Repairing car electronics
This page about repairing car electronics is meant to open your mind to the possibilities of fixing an electronic component as opposed to replacing it. Below I will include an example of how I fixed an electronics problem on my old 88 300ZX and saved big bucks. Repair of car electronics should not be confused with an electrical repair which would be more of a wiring repair. Instead we're talking about diagnosing and repairing things such as relays and circuit boards that are used throughout the automobile. Often when we diagnose an electrical car part that is not working our first reaction is to just replace it. This page is about going one step further and actually looking into what is wrong with that individual component. This can not only save you money on replacement parts but can also help prevent repeat failures of that given component.
Example of repairing car electronicsBefore I get into the story of my 300ZX, just yesterday I repaired a horn that was not working without any out-of-pocket costs on replacement parts. It was actually this repair that got me thinking that writing this page was necessary. I was working on a 96 Chevrolet Lumina and the complaint was the horn was not working.
I used my standard diagnostic methods and found that there was no power at the horn. The interesting part about the diagnosis was that every time I pushed on the horn pad I could hear the relay clicking.The fact that the relay was energizing meant that the integrity of the circuit was intact. Yet no power flowed to the horn itself. I checked the four legs of the horn relay and found that the relay itself was the problem. Instead of just replacing it I decided to pull the cover off of the relay. I found the relay contacts had heavy amounts of green corrosion on them. I took an Emory board nail file and cleaned the contacts. When I reinstalled the relay, it worked just fine. In this case the relay would have only cost about $20 but that part was not readily available. Repairing the existing relay made for a happy customer.
300ZX electronics repair
I owned a 1998 300ZX in pristine condition that I considered a hobby car. This vehicle had an annoying problem with the digital dash. Every time you hit a bump the display would flicker and sometimes go out. I bought a factory 300ZX repair manual to follow the diagnostic chart for the symptoms. The digital dash received signals from what they called in the service manual a "power module". I performed an output test with my meter as instructed. I got a good power reading coming out of the module but every time I would tap the module case, the power would fluctuate. My first instinct was to buy a replacement power module. But the age of the vehicle combined with the rare digital dash option for the model year made this part very expensive.
It was actually over $1000 brand-new from the dealer. I even checked eBay and found a couple but they were still $500 or more. I decided to disassemble the module and find out what was wrong with it. Repairing car electronics can sometimes be easy. And in this case the module was incredibly simple to fix. The printed circuit board had a break in one of the solder paths. This was caused from vibration. All I needed to do was to touch my soldering iron to the break and allow the solder to flow to complete the repair. When I reinstalled the power module I threw a couple of rubber grommets in between the brackets to absorb the shock from the road and hopefully prevent any further damage to this expensive piece of car electronics.
Also note that the electronics found in your automobile such as printed circuits, diodes and relays are also found in washing machines and many other appliances you have in your home. It is almost always worth investigating whether repair is possible before replacement is performed. Give this repairing car electronics page a 
I took classes about repairing car electronics. We would sit down with breadboards and learn how to diagnose and repair individual components. This type of training can be handy when working on electrical circuits of all kinds.This e-book covers testing and replacement of Resistors, Capacitors, LED, Diodes, Bridge Rectifiers, Coils, Switches, Relays and Voltage Regulators. Although this book is not written for car mechanics every single one of these parts can be found in almost any automobile. Learning about how they work can make a big difference in diagnostic time. This book is written for beginners, hobbyist, technical training students or Diy'ers. Also for those who have an interest in starting an electronics repair business or even seasoned professionals just looking to sharpen their skills.
 Custom Search On the homepage you can get a rundown of what other types of information is covered on the you fix cars website. You can also find out how to get your questions answered about individual car repairs
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