Joe,

Does a meter such as I have, the A.W. Sperry Model Dm-2a, described on the
packaging as having "electronic overload protection, meet your criteria?  That
is, does that term mean, to you, " approved for use on computer
controlled-cars?"

Features:

UL Listed in US and Canadian Safety Standards
limited one-year warranty
ELECTRONIC OVERLOAD PROTECTION
autorangin
simple operation
continuity buzzer
rangehold button
built-in test leads...

Cost appx $30.00...Usual disclaimers apply

Tom Hanlon
Palm Springs, CA
84 Westfalia

"Joe L." wrote:

>      Im no expert but one thing I DO know. If you are gonna mess around with
> any vehicle with a computer on it you MUST have a voltmeter with what is
> known as a "High Input Impeadence" (10 megs or higher). This is basically
> how much of a load the meter itself puts on a circuit when you use it.
>      What you do when you use a voltmeter is sort of the same thing you do
> when you plug the toaster into the wall socket; you add the meter to
> whatever curcuit you are testing and this increases the load on that
> circuit. Plug in one too many toasters and you blow the fuse. "Plug in" a
> low impeadence voltmeter and you blow the computer! This is why you will see
> words like "Approved for use on Computer Controlled cars"  on SOME
> voltmeters but not on others.
>      Nowadays it is pretty easy and inexpensive to find a suitable one
> (usually digital) but you cant just get whatever is cheapest at the Radio
> Shack.Sunpro puts out a deceint one ($40??) you can pick up at your local
> FLAPS.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Jeff Gilbert <jeff_gilbert@PEOPLESOFT.COM>
> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Sent: Thursday, August 19, 1999 12:26 PM
> Subject: Which Voltmeter to use?
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > Im new to all this diagnosis stuff and was wondering if someone could shed
> > some light on what would be a good voltmeter to aid in the diagnosis of a
> > never ending, son of a bitch, fuel injection problem.  Bently suggests
> > using the VW meter...is this necessary, or will any good quality meter do?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Jeff