc or direct current. Ac will be a wavy line. Take one of the leads and touch the hot terminal and the other to ground. You can easily try this on your battery since there are only two posts. If you read a negative voltage, that means you have the "ground" lead on the hot terminal. No biggie, just swap leads around and you'll have a positive reading.

You can check the voltage at your bulb socket side marker using the same method stated above, with the switch to the side marker lights on of course.

I'm a little amazed that you installed a complete wiring harness and you don't know how to use a multimeter.

mortman

Thanks I will give it w whorl.... Reading a wiring diagram is easy, but a multi meeter is another issue or at least the 1 I have Thanks for the advice, i will keep you posted.

bodyputtyless

You have omitted a ground somewhere. The electrical circuit always looks for the path of least resistance, and in order to "light" up any loads it requires a ground. It appears your electrical circuit is using the filament in the bulb that is getting hot as the ground for the entire circuit. I don't know what year car you have, but you need to make sure ground wires that may have been connected to things like the bumpers or the body have been reconnected. When I restored my Mach 1 I scratched my head foe days trying to figure out why my electrical circuits were acting weird. Then after staring at the schematic for an eternity I realized I did not have the front bumper on the car, which was where the circuit grounded. Problem solved. Also, some grounds are filaments in bulbs. Using the high beam filament for a ground for sosme circuits is common. BTW. Take ten minutes and learn how to use the multimeter. You'll have no shot unless you do.