The Car I Couldn't Fix...😢

Intermittent symptoms are a mechanics worst nightmare. There is an old say, "you can't fix it if it isn't broke." I don't know who said it but I assume it is an old wise mechanic. 95% of the time I will not take on intermittents because they end up being time wasters and I prove it to myself yet again....
-Enjoy!
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[@SouthMainAuto]

Gosh I love the comment section! Seriously I do. So much knowledge and ideas can get tossed around and talked about. I do honestly enjoy reading and understanding you folks better. Here are my thoughts after a few hundred comments... kzbin.info/www/bejne/oYmYdWqKj8Sjntk

[@dans_Learning_Curve]

Thank for posting it!

[@alexlaverick6111]

They have issues with the wiring harness for the tailgate. The ground is shit

[@bartsarton2212]

@@alexlaverick6111 A bad ground will cause a lack of current flow, not excess current flow that blows a fuse.

[@alvinbaker8137]

Kill that cricket!

[@tombloemker9434]

Intermittent is such a pain, I had a rough running chevy. Parts cannon had no effect. I completely removed the engine harness and found three shorts to ground. This sludge soaked harness took 40 hours repair and reinstall. (after my regular job). No shop could afford to eliminate all possibilities. After fix, this car ran great 105K, to 168K miles. I appreciate your method, it serves you well. Commentors should remember that hobby mechanics have options that paid technicians are not able to employ.

[@bigclivedotcom]

Intermittent problems are a nightmare. Especially if they never quite become a full-time problem to facilitate tracing. As other have mentioned, with enough free time, adding an inline fuse to each of the three sections of that circuit would have helped pin the rogue are down, but again, the fault may not appear again for a month. Intermittents completely eat time.

[@chucksmalfus9623]

It’s not really that he can’t fix it. He is just smart enough to not spend 8hrs on a ghost issue. We all know he will fix it eventually. We have faith in you Eric 👍

[@markh.6687]

It's a shorted wire or LED board somewhere. If it's Tuesday, and the penguin has the ball on the 30 yard line....

[@mphilleo]

Anything can be fixed with enough time and money.

[@brianburns7211]

@@markh.6687 When Eric was explaining the circuit diagram and mentioned the LED board in the circuit, that put my antenna up too. One bad solder joint could be expanding or contracting with the temperature and that’s your problem lady!

[@douglongstreth575]

overhead brake light leds on the hatch.@@markh.6687

[@kategauthier5545]

👍🏻👍🏻

[@zachgilmore7865]

Intermittent exterior lights, require a local or state police car behind you while on your test drive to get them to act up.

[@rafflesnh]

🤣👍

[@freetolook3727]

Working at an RV dealership, we had a Winnebago motorhome come in with an intermittent fuse blowing. Mechanic did the same thing as you. Worked on it way longer than he really should have. Was ready to call it when he stepped out the entrance door and the fuse blew. Subsequent tracing of the wiring harness, he found where a bundle of wires went through the firewall, one of the wires was chaffed just enough that when the coach rocked, the wire rubbed on the firewall causing the short.

[@jocool562]

Here's one: a trailer hooked up to a late model Ram pick up with a fancy entertainment console integrated brake controller. It would show "Trailer not connected." Tested the truck and trailer independently, now their fine. Reconnected, everything's good. Start driving. Message comes on and now no trailer brakes. So we check connections to brakes, wiggle connections. No short, no bad connecting. Try again, message comes back while driving. Check drum magnets. Reassemble, all brakes lock when power is applied. After a few hours, turns out it was a chaffed wire inside the axle. Not at the the entrance or exit hole, no, inside the axle. But not enough to cause magnet wires to burn because the integrated brake controller can sense a short and does not engage the brakes.

[@iwouldrathernot4274]

@@jocool562 this is why when I bought my equipment trailer, I rerouted the brake wires on the outside of the axle. The wires were already burned completely through inside of the tube anyway. I understand the wanting to keep the wires protected but Id rather risk the wires snatching on something than the wires burning in the axle

[@serge4856]

Finally I can do , what Eric can do. Thanks Eric.

[@albuendormir5264]

yup. he is human after all.

[@daleburrell6273]

@@albuendormir5264...well, "you can't win 'em ALL!!!"

[@chuckvoss9344]

Best way I have found is to install a fuse in each power feed. That way you will have a path to follow based on which fuse blows. Will eliminate front circuits, from back circuits, or however you install the fuses ( I call them traps ). That way ...when customer comes back, he will be supplying part of the elusive answer. Also makes for a happier customer, because they are an active part of solving the mystery. Try it you will like the outcome.

[@terryharvey8627]

Sounds like a plan.

[@thomash1923]

That’s a good idea. Thanks.

[@CHRnorton]

Good advice , The fuse that blows also alerts you to which light is being affected.

[@kylenapier7920]

@@islandhopper100 I hope this is sarcasm. If you own a business in this line of work you would understand his decision, he can’t spend 10 hours trying to diagnose a car only to charge the customer a few hundred bucks when he eventually finds the issue. He is not a bad mechanic, he is a smart businessman.

