If you're doing any sort of electrical troubleshooting you will invariably be tesing for power and ground. Power is fairly easy, if you don't have any, trace back to where the electrons got stuck and you'll probably have your explanation.

But, ground can be a bit tricker, so here's a good tip: make yourself a 15' set of small jumper cables from an old (or new!) extension cord and get good battery size clamps for one end, small alligator clips on other. Once you hook this up to your battery you'll have a known good ground to test with and it'll reach most anywhere on your car.

If you're really brave you can use this with both power and ground, just be very careful the ends do touch.

Richard Sexton