Trying to trace the short that happens to the rear passenger brake light and the dash lights. I am using a short tracing tool ( ) but cant seem to lock onto a tone. I disconnected the battery, attached the alligator clips to the the bad fuse holder, and switched it on. I cant seem to trace any wires, the thing just beeps when its near the device but doenst seem to actually trace the wires.

Is there anything special I am missing about tracing a short on a 240?

I absolutely hate electrical problems and am at my wits end. I almost just want to drive the car to the junk yard and let them give me $100 for the scrap or whatever.

 

ok so maybe you are better off simply using a VOM. I assume you have a wiring diagram handy (check out volvotips.com if you can't find one). You can disconnect the battery and start probing between connection points and ground - a short will have low resistance to ground. If your VOM has aligator clips, you can add a paper clip or similar to make a probe that should be able to slide into the back side of a connector to make contact. I'd probably start with the brake lights by checking around the switch by the pedal first to see if its upstream (ie towards the fuse box) or after the switch.