[@robertanderson2118]

I have used this to solve alot of my intermitent shorts

[@rickmiller990]

Eric, I’ve had 1 bulb that was shorted inside the bulb. The arm that the filament was attached to broke and would cross with the other one and blow the fuse. This was on a 1157 or 1156 bulb. I’ve only had it happen once in my 50+ years of working as a mechanic. Me and my wife love your channel. Keep up the good work

[@DrFiero]

Less likely, but it can do it with an LED as well. They're "just a diode" and can short.

[@61rampy65]

I wasted 4 hours on a van with that problem. Kept coming back to the R/R taillight. Since I KNEW that a bulb can never short out I ignored the bulb. 4 hours later, I decided to check the bulb, which was shorted. Same as you, the only shorted bulb I've ever seen in 55years of wrenching. Lesson learned: I guess I do not know everything!

[@envisionelectronics]

That happened in one of my Saabs. It would blow the fuse sometimes but I’d get an intermittent notification of a blown bulb and but it would be working.

[@stevebot]

Surprising that you haven't run into the filament crossing thing more. I was just bit by that last month and before that I got bit by a bizarre aftermarket LED and intermittent ground backfeed issue. The 3000 series bulb sockets are crap.

[@louf7178]

Just happened to me with a stove hood light. Took it apart twice before tried changing the light bulb 😒

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

Ah yes, intermittents can truly suck. I won't look at a car unless the customer knows exactly how to reproduce the complaint, or at least give a very detailed history of what was done before/after the issue occurred. 2 hour diag charge minimum, and no guarantees if the car doesn't act up!

[@farmermiyagi1338]

You can't be here Ivan, go finish that Ram. No rest for the weary. ;)

[@brianburns7211]

Fair enough! Your time is worth something Ivan.

[@tonygristina4860]

Taking the car for a spin is the excuse for Eric to partake of his daily Soft Serve Ice Cream.

[@PoliticallyIncorrectMechanic]

You guys just started doing this when gas prices went up? Lol

[@reddsaxxmike2865]

@Al Pha The big question is, are those OEM or aftermarket sprinkles?

[@coache1nine]

My go to was a Big Gulp, lol

[@blockbertus]

@@reddsaxxmike2865 Chocolate or candy sprinkles?

[@ctbale1]

Ice Cream Stand......NOT A SPONSOR LADY!

[@SorryGuys-eighty-8]

After watching the first few mins of this vid I was really excited because I worked on an identical vehicle for the EXACT same intermittent fuse failure and I was really hoping to know what the fault was going to be.....however, I do feel a little better because Eric O didn't find the problem in less than ten minutes...Love your vids, my guy !

[@danieljames5875]

Did you check the vehicle for someone that may have put a aftermarket trailer harness on it I've had that cause lots of problems like this before.

[@russellhltn1396]

For anyone who's job is to fix things, intermittents are the worst. Even if you think you fixed it, you can't be sure.

[@CanadianCarguy247]

For sure, long test drives and lots of motoring have always been my go to after the repair but you can never win them all!

[@opiumtrail7032]

whose*

[@jaxsonhugh9334]

I’m anxiously waiting for part 2 because you know that puppy is coming back eventually 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@ajchieflc]

Eric I thought he clearly said in the note at 1:02 that when he put the NEW harness in the fuse blew immediately, he then took the new one out and put the OLD one in so you could see it in its original state. You needed to reinstall the new harness to see it blow immediately or at least potentially blow immediately.

[@biz4twobiz463]

that's a GREAT point. I noticed that Eric got flustered and was worried about all the other cars waiting for service. Sometimes, taking a breath...and then working the issue is a better approach.

[@joyride2013]

putting a new tail harness on can introduce another problem on the circuit

[@ctbale1]

Yea, install another variable, brilliant

[@michaelearl6991]

You can't fix it if it ain't broke

[@jamesbruno5896]

Perhaps one of the blown bulbs has a short section of filament that shorts out intermittently? Replace all the blown bulbs 💡

[@Sicktrickintuner]

Ive seen that in a marker light, replaced it and it was good to go.

[@GPCCkitchener]

That's what I was going to say.

[@richb.4374]

I've had that happen to me in the past. The bulb fails and the filament still hangs from one connection and moves around inside the bulb shorting it out when you hit a bump in the road.

[@G31mR]

Nope. That would result in a bulb working intermittantly, not a blown fuse. The only place a loose filament can "short out" to is the normal ground.

[@parochial2356]

Yes, most definitely replace, at least, the blown bulbs. One of them could have been the issue. I would recommend that all bulbs on the affected circuit be replaced to be 100% sure this was not or is not still the issue. I once had a CHMSL bulb that would blow a brake lamp fuse after about 45 seconds to 1 minute of on time. New bulb and problem was resolved.

[@2-old-Forthischet]

I was a telecom tech and use to give customers a five mile or five minute guarantee after a service call where I couldn't find a defective circuit. As far a GM, I found out that like my Chevy Express van, many had bad tail light sockets. I replaced both of my rear light sockets with a newer style that still fit and worked and never had anymore problems. It was an intermittent ground problem within the sockets.

[@iamblaineful]

That's the old taillight guarantee, when you can't see my taillights anymore as I'm driving off, then that's when the guarantee ends.

[@nickmalone3143]

Allot of comments pointing to bad bulbs and sockets

[@richardthomas1743]

Happy Labor day weekend everybody!

