Electrical schematic/diagnostic software?

Question

Trying to figure out a fault with my car's electrics, but having some problems tracing the fault from the schematics given in the Haynes (/repair) manual as the lines where the fault may lie go across several pages, and so it's really difficult to follow. Was thinking/hoping that someone would have had this problem before, and that there MUST be an easier way to figure out where the problem lies (I don't think calling mechanic is a good answer, I WANT to fix it myself!)

Am planning to to "digitise" the schematic, which should make things a LOT simplier. Any ideas of good software to do this in?

Was also thinking that If I tell the software, that component x isn't working, that it should be able to highlight the wires/components on which the fault MAY lie. Perhaps also have some facility which re-arranges the schematic to redraw the schematic, so that components that are may be contributing to the fault, are re-drawn next to the one(s) known to have a problem.

Answer 1

Most software that comes with your scanner will allow you to make separate scans and put them together. The Haynes books are great but the schematics suck.

Making it into something "live" is a bit much. You can probably re-wire and replace every component on your car quicker than all that's going to take.

I'd leave the document in pdf or jpg. Auto Cad licences cost a fortune, then you have to pay someone to vectorize it and clean it up.

Answer 2

It is possible to draw the schematic in an engineering drawing package such as AutoCAD and draw it as one sheet.

Depending how it is drawn, you can easily show just the affected circuit for diagnosis etc.

Im not sure about redrawing the scheme when you identify the problem component, but certainly you can hide aspects of the drawing to just show the bits you are interested in