5V REFERENCE

CIRCUIT
SHORT-TO-GROUND
FINDER
BY TOM TILLMAN

A 5V reference circuit thats shorted to

ground anywhere affects the operation
of the circuit everywhere. The method
described here will help you quickly
home in on the shorts location.

32 May 2016

5Volt.indd 1 4/19/16 10:18 AM

 T
he article I wrote on
how to locate a short-
to-ground using a lab
scope (November
2015) did not cover
how to diagnose a
computers 5V reference circuit thats
shorted to ground. One of the tech-
nicians I work with asked me how I
would approach and troubleshoot this
type of problem.
The 5V reference circuit can be
very challenging to diagnose at times.
I had misdiagnosed this circuit my-
self. So I needed to devise an ap-
proach that would consistently locate
check the computer system for codes.
If you find that your scan tool will
not communicate with the computer,
check for a blown ECM/PCM fuse.
Once you determine that all the fuses
are okay, check for voltage on the 5V
reference circuit. The easiest place
to start testing is at one of the engine
sensors (MAP, TPS, etc.). When you
confirm that the 5V reference circuit
is dead, you need to locate the source
of the problem.
The reference circuit may have as
many as five to nine wires from the
computer to different sensors on the
vehicle. Where do you start looking?

D
the problem. The answer was so sim-
ple and very basic.
First you need to gather the usual
information. When a vehicle comes
in with a no-start condition, ask the
customer if any type of repairs had
been performed on the vehicle re-
cently. An accurate repair history
often can be very helpful. Second,
Photos & illustrations: Tom Tillman: lead photos courtesy Thinkstock & Fluke
As with any electrical problem, you
need to review the vehicles wiring
schematic.
The wire color codes may change
for different 5V circuits. The wiring
schematic identification labels are
sometimes different as well.
For example, the labels and col-
or codes for the 5V reference cir-

The clamp-on meter in the top photo goes to only two places to the right of the decimal
point. But even with only two decimal places, the meter can still be used to locate the
grounded 5V reference wire. The clamp-on meter above measures to three decimal places,
which makes the short-to-ground measurement more accurate.

May 2016 33

5Volt.indd 2 4/19/16 10:11 AM

 5V Reference Circuit Short-to-Ground Finder

The normal cuit wiring in a 2012 Ford Mus-

amperage tangs engine performance sche-
draw for the
5V reference matic are: FTPREF (brown/blue),
circuit should APPREF1(green/orange) and
be close to ze- C-REF(green/violet), etc. The fact
ro, as shown in
the top photo. that the circuits wiring color codes
The grounded and circuit names are different may
5V reference lead you to think that each of these
wire will
have a higher circuits has its own 5V supply, when
amperage actually the system is probably using
draw than the only one. Some manufacturers use
other refer-
ence wires, as two separate 5V reference circuits;
shown in the however, only one is needed for the
bottom photo. computer to communicate with the
Here is a com- scan tool.
parison of the The problem could very well be a
three-deci-
mal-place meter sensor or the wiring. But you need
with and with- to keep in mind that the computer or
out the short-to- computers power supplies could also
ground. The left
photo shows be at fault.
the normal am- How can you easily isolate which
perage record- area has the problem? One basic step
ed when the
ignition switch is to check the amperage draw on
was turned on. each of the 5V reference wires at the
The right photo computer. Simple, right? Not so fast.
shows the short-
ed-to-ground Some people will argue that the am-
amperage when perage on a 5V reference circuit is
the ignition too low to measure. Thats basically
switch was
turned on. Pho- true, under normal conditions. How-
tos are shown ever, if a sensor or one of the wires
upside down so becomes shorted to ground, then that
meter displays
can be read. wire will have a small but measurable
amount of amperage. A good quality
clamp-on amp meter or, better yet,
a clamp-on milliamp meter, will be
able to measure that amperage.
Now let me put some sense to this
approach. Some computers 5V pow-
er supply regulators are rated as high
as 1A. With the amperage that high,
a protection device is needed. A cur-
rent-limiting resistor circuit is built
into the computers 5V supply. Its
there to protect the circuit from this
sort of problem. The current-limiting
resistance needs to be low enough or
designed so as to not interfere with
the 5V circuit. When the circuit be-
comes shorted to ground, the limit-
When the 5V reference wire was manually grounded, the normal amperage (left photo) increased
ing resistor circuit will consume the
to 64mA (right photo). The Fluke amp meter is being used as the jumper to ground. Notice that total load. The reference wire that
this meter reading (center) is the same as that of the clamp-on meter shown on the right. has the highest amount of amperage