[@albclean]

I have to labor on Monday but, O well. Have a great Labor Day!!

[@topher8634]

Intermittent problems will drive a technician absolutely nuts. I feel your pain.

[@ChrisVargasrpht2000chris]

it was nice of you to try. Thumbs up for the effort.

[@kategauthier5545]

Yeah! It’s A Big Thumbs Up 👍🏻

[@DIYDaveOK]

I realize I'm late on this one, but when something is this sketchy and impossible to reproduce, time demands you move on. And I'm sure nobody is more frustrated by it than you! Thanks as always, Eric.

[@petrocksgarage]

I haven’t read all the other comments, but I’ve found voltage drop testing can sometimes find intermittent faults. Other than the regular corrosion and frayed wire faults, it can also sometimes find broken wires or loose connectors still making (intermittent) contact. The resistance will be higher due to the typically poor connection, making it a good candidate for voltage drop testing. Just saying’…

[@chrishartley1210]

I had a similar intermittent problem once but a bit more regular than this one. Fortunately I remembered that it started after I changed one of the bulbs. Turned out that the bulb was faulty, occasionally shorting to ground inside the bulb. That could have been just as difficult to find without that bit of extra information.

[@nickmalone3143]

Well he did have license plate bulb out

[@GarnConstructionInc]

I was thinking I had the same situation once as a broken or faulty piece of filament could short inside the bulb. If the new harness blows the fuse and its the correct one then bulbs might be the next inexpensive step. Replace all the bulbs in the blown fuse circuit and set fuse traps to narrow down the location. Check inside the sockets while your at it. No one can diagnose everything in a couple of hours but I hope the customer can bring back a couple of "freeze frames" of what is happening when it pops the fuse.

[@chrishartley1210]

@@GarnConstructionInc I didn't investigate the problem but my guess is that there was a small piece of support wire inside the base of the bulb. I think your idea of trap fuses is a good one, maybe 2A fuses dotted around. I was wondering what the LED module is, I suspect it is probably the high level brake lamp, powered by this circuit but triggered by the brake circuit. In this way a fault in the module doesn't cause the brake lights to fail. An intermittent fault here would only be triggered when the brake lights are on.

[@kategauthier5545]

👍🏻👍🏻

[@kategauthier5545]

👍🏻👍🏻

[@davidbrittenham4631]

My 2004 Silverado 2500HD developed an intermittent a few years ago. The A/C would stop at any time, and start at any time. Sometimes work for days. Sometimes fail every few miles. A while after this started, I noticed my driver door speaker started being intermittent. Then my door mounted controls stopped working. It turned out to be a broken ground wire in the flexible harness going through the door jamb into the door. Never did figure out what that had to do with the A/C, but once I fixed the broken ground wire, everything worked again. An intermittent isn't always located where logic would tell you it will be.

[@robertanderson2118]

IF the customer really wanted the intermitent short fixed you could install 3 differant temperary inline smaller fuses on the output of each of the light circuits coming out of the fuse box. Then give it back to them and let them drive it.That way when one of the fuses blows you are that closer in pinpointing the location of the short by seeing whitch fuse blows .

[@AnthonyLovato]

Sometimes when dealing with electrical gremlins, check the driver side door for broken or exposed wires.

[@spencermain6686]

If I understood correctly, that fuse powers the left side turn signals. This car probably has a turn signal in the side mirror, so that is a possibility. Maybe it blows when the turn signal is flashing and the door is opened. Who knows...

[@AnthonyLovato]

Also, in modern vehicles the computer is looking at the driver side door to see if one has entered or exited. If it thinks you entered it will turn on and keep on modules. If it thinks you have exited it will turn off modules.

[@RideCamVids]

I had an issue where a fuse would blow randomly to rear light circuits on a car, and it took a few months of them coming back after it had blown the fuse a few times to finally find the issue. The customer was really good about it over the time frame too, knowing it was something that was very intermittent and it could not be easily duplicated. The problem was finally traced to the flat ribbon section of harness that passes alongside the rear seats lower frame. A sharp piece of stray spot weld flash on a bracket would cut down into the harness only when someone sat in the rear seat on that side.

[@ryand4786]

Been there several times. Always tell my customers ahead of time , we may not be able to duplicate the issue, but we still have to charge you. In meantime , other cars pile up on the lot , don’t feel bad , can’t fix what you can’t find !! Great channel by the way 👍

[@dalemurray6834]

"Pray the regulators work" love it, my thoughts exactly every time i push the button, not good when you push button and window falls to bottom of door.

[@kenc.9067]

That's why I love manual crank windows, like the ones in my 1990 pickup

[@williamconrod8998]

And the customer knew this and didn't say anything about it before you bring it into the shop.

[@eastwoodrmc1995]

This looks like a job for Pine Hollow Auto Diagnostics. I watch several channels like yours and appreciate all of the opportunity to learn. Have a great labor day.

