Measuring the volts, amps and ohms in a car 29/02/20012

checking Amps (current draw)

1. disconnect the negative battery terminal
2. change the setting on the multimeter to amps
3. plug the wires in to the right ports on  the multimeter (images/labels indicate which port to use)
4. connect the the multimeter in series from the battery to the terminal cable
5. the reading will be displayed on the screen (Make sure that all the appliances are switched off)
6. disconnect the multimeter and replace the terminal cable

checking Volts (charging rate)

1. make sure the wires are in the right ports on the multimeter and that it is on the right setting
2. connect the multimeter to the battery in parallel
3. the reading will be shown on the screen
4. start the car and check the reading again, it should be more than the original voltage if not then the alternator is not charging
5. remove the multimeter

Checking ohms (checking to see if components work)

1. make sure there is no power on the component 
2. set the multimeter to the ohm setting 
3. connect the wires to the components terminals 
4. the ohms should appear on the screen

check that the multimeter is set to the right range when using all of the settings