Hey New to this forum, I have a 1998 Dodge Ram 1500 that sat for 4yrs and was attacked by ffffnn Squirrels, they ate the wires on my power train wire harness. I bought a harness on the net, however they sent my a an Automatic wire harness not a Manual harness. Needless to say the harness did not match up and as a second plan I spliced all the connections that were bad on the old harness from the good connections from the Auto- Harness. Luckily those connections matched up. Now I would like to test for continuity on the connections I spliced to be sure that the harness is good so I can rule that out if there is another prob.

I don't know how to use a Multimeter, and I don't know the right settings and procedure to test the connections. Can anyone help me with this ? what ever you can tell me is most appreciated.

 

Then you are going to have serious issues with ANYTHING electrical. A multimeter is the most important fundamental tool. There are numerous sources searchable on the internet in the form of videos, discussion forums and blogs on electrical theory and how-to use about multimeters, scopes, etc. Knowing how to use one will open doors for you IF you are willing to learn.

There are multiple unknowns when dealing with a 20 foot 2' diameter mass of tiny wires wrapped in a plastic shell then wraped in friction tape. Too many variables to make it feasable to use any method other than a meter.

 

Getting the correct witining harness will signifiantly improve chanve of sucessful outcome. Rigged wiring is only inviting more problems down the road.

 

if you can splice wires with solder or butt connectors (not black tape), then you can learn to use a multimeter.

get a digital one from home depot, lowes, amazon, ebay or anywhere. a decent one will cost about $20-25.

test continuity using the OHMS setting. meter will read open or infinity when there is no continuity. put a probe on both ends of the wire. if continuity, the meter will read 0. if there is a resistor anything else in the way, it'll show a non-zero number for the amount of resistance. you are looking for 0.

all this assumes you know which wire is which at each end. if you don't, you can get a "tone" generator and probe. this is commonly used in phone, network, electrical work to trace wires.

good luck. i hate squirrels. the damn things started coming up out of the woods and getting on the deck, chewing on railings, stashing nuts under the lawnmower seat, etc. a brick of .22 shells has vastly reduced the bastards.

i have this model from home depot. its good enough.
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-25ec...1#.USlWoDdXDpE