[@nickmalone3143]

Ivan doesnt want erics problems ...lol

[@RDLouks]

As an old Mechanic I feel your pain Eric. Not sating it is but this issue reminds me of the vehicle I had while working at a Chevy Dealership. It would intermittently blow the taillight fuse. After tearing my hair out (as it was under warranty) it ended up being a taillight/turn signal bulb (old 1157 bulb) that the two filaments would sometimes short to ground. (temperature related)

[@nickmalone3143]

Your like the third person pointing to light bulbs as issue .. are these LEDs or actual bulbs ...leds work off current

[@bartsarton2212]

Isn't the filament "shorting" to ground the same as turning the light switch on? That's what the switch does, it completes the circuit to ground. In your case, the light would be on when you didn't command it on.

[@RDLouks]

@@bartsarton2212 The short was occurring before the filament in the base of the bulb.

[@josephking6515]

Before retirement I used to do IT support and intermittent faults were the worst and would drive you nuts so I can empathise and sympathise *totally.* It was still a great video so *Thank You* for sharing it with us. 👍

[@sambitar8448]

ERIC, YOU ARE ALL LOGIC ALONG WITH YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY ESPECIALLY MRS. O. YOU ARE EXAMPLE TO THE UNIVERSE. THANK YOU ALL.

[@jimprovax6846]

You’re the man Eric. Hopefully you can enjoy some of your weekend. Take care. Love your videos.

[@discoveryman59]

No real working mechanic has time to hunt down intermittents, this looks like a job for Ivan Pine Hollow Auto Diagnostics!

[@paulallen4650]

A suggestion, Eric. Build a pigtail 15 amp breaker to swap with the fuse, then set a date a few months out to go back to the fuse. That should be enough time for the breaker to "burn the weeds back" and the customer will have lights 99.9% of the time. The slower response of the breaker might leave a few electrical wounds that you can see for a permanent solution. Keep talking us back in off the ledges!

[@JoseSilveira-newhandleforYT]

Anything short of a stroke of luck or divine intervention, is doomed to fail in cases like this. It's nobody's fault, that's just what it is. Great effort, anyway.

[@FatManLeather]

I found your channel researching an intermittent power draw in my 2003 Chevy 2500, that was a gauge cluster. Of course, every time my battery died I'd search for the problem. 2 1/2 years later I found the drivers power seat switch finally became a permanent problem and I was able to find it. My gauge cluster did go nuts and got replaced during this time. Intermittent electrical problems suck.

[@mjmcomputers]

The only intermittent issue that is easy to fix is wipers that work intermittently when on the delay setting.

[@MrJuxone]

Well when there is not much you can do, it's foolish and dishonest to continue chasing such a ghost! MUCH RESPECT for calling it as you did.

[@72chargerse72]

Eric I used to be a fire alarm tech. Intermittants was a HUGE pita.. They, while causeing peoblems, also rolled the fire trucks. I was very good but some of these problems can crush your soul. I always listened to the story ( grain of salt) and kept my eyes open, stayed open minded and hoed for luck. but having to say sorry bud was the hardest part. I knew I was just gonna have to look again later (and have more hostility). I didthis for almost 30 years..retired now thank god I lived thru it. Keep patient.

[@dgb1952]

During my time in the USAF working KC-135 & B-52, we hated intermittent problems and even had a maintenance code we called CND or cannot duplicate.

[@nickmalone3143]

I thought AF would just shotgun the fix ...since deep pockets

[@dgb1952]

@@nickmalone3143 sometimes we would change out the most likely unit, but only once did I ever "load the parts cannon" on a B-52H.

[@dgb1952]

@@Loveitdownunder the system I was trained for was the AN/APN-81/89 Doppler Radar. I spent 9 months of tech school and a year of field training to be fully qualified. Working on the "BUFF" was hard work, but I enjoyed my time (9+ years).

[@desmcdowell2469]

I seen a few cases where blown bulbs were popping the fuse. I'm guessing the remaining parts of the filament were somehow shorting out intermittently. Personally I'd replaced any blown bulbs before giving the vehicle back and see if the problem returns

[@annettesurfer]

Yeah that's what I came here to say but you beat me to it.

[@richardbambenek2601]

That happened to me, I replaced the bad bulb and blown fuse and it never blew again.

[@MrKinyodude]

I once troubleshoot similar problem on an old pickup truck, busting brake lamp fuse intermittently. After wasting 2 fuses, I decided to trace the wire from brake lamp inching toward front and found the culprit under the vehicle. The harness at one point is rubbing against the exhaust pipe! Easy repair but it took two days of troubleshooting. I can't blame Eric for quitting because the problem is trully a nightmare and time waster.

[@brucejones2354]

Just remember Murphy's law "any appliance, when demonstrated for the repairman will work perfectly every time". The term appliance ALSO applies to machinery, including automobiles.

[@stephenw2992]

Used to love fixing intermittents in consumer electronics. Even had a customer whose microwave oven always worked when he brought it to the shop, so for about 6 months he just put it in the car when it played up and it would work again. Finally it gave up completely and was an easy fix.

[@InsideOfMyOwnMind]

@@Codyjrt So even if the neighbors couldn't get you to use the proper antenna filtering the coffee maker did.

[@InsideOfMyOwnMind]

@@Codyjrt Any idea where one can get a 120Mhz low pass that will do a real number on about 150-up and handle a couple of watts or so?

[@InsideOfMyOwnMind]

@@Codyjrt I'm doing some WBFM to cover my property but just in case it wanders out a bit I looked at my 2nd and it's actually stronger than my fundamental. OOPSIE!! Using a HackRFOne and a 2 watt booster into a rooftop 3 meter stick.

