magicMitch@truckt.com 
Who is
Magic Mitch? Skip the bull, go straight
to the monthly topic. Well, I am a man with 25 years of making
mostly mechanical things dance to my own music. Yes, I am a
seasoned truck mechanic, (which means I have little feeling
left in my knuckles) and I am also a seasoned driver with current
CDL (which means lots of experience with Joe Public on the road
<mostly bad experience>, endless arguments with dispatchers
and others who owe me money, and I still have most of what I
was born with, which is nothing). I have the unique experience
of decades on both sides of that engine firewall. My extensive
experience as both driver and mechanic should prove valuable
in helping you fault isolate your truck troubles.
 I
am here to help you troubleshoot and fix trucks and trailers.
I
have compiled (fancy word for head-stuffed) decades of knowledge
while attending the school of hard knocks. You have probably
already seen my diploma, it is that white parchment paper rolled
up right there next to the toilet. I continue to stay current
with the new computerized diesel engines, but I have been forced
to change my mechanical dance steps along the way.
Who knows,
... I just might know something you need to know, and then again,
you could possibly tell me a thing or two yourself. All you truck
mechanics out there have valuable troubleshooting experience that
you could share with us. And we will
definately share our unique troubleshooting experiences with you.
You're runnin with the big dogs here at TruckTroubles dot Com,
not some fancy pants college graduate types with all theory and
no results! You did see my mailbox up there at the top, right?
It has some of that astro-turf around it to survive the winter
salt spray. Click on it and tell me something to make this website
a better place. It'll make you feel, well ...., more interactive!
And we both could very well learn something new.
Let me tell
you one more thing right up front. I fix trucks much better than
I type or spell. You see, the editors fix my spelling and grammar
on this website, but my e-mail response to you will definitely
be that diamond in the rough that you have heard about!
This
Month's Topic
(I thought you put topics on your hair, well,
maybe
on second thought ... that was called tonic)
Have you
ever tried to find a short in your truck's wiring? Not much fun
is it. How many fuses did you go through? Well, here is a quick
and easy way to save a lot of fuses and a lot of cursing (I don't
know why, it just slips out ... ) while finding that short! It
has been my experience that most mechanics know at least one female
dog with a son. In fact, many mechanics seem to know several female
dogs with lots of sons.
 The
next time you have a short on your truck lighting circuits which
keeps blowing fuses, remember this head-stuffin, and use this
technique to stop wasting fuses until you find the problem. Only
use this technique on low voltage circuits on vehicles (12VDC).
Do NOT attempt this procedure on dangerous household circuits.
You dont have to be a rocket scientist to figure out why, just
don't try it at home.
Use your test light which is listed in our tools
section, as your test indicator. Wedge the pointy end of the
test light into the fuse holder electrical contact on one side,
(you may have to prop up the handle end) and connect the alligator
clip of the test light to the other side of the fuse holder electrical
connector (with the fuse removed, of course). Make sure not to
short out the fuse holder with the alligator clip, and don't let
anything metalic touch the fuse contacts and the vehicle chassis
ground at the same time.
Now the bulb on the test lamp will remain lighted until you disconnect
the short in the circuit. When the bulb goes out, you have found
the short.
Happy Motoring! <yeah, then you woke up!>
magic@truckt.com
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