Today I received the Mopar wiring harness kit for my Dodge Magnum. The instructions are in the form of wordless diagrams and are actually quite clear. I even found all of the connections in the electronics module under the hood. I do have to drill two 1 3/4" holes in the unibody under carriage, but I am OK with that. The nice thing about this is that there is no splicing into the taillight or turn signal circuits and activation seems to be based on relays in a module that comes with the kit. And... I'll save about $300 off the parts and installation price from the Dodge boys. At this point, anyway.
Now, how do I test the thing short of a smoke test? I don't want to damage anything in the vehicle's electronics systems. I do have a Craftsman multimeter that can be set for the appropriate voltage/amperage range. I could test the interface pin by pin as Mrs. Diegan turns on the lights, applies the brakes, and so on. That's going to cost me. Is there a better way to go about this?
An additional question arises from the notion that I don't think the kit provides for battery isolation. If one forgets to disconnect it, the tear is still going to drain it's battery as well as that of the tow vehicle. Absent minded professor that I am, should I put a battery isolator solenoid in series with the battery line in the harness?
Finally, would it be wise to fuse the battery line in the harness?
Thanks,
Tom