[@PatrickLeeUS]

@@InsideOfMyOwnMind consider a trap

[@InsideOfMyOwnMind]

@@Codyjrt Hit me up if you get one. Seriously like RF Legos. Use with GNU Radio Companion and the dog house will never be the same.🤣😋

[@armyguyz00]

Amazon sells automatically resetting circuit breakers that fit into a mini blade fuse spot. Not a fix for a professional shop but if it was my truck…

[@jeremyhanna3852]

Do not use those they will burn your car to the ground it keeps resetting and the problem area gets hot and it melts and goes down hill from there

[@tomtruelock7330]

As soon as you said Lic lamps on circuit. customer opened gate to repair tail lamp. Ding ding. Inspect body harness pass through. Intermittent issues are tough to find and will use up time that’s tough to charge for. Good call. Bring it back when it’s broken. You could split the circuit but it wouldn’t be easy.

[@garyradtke3252]

Many many years ago I had a 1976 Ford F150 with a 390, Holley 4bbl and auto trans. After about 3 years it developed a stumble just off idle. Any mechanics first thought would be the accelerator pump or the power valve. The pump stream looked normal but I disassembled, cleaned and installed a kit. Drove home from the shop and until about the 3rd day I thought I had it fixed but the stumble returned. I rechecked the carb, checked the ignition system including the temp vacuum switch controlling the vacuum advance and mechanical advance. Didn't find anything but when I drove home that evening the stumble was gone again but returned a day or 2 later. Each time I worked at diagnosing the issue it would clear up but return later. I discovered cold temps below about 45 Deg F the stumble was gone until the engine warmed up and completely. One evening on the way home I played with the stumble a bit more and found if I held the throttle at the point the stumble occurred, the engine would die. On the side of the road, under the hood, in gear and parking brake on, (ya stupid move but I was younger and invincible and probably not the dumbest thing I did) I played with the throttle and found the point the engine acted up. It was caused by the throttle spring riding up and touching a pin hole in the coil wire then moving past it and clearing the short. Apparently when I worked on it I would relocate the coil wire and later on it would return to the previous position and resume the problem. The cold may have moved the wire just far enough away to prevent the arcing until it warmed up and drooped more towards the spring. I twisted the coil boot on the coil and dist cap into different positions and drove home happy I found it but ticked off that it was so simple. Of coarse I replaced the wire the next day before leaving the shop.

[@dtandfam8100]

I don't blame you at all. These things can sometimes be nightmares. But I believe the customer knows this and has faith in your work. Hey I'd sure as heck trust you to work on my own personal car! Thanks for sharing

[@tomosborne5675]

There is a shorted light bulb in the rear. In one position, the bulb is an intermittent short; rotate it 180 degrees and it is a hard short. When he installed the new harness the owner rotated the bulb to the always shorted position.

[@SouthMainAuto]

They are wedge bulbs not turn in.

[@jzxtrd337]

What a great customer, giving the full story on paper for later reference. Seeing it has a towbar and quite beefy one. Electronic brake controller module fault or the trailer plug loom has been spliced in with scotch locks.

[@CHRnorton]

Well at least the customer did as good as he could and gave you good info on what he tried. Good Customer!

[@HoLeeFuk317]

Could spend all day and still not find that one. First place I'd look is behind all the light assemblies for pinched wires though

[@shadetreec6013]

That tailgate harness you had your hand on is notorious for rubbing on a non-insulated pass through above the headliner. I've seen it cause an intermittent power tailgate non-op but I suppose it could short out a license plate bulb circuit just as easy.

[@douglongstreth575]

I didn't see he checked the trailer hitch wires around the rear bimper. That would be a place to check it is the lowest wire in the vechicle.

[@ajsrolls-roycegarage4714]

I had a Porsche customer this week I had to tell this too, he had so many other problems with the car that I didn’t know if one correlated with the other and could not promise him anything and I still replaced the sensors at his request and it still didn’t repair the issue as I suspected, thankfully he was kool and understood I did what I could

[@rogerr7856]

Did electrical work for sister, sometime later she kept having breaker trip, blamed my work for it. After looking around and chasing wires i noticed fresh dug dirt over a buried cable. After asking her about it she admitted she thought the cable was a root and tried to cut it with shovel, saw they were wires so she covered them back up with dirt. Every time it rained the breaker would trip due to exposed wires, moisture, direct short to ground, when it was dry for days/weeks it wouldn’t trip breaker so it was “randomly “ tripping.

[@jwilliams5107]

I had an intermittent short in a Freestar. It could go for weeks or a few minutes. It turned out to be a very small brake fluid leak. There was a pressure switch to turn off the cruise control on the master cylinder. That switch would leak a drop once in a while and fall on a connector on the fender well. It took me weeks to figure it out.

[@topher8634]

That same switch use to burn Fords down.

[@nukelauncher95]

Yeah, like the other guy said, that was literally the problem that caused Ford to recall millions of vehicles. a lot of cars caught fire. It would have been covered under a recall for free if you took it to a Ford dealer.

[@contactohn7982]

THATS what I call blinker fluid!!!