36 May 2016

5Volt.indd 3 4/18/16 3:46 PM

 5V Reference Circuit Short-to-Ground Finder

to measure amperage that low. Also,

the voltage drop across the limiting
resistor (50 ohms) is around .009V.
That low a voltage drop doesnt af-
fect the 5V supply that much. When
one of the reference wires becomes
shorted to ground, the sensor (25,000
ohms) on that particular part of the
circuit is now bypassed. At that point
the amperage can rise to .1A, or
100mA. (Ohms law simplified: 5V
50 ohms = .1A.)
Based on test results, the 5V lim-
While the circuit was grounded, the two-decimal-place
clamp-on meter showed .07A (above). The meter round-
iting resistor circuit design is more
ed off the recorded reading, expressed in milliamps on than just a simple resistor. The circuit
the Fluke meter shown in the photo on the right. can effectively minimize the amper-
age draw. This means that when a
circuit becomes only partly shorted
draw will have the short-to-ground. cuit (in-series) limiting resistor, for to ground, the voltage can be forced
However, it would still be in the hun- example, is 50 ohms and the sensor to drop between 1 and 4V. In an ef-
dredths-of-an-amp range. is 25,000 ohms, then the amperage fort to prove this out, I ran a test on
Let me elaborate on whats taking would be .000199A, or 199A. The my own vehicle, a 98 Pontiac Sun-
place here. If the 5V reference cir- clamp-on amp meter will not be able fire. I inserted a 47-ohm resistor in-

100

95

75

25

Circle #16

38 May 2016
Motor may half 2016
Monday, April 11, 2016 6:07:48 PM

5Volt.indd 4 4/18/16 3:47 PM

 to the MAP sensors 5V reference wires are not directly in the path dures will give you the best results:
circuit. When I grounded the circuit of the load created by the short-to- Identify all 5V reference wires.
through the resistor, the reference ground. Therefore, the other wires Install a clamp-on amp meter
voltage dropped to 2.8V. The amper- will not have the same measurable onto each 5V reference wire that
age at that point was .059A (59mA). amount of amperage. needs to be tested. Remember, this
The calculated resistance of the com- To test the amperage on a 5V ref- test is performed at the computer.
puters limiting circuit was 37 ohms. erence circuit, these simple proce- Zero the meter each time with
However, when I totally grounded
the reference circuit, the amperage
increased to only .064A (64mA). The
calculated resistance of the limiting
circuit increased to 78 ohms at that
point. Even though the amperage
was different, there wasnt a dramat-

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limiting resistor circuit increased to Circle #20
4.92V as well. This left only .023V
(23mV) remaining at the sensors.
I need to note here that the actual
starting reference circuit voltage was
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May 2016 39

5Volt.indd 5 4/18/16 3:47 PM

 5V Reference Circuit Short-to-Ground Finder

Clamp-on Amp Meter Sensors the vehicles ignition switch off. This
R2
is a very important step. This allows
Computer the meter to calibrate for absolute ze-
ro amperage and will help render the
Current Limiting R1 01 mA most accurate reading.
45 Signal Turn the ignition switch to the
46 Run position and record the amper-
47 R3 age reading. The wire that has the
highest amount of amperage will
5V have the short.
Regulator 01 mA Once the wire has been identified,
48
Signal locate the problem. Look at the wire
routing as well as the sensors on that
particular part of the circuit. Refer
64 mA R4 to the vehicles wiring schematic to
12V
help identify the sensors involved.
Reconnect the scope or voltmeter to
the appropriate sensor. Monitor the
Signal voltage to that sensor while checking
the involved circuit. This will help
This diagram shows the 5V reference wire test results when the 5V reference circuit was pinpoint the location of the problem.
totally shorted-to-ground. Note that wire 47 is the section of the circuit that has the short-
to-ground. Only the grounded wire will have the greatest amount of amperage. An example of this was a 2008

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42 May 2016

5Volt.indd 6 4/18/16 3:47 PM

 Subaru Outback that was towed in
with a no-start condition. The vehi-
cle cut out on the customer while
he was driving. The wiring harness
had rubbed on a support bracket
under the intake manifold. The 5V
reference wire was the first wire in
the harness to be grounded. Keep in
mind that the ECM/PCM also needs
small to medium sized load to the cir-
cuit. A regular incandescent test light
can be used to perform this test. A
low-amperage light bulb (1156 lamp)
in place of the test light will also work
quite well here. The 1156 lamp will
draw enough amperage to load the
circuit without blowing the fuse.
While performing this test, connect
a scope or voltmeter to the circuit.
The voltage should remain the same
when the load is applied. Dont forget
to test the computers grounds the
same way. A bad ground can wreak

See how you can

the 5V to operate and it lost power
as well. On this vehicle, the starter
circuit also shut down.

finish the job right

www.hunter.com/motor
Once you
identify the 5V
reference wire
with the short,
refer to the
vehicles wiring
schematic to
help identify
the sensors
involved.

As I stated earlier, the other 5V

reference wires will be lower or show
0A. Remember, the 5V reference cir-
cuit is still a parallel supply circuit
with an in-series current-limiting re-
sistor. Now if all of the 5V reference
wires show about the same low or no
amperage, then start looking at the
computer itself. The computer might
not have powered up to begin with.
The next place to check is all of the
12V power supplies and grounds to
the computer. Dont just replace the
computer at this point. When test-
ing the power supply wiring, apply a
Circle #22

May 2016 43

5Volt.indd 7 4/18/16 3:47 PM

 5V Ref. Circuit Short-to-Ground Finder

R2
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Computer

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5V
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R4
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and Shop Owners. This diagram shows the 47-ohm resistor tapped into the 5V reference circuit. The 47-ohm
resistor loads the limiting resistor to drop the 5V to 2.75V. The calculated resistance of the 98
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44 May 2016

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