2006-10-14 15:00:31 · 7 answers · asked by franckoboy 3 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
It means the electric circuit which ordinarily would run through lights or other accessories has some spot along the way where it touches the return wire or the chassis ground before it runs through the lamp or accessory. It ususally results in the lamp or accessory not working.
2006-10-14 15:08:56 · answer #1 · answered by spongeworthy_us 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A "short can mean several things, but the proper answer is a circuit that is shorter than intended!
Now if it is a short to ground, it is going to blow a fuse (if there is one in that line),- or it will burn the wire off, - unless the wire is so big that it can carry all the amperage the battery has to offer without burning in two! In which case it may destroy the battery, (or at least run it down completely)!!
However you can also have a short in other ways, such as the headlight circuit might be "shorted to the radio", in which case the radio will come on when you turn the lights on (in this particular case it would probably blow the radio fuse because it is trying to provide full power to the "igniton side" of the switch for the car ignition (called "backflow") -at least this would be the case with the lights turned on, and the ignition turned off! The radio fuse is too small to carry this much current!
Also a "shorted" interior light switch could make the interior light stay on wether the doors are open or not!
If you have something shorted to the main "body feed" that is supposed to be running through a switch, - it will run the battery down (speed of discharge proportional the "draw" of whatever is shorted to "power"). This will run the battery down overnight or in a couple days if the car isn't driven often!
NOTE: a broken wire is not a short, -- it is an incomplete or "open" circuit. .........Or maybe a "long circuit" as the space is too long to reach the other side for current flow!!
2006-10-14 22:52:10 · answer #2 · answered by guess78624 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
a short in the wiring system means a hot power wire is connecting ground .there is alot of different ways ,say a screw thru the insulation,someplace where the wire may have been rubbing against floor board,pinched under a seat.usually either gets hot enough to burn or blow a fuse out or a fusable link.
2006-10-14 22:18:45 · answer #3 · answered by GENE B 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
well everything that is electrical in your car is hooked to a wire. You could have 30 or 40 wires hooked to various things. If one wire burns out or breaks or whatever that certain thing won't work anymore and you say the wire is shorted out.
2006-10-14 22:06:25 · answer #4 · answered by redhead 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sometimes when they build them there cars, they just don't have enough wire to finish the job. So what they do is put as much in until they run out. Some times they short wire by as much as 200 feet.
2006-10-14 22:05:31 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
Shorted means grounded out...
2006-10-14 22:08:32 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Usually the insulation is melted and the wire is touching something.
2006-10-14 22:03:52 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