[@k4x4map46]

Used to give fighter pilots a 'could not duplicate' (CND) response to some inflight write-ups. Hated doing it as well because you could clearly see a malfunction in the HUD tapes, but our thing was we can't just go slaving in parts. Not sure how a loose pin pulling out of a backshell under g-load was discovered during ground ops checks; perhaps from several times of connecting and disconnecting test cannon-plugs. I feel ya...

[@elliottpeters2996]

Am I alone in finding this very worrying?

[@k4x4map46]

@Chuck Kirchner Nice! We used to use How Mal Code '799' but given that 'something' did truly occur inflight' we started using code '242' for "failed to operate, reason unknown." This code 242, satisfied the maintenance group and the flyers and ya know that rabbit trail leads to the mid east coast!! And I had to research these codes it's been several minutes for me as well!! You're absolutely correct 901 = How Mal Code for intermittent!!! Thanks for your service and reply!!

[@k4x4map46]

@@elliottpeters2996 In what way would you find this worrying? Oh let me add to the description a lil bit...faults have degrees of flyability and are clearly broken down by approved technical data. No aircraft would ever be airborne if that inflight malfunction caused or could cause any degradation to the flyability of the aircraft. There are levels of faults that an aircraft system can have that would make it flight worthy. For example a fault of a pitot tube would automatically ground the aircraft until that fault is duplicated and there is a ton of maintenance supervision levels up to the 4 stars that require approval depending on the system. I just gave a very simple scenario based upon training missions which have no degradation to the aircraft flight worthiness. Nah, you shouldn't be concerned at all. Commercial airlines operate under a similar set of maintenance repair technical repair procedures; we should be so proud when we step onto an aircraft---I surely am every time I fly!! Thanks for allowing me to clarify a lil bit that I hope!!

[@k4x4map46]

@Chuck Kirchner You're absolutely correct about the insults!! I got pretty good at t-shooting so we had a great relationship maintenance and ops and if I asked to get some down time and hanger space to "ring it out," it usually happened!! Cheers

[@wyndmclark7235]

Those fuse boxes are notorious for causing Gremlins. I don't know if the problem was there but I know in the past some of those GM fuse boxes are just crap

[@pantherplatform]

Ever since I rolled my truck and had to have most of the body replaced and the frame straightened, it doesn't look or act like a brand new truck like it did 50 years ago.

[@flagmichael]

I had a similar problem with failed brake lights, which it turns out was caused by a blown fuse that also fed interior and door courtesy lamps. I futzed with it for about half a year, replacing the fuse maybe once a week on average. Eventually I put a self-resetting breaker in that position and had no more trouble for a few months. The affected lights were out again, and when I went to pull the self-resetting breaker it seared my fingertips... the breaker was welded closed. With a solid short, I spent most of a weekend hunting it down. I had all the seats and carpet out of the car, and I forget what else, when I isolated the problem to the wire that fed the front passenger door courtesy light. Taking the panel off it I found the wire had been banging against a sharp edge and finally welded itself on. The failed self-resetting breaker had created a fire hazard. The moral of the story is Eric O made the right decision: the odds of finding the culprit in a sane amount of time is virtually zero. As much of a disappointment as it is, feeding it fuses is about the best the owner can do.

[@bdi11000]

cant win em all!

[@johnthiel7422]

Had a S10 pickup that would loose lights intermittently and of course would never fail at the mechanics.... finally found it by accident in the steering column wiring. What a pain!

[@justinshaffer3419]

A friend had one of those 1980-ish pickups with a short that would blow a fuse. Couldn't find the short anywhere so did a quick jump across the fuse panel and a second later, smoke coming out of the steering column. Wires had been rubbing on the steel column shaft and one shorted to it. Crude, but it worked. LOL

[@nickmalone3143]

@@justinshaffer3419 ...the old smoke test ...yup

[@joemehere1151]

Yeah, I understand that too much. I used to call it; "fear of the mechanic" problems. He's going to have to either live with it or put a bigger fuse to burn the wire and risk burning down the SUV. I recommend buying a multipack of 15A fuses and live with it. Great video Eric

[@jesserocha6352]

I just finished fixing the same exact identical issue to my mother's 2001 GMC Sierra 1500. Fuse kept blowing on the left side front and rear marker and turn signal lights. After days of looking, I noticed the fuse would blow whenever I slammed the driver's door. I found a wire had chaffed and shorted on a metal guard/plate under the steering column. My mother's truck has a column turn signal lever. The shorted wire was from the turn signal lever running/chaffing on the edge of the metal guard/plate underneath where the column meets the dashboard. I suggest looking there!

[@jpack61108]

Same stuff happens in IT. Customers don’t seem to understand that if I can’t duplicate their problem then there is not a ton you can do.. even less with automotive.. not a ton of logging like on a computer or other piece of IT equipment.

[@DIYDaveOK]

Worse still in IT is when the user tries to diagnose the problem but has no clue what they're talking about. They mean well, but they waste everyone's time. I can only imagine the frustration for a vehicle tech of Eric's skill trying to weed through well meaning but ultimately unhelpful chaff from a well-meaning customer.

[@fascistpedant758]

If it ain't broke, just fix it till it is.

[@Jess88176]

Lol. That's what I do! I change my oil every 3000 miles or when I get bored ~Hank Hill

[@blockbertus]

Ah, I see someone is working for a stea.... dealership.

