A6 Electrical &
Electronic Systems
Several dash-mounted accessories operate erratically and dim when the blower motor is switched to high. What is the MOST likely cause?
A rear window defogger heats unevenly. Technician A says voltage along a good grid line tapers gradually from feed side to ground side. Technician B says one broken grid line stops the defogger from working. Who is right?
A V8 engine cranks slowly. The readings below were taken during cranking. Which of these could be the cause?
| Measurement | Reading | Specification |
|---|---|---|
| Cranking voltage at battery | 10.8 V | 9.6 V minimum |
| Starter current draw | 295 A | 175–250 A |
| Positive cable voltage drop | 0.2 V | 0.5 V maximum |
| Ground cable voltage drop | 0.1 V | 0.3 V maximum |
The park switch in a windshield wiper motor assembly is used to:
Which of these is the LEAST likely to be required after replacing a body control module?
Courtesy lamps stay on continuously after all doors are closed. Which of these could be the cause?
Before removing a steering wheel airbag module for replacement, the technician should first:
Technician A says voltage drop testing must be done with the circuit loaded and current flowing. Technician B says 0.4 volt across a taillight ground path indicates excessive resistance. Who is right?
With the engine at 2000 rpm and headlights on, battery voltage measures 13.1 volts and voltage between the generator B+ terminal and the battery positive post is 0.9 volt. Which of these could be the cause?
All instrument cluster gauges read zero and the cluster warning lamps stay illuminated, but the engine starts and runs. What is the MOST likely cause?
Any of these could cause a low battery state of charge EXCEPT:
A scan tool cannot communicate with the transmission control module, but every other module responds normally. Which of these could be the cause?
In an immobilizer system, the transponder in the key is used to:
Technician A says a generator producing excessive AC ripple will cause an overcharge condition. Technician B says a seized decoupler pulley can cause belt noise and accelerated belt wear. Who is right?
Which of these is the LEAST likely cause of turn signals that flash rapidly on the right side only?
A 55-watt headlamp bulb operates on a 13.8-volt system. Approximately how much current does it draw?
The horn sounds continuously and stops only when the horn relay is removed. Which of these could be the cause?
Before load testing a battery that has just been charged, the technician should:
A battery goes dead after sitting three days. Technician A says a key-off draw of 300 milliamps is normal on a modern vehicle. Technician B says fuses should be pulled before the modules enter sleep mode. Who is right?
A heated seat warms briefly, then shuts off and does not resume. The heater element measures within specification. What is the MOST likely cause?
The ballast in a high-intensity discharge (HID) headlight system is used to:
Which of these is the LEAST likely cause of a fusible link melting open?
A charging system current output test is performed by:
Technician A says a power window may lose express-up operation until it is relearned after battery disconnection. Technician B says a window motor that runs down but not up indicates a failed regulator. Who is right?
The starter continues to run after the engine starts and the key is released. Which of these could be the cause?
Reading Your Results: A6 Electrical and Electronic Systems, Test 1
A score by itself only tells you whether you passed. What follows is how to read the questions you missed on this test. A6 is the largest ASE automobile exam, and almost every question on it comes back to one idea: a circuit needs a source, a path, a load, and a return, and each of those fails in a way you can measure.
If you missed the questions about resistance in a circuit
Unwanted resistance is the most common electrical fault in the trade and the hardest to find with the wrong tool, so this test keeps coming back to it. Resistance in a circuit does not stop current, it limits it, so the symptom is a load that works poorly rather than one that does not work at all. That is the tell: a dim lamp, a slow motor, or a starter that turns but turns slowly. It also means an ohmmeter on a disconnected wire will often read fine, because the meter pushes almost no current through the connection. A voltage drop test loads the circuit and measures the voltage the resistance is consuming, which is why it finds faults a continuity check walks right past. When several accessories dim together as a big load switches on, the resistance is upstream of all of them, usually in a shared feed or ground.
If you missed the questions built on a measurement
Three questions here hand you readings and expect you to work with them rather than just compare them.
If you missed the questions where a module was involved
Modern body electrical work carries requirements that a straight circuit does not. A replacement module usually has to be programmed or configured for that specific vehicle before it will work, and losing battery power can erase learned values such as window express-up. Neither of those is a fault in anything you can measure, which is why they show up on the exam as questions about what is required after a repair rather than as diagnostics. On the network side, a single module that will not answer while every other module responds normally points at that module's power, ground, or its own branch of the bus, since a fault in the bus itself would take more than one module offline.
If you missed the EXCEPT and LEAST likely questions
Four appear on this test, and missing more than one is a reading habit rather than a knowledge gap. Work out what the three real causes share before you look for the odd one. On the rapid-flash question, three answers all reduce current in that side's turn signal circuit, and one does not change current at all. On the fusible link question, three answers all put more current through the link than it was sized for, and one reduces current instead. Naming the shared trait first turns a four-way guess into a single check, and on an exam this long that habit saves real time.