[@derekfernandes3898]

On occasion I have installed a circuit breaker in place of the fuse during diagnosis to save fuses. One job I couldn't find the intermittent short (happened going over certain bumps) and due to customer finance pressure (couldn't afford more diagnostic time), I just ended up leaving it like that. I sold them my testing circuit breaker. They were so happy months later. It (the short) rarely happens and when it did the circuit breaker would reset quickly and be of little consequence to the owner/ driver

[@jesseleesamples]

Thanks for posting this, this video is so valuable to other technicians. There has been way too many times that I’ve spent most of a day trying to fix something like this and wasted too much time on it when I’ve had cars backed out into the street waiting to get worked on. Unfortunately I’m usually not smart enough to do what you did here tho. I think it’s an issue of pride, mixed with feeling that I let my customer down by not fixing their issue. A mechanic as knowledgeable and respected as you showing that you can’t always fix em all and showing when to throw in the towel is so helpful to others in the profession

[@Qusin111]

These are tough, wiggle and inspect everything is all you can do until it gets worse.

[@rationalguy2744]

From past experience, the trailer pigtail would draw my attention first.

[@fredwalker839]

Oh,,, you mean the green fuzzy one ! LOL

[@cephasrodgers9417]

Eric thanks for the video (and follow up video) and for again showing your logical thought process. Many years ago I had a 1986 Toyota Corolla that I purchased new from the local dealer. When it was out of warranty it started intermittently blowing the fuse for the tail/marker lights. After it happened a few times I realised it was not random as it always happened when stopped at a particular set of traffic lights. These traffic lights were on a hill so the nose of the car was always higher than the rear of the car. I removed the tail light assemblies and on the drivers side I found a loose piece of copper wire which would short the bulb contacts when the vehicle was nose up! Always remember a person with an opinion and no data is just another person with an opinion. Regards.

[@k4x4map46]

Had a 1998 Ford Expedition 4x4. Definitely took it off road (secondary roads mostly). Soon then vehicle would cut off while I'm driving I mean just off it we shutting down right now!! The Ford mechanic could not duplicate the malfunction either. But the problem clearly kept happening as they would come pickup the vehicle from the side streets. Finally one mechanic put like 4 fuses on four wires near the engine fuze box and into the cab wiring harness; he said when it shuts down, we'll know something. Of course it did shut down (I didn't drive it on highways). They found the transmission crossmember and a nice ding on the front side of it and asked me had I been off road. Um yeaaaaas!! (Jim Carry impersonation). Well they found that whatever I hit drove the cross member upwards which drove the center to tail portion of the transmission up just enough to pinch a wire bundle which caused the intermittent short. That was frustrating on all parties but I have to thank the Ford mechanic for his/her persistence and they thanked me for my patience throughout the countless CND and Returned To Customer (RdTC)!!

[@isb170swap8]

Only thing I could say to do would possibly be add a auto resetting circuit breaker in the fuse position.

[@stanwright7575]

I had a similar problem on a motorcycle trailer. It ended up being a bulb inserted incorrectly.

[@nickmalone3143]

Harley ...just guessing ?

[@Gorilla_cookie]

My brother worked directly out of the GM manufacturer, to go out and correct these crazy problems at the mechanics at the GM dealership could not. He had quite a few interesting tools that he used to trace down problems like this. he ran the technical support department for a long time too at Pontiac Michigan. Until he went to Allison transmissions, in between these two jobs.

[@riprock23]

I had one on a pickup. Hand wash it and the fuse for the dome light/bed light would blow. Easy right, had to be the light. Open it up, dry. Drive in the pouring rain, snow never blew. Automatic Car wash never blew. Finally checked the door switches, one had a boot with a crack in it and was wet. Replaced the boot and it never happened again.

[@CrimeVid]

When it finally breaks, it’s going to be something infuriatingly obvious !

[@paulcox2009]

Did you try changing to the new harness and see if it blows immediately like the customer had happen

[@russellhltn1396]

I came here to ask the same thing. Sure seems like it could be a clue. Perhaps the new harness was powering up something that was shorted out.

[@CHRnorton]

That reason , the area sounds like the most likely place when the customer said he worked in that area, and how the wires travel to the rear.

[@StevesSwearBox]

I also came to comment the exact same thing, glad I checked the comments first. Definitely could be a way to go.

[@timd1833]

Customer's final comment was that the fuse was blowing immediately. But, when it came to diagnosing, all is good. AARRRRGGGGG!!!

[@BB-gb4eh]

There may be a socket/bulb that is intermittently becoming wet causing short to ground. That explains the car wash and once a month blown fuse theory. Then again, it isn't worth your time if it's costing money. Love your videos!

[@DANBED20021]

If you get this vehicle back with it broken again will you do a follow up video of it and or perhaps the repair and or diag of what the bloody heck happened?

[@SouthMainAuto]

Oh for sure :)

[@sheerwillsurvival2064]

The title I know ain’t true because ain’t nothing Eric can’t fix 👊🏻

[@MrAmorti]

Can't fix this one: it's not broken (right now)

[@sheerwillsurvival2064]

@@MrAmorti right

[@thehemiolds455]

Yall know the rule "if ain't broken ain't nothing to fix" 😎😆

[@sheerwillsurvival2064]

@@thehemiolds455 that’s for sure

[@Luke-rk3qm]

Remove the driver side headlight and check if moisture is causing the short. Also, check if the bulbs are correct in the headlight, taillight, and plate lights.

[@Dustin_the_wind]

Bump for support, thanks Mr. O.

[@hahaha12345678993]

my guy can fix anything, i refuse to believe the title, will report back in 14 minutes once i watch it

[@user-wj9wq7mk4h]

What ended up happening?

[@hahaha12345678993]

@@user-wj9wq7mk4h it wasn't broke and he couldn't get it to break, can't fix something thats not broke yet

[@christiangraham4579]

Maybe he needs to put that new harness so it blows immediately again. If that happens again. It was probably a coincidence

[@waltp3373]

I had a similar problem with a friend's GMC truck. His taillights were out. I found a blown fuse, replaced it and all was good!...? Time went by and the fuse blew again. When I checked it, everything was fine. Intermittent annoyance. I finally told him that I could install a circuit breaker that would reset itself every time it blew. I know it's not a proper fix but this was a favor and I was tired of spending hours on this and the circuit breaker would get him by. My friend said it seldom blew so he would just replace the fuse. Fine, I'm done helping. Remember viewers, if Eric can't do it, I can't do it.

[@REWYRED]

Yep as others have stated intermittent faults are a pain.... We deal with them at work on occasion in the fire alarm system... Occasionally you may get a "Trouble" on the panel for something going to ground or going open circuit for a split second then it's gone.... Can be at it for days looking.

[@dannylim3318]

Intermittent problems are a pain. You might have to wait until it fully breaks before it can be fixed. Or, it can cause you to waste a lot of time going down rabbit holes. 🐇🐇🐇

[@michaelgoodman6734]

I noticed an aftermarket backup camera. Did those wires look good? Does the stereo need to be on to activate it? I know you usually turn the radio off right away. Just a thought.

[@devil1577]

That's a factory backup camera, Tahoes and Suburbans use the same one

[@michaelgoodman6734]

@@devil1577 it looked like a run of the mill aftermarket camera. My bad.

[@thinman8621]

General policy of not taking in intermittent problems for diagnostic is a good policy. Used to run a shop and found that even letting in an intermittent problem vehicle for unrelated work usually resulted in the customer insisting that somehow the shop had done something to the related to the intermittent and it was, therefore, the shop's responsibility to fix the intermittent problem. Most customers only hear what they want to hear.

[@Dogbone384]

I've worked on automotive electrical systems since the late '80s and the only thing worse than intermittent problems are the "it wasn't like that before I brought it here" problems....

[@beaner_fromyuma812]

I would’ve changed the bulbs ,cheap bulbs might blow fuses when they heat up because they become less efficient at higher temps

[@scrappy7571]

I've had to add on separate fuses for each leg of the circuit to narrow down which one is shorting. One older suburban was popping tail light fuse, and it was the power window switch intermittently shorting. What does a power window switch have to do with tail lights?? The switch has a back-light in it. Spent many hours and got paid minutes. Flat rate dealer life.

[@Sicktrickintuner]

Thats messed up in the wiring

[@topher8634]

This happend to my mom's TBird. The back lighting for the power lock switch was intermittently going to ground and taking out the cluster illumination. Spent a few hours on it. The clue was when night came I noticed the switch wasn't illuminated. I thumped it and fuse blew.

[@whiteslick00]

man I get it ! I'm a diesel mechanic and here that all the time . It only does it when I'm going down hill with a loaded trailer in the rain . how in the world can I duplicate that in a shop environment? then they get mad when we can't fix it .

[@richardbambenek2601]

Intermittent failures when I worked on large computer systems were the worst. Doing the wiggle jiggle test thermal sensitivity test, reseating cards, running diagnostics is all you could do to get it to fail on command. After that you just had to SWAG it by changing circuit boards and components until you fix it. And if that didn't work we had to replace major chunks of the system until it wouldn't fail. If we would send the bad part in for repair and we got it back with the same problem we made the problem permanent with a suicide cord and let the magic smoke out.

[@thenima]

If anything the absence of the bulbs points you to exactly where the problem is

[@bushmaster2936]

What absent bulbs are you referring to? Are you talking about the burned out bulbs in the side marker positions?

[@thenima]

Yeah I thought he mentioned they were absent, not burned out. My bad

[@greg778123]

The fix if it’s hiding is a head light in place of the fuse

[@nickmalone3143]

That would ramp the current ...basically an inductor coil ....current cannot change instaneously across a coil...ramps up

[@qfastqfast]

on my dads ford we checked the front drivers side door wire loom, wire broke for the turn signal in the mirror which would ground out and pop the fuse.

[@harleyb-ham266]

I had a similar problem in a Nissan pickup. Blowing a fuse intermittently. Sometimes days, sometimes weeks. Did everything Eric was doing and it was a mystery. By luck, when I was replacing the fuse AGAIN, I noticed it didn't feel firm when inserting it. Come to find out, the socket where the fuse goes was not making good contact. Used a small screwdriver and bent the connectors inward and then inserted the fuse. Haven't blown another fuse in over a year.