A dead radio or an accessory that works only sometimes is the symptom, not the fault. The work is finding what is actually wrong before anyone starts replacing parts — and telling you plainly what we found.
We test the circuit rather than swapping components and hoping.
Audio, dash cam, remote starter and lighting wiring, whoever fitted it.
The faults that only happen sometimes are the ones worth doing properly.
What is wrong, what it costs, and whether it is worth doing — before any repair starts.
Most electrical jobs that come to us have already had a part thrown at them. A fuse was replaced and blew again. A head unit was swapped and the problem followed it. A battery was replaced and the car still went flat.
That happens because a symptom names a circuit, not a component. A stereo with no power could be the head unit, but it is far more often a fuse, a ground, a connector or a wire that was tapped badly during a previous install. Until something is measured, replacing parts is guesswork with an invoice attached.
Our work here is twelve-volt and accessory electrical: car audio, dash cams, remote starters, lighting and the wiring around them, plus the factory circuits those systems connect to. We will tell you honestly when something falls outside what we do rather than take the vehicle in and work it out later.
Six patterns cover most of what we see. Yours is probably one of them.
A radio, camera or accessory that is completely dead. Nothing lights up, nothing responds.
It works, then it does not. Cuts out over bumps, resets itself, or comes back after a cold night.
The fuse opens again shortly after being replaced. Something downstream is drawing more than the circuit allows.
The vehicle sits a few days and will not start. Something is staying awake when it should not be.
Whine that rises with the engine, popping on start-up, or hiss through the speakers.
Installed lighting or an accessory that does not switch, does not dim, or behaves differently than it should.
This is the part of the job worth paying for. Everything after it is comparatively easy.
Which of those apply depends entirely on the symptom. A dead accessory and a battery that drains overnight are different investigations, and neither is a fixed checklist.
A ground is worth singling out. A connection that looks fine and even reads continuity can still drop enough voltage under load to make an amplifier cut out or a module behave strangely. That is what voltage-drop testing is for, and it is the step most often skipped.
We are describing how we work rather than publishing a repair guide. You will not find vehicle-specific wire colours, security or immobiliser wiring, or fuse-jumping shortcuts on this page — those do not belong on a public site.
The car sits three days and will not start. This is one of the most common jobs we take on, and one of the most commonly misdiagnosed — usually by replacing the battery first.
Every parked vehicle draws a small amount of current. Modules stay partly awake, clocks and alarms keep running, and the vehicle settles into a low-power state over a period of minutes after you walk away. A problem exists when that settled draw is higher than it should be for that vehicle.
There is no single number that counts as normal. What is acceptable on a fifteen-year-old truck is not what is acceptable on a new SUV full of modules, so the figure has to be judged against the vehicle rather than a rule of thumb from the internet.
Excessive draw usually comes from one of these:
Finding it means measuring the draw with everything off and the vehicle asleep, then isolating circuits one at a time until the number moves. It takes as long as it takes — which is why it is charged for the time rather than as a fixed job.
A fault that is present all the time is comparatively easy: it can be measured whenever you like. A fault that appears twice a week, only when it is cold, or only over a particular bump is a different job.
Works until movement or vibration breaks the contact, then works again.
Fine at low current, drops voltage under load. Often the cause of an amplifier that cuts out only when it is working hard.
Calgary winters and road salt. A joint that reads fine in the summer stops behaving in February.
Chafed against an edge or pinched behind trim during a previous install. Intermittent until it is not.
Appears only when cold or only once things have warmed up, which narrows the search considerably.
Something on the vehicle network dropping out, which can make several unrelated things misbehave at once.
Being straight about this: an intermittent fault sometimes needs more diagnostic time, because it has to be reproduced before it can be measured. If yours only appears under specific conditions, tell us what those are when you book — it genuinely shortens the job.
Most of the electrical work we do sits behind the accessories this shop fits every day, so the faults are familiar ones.
We also look at factory circuits these systems connect to — the accessory feeds, door and lock circuits, and the fuse panel work behind them — because an aftermarket fault and a factory one often present identically until something is measured.
A surprising share of “electrical” symptoms come back to supply. Low system voltage makes well-installed equipment behave badly, and it does it in ways that look like a fault in the equipment.
What we are describing here is testing and diagnosis on the supply side, so you know whether the problem is the battery, the connections, the charging system or the accessory. Where the answer is a mechanical repair beyond twelve-volt and accessory work, we will tell you that plainly rather than take it on.
Battery condition and whether it is holding charge; system voltage with the engine running; terminals, clamps and main ground connections for corrosion and tightness; and whether the charging system is delivering what it should.
If your vehicle cranks slowly on a cold morning, that is worth resolving before adding anything that puts more demand on the battery — a remote starter or a parking-mode dash cam will find a weak battery quickly.
We inspect and correct accessory installations carried out by other shops, including ones that have since closed. It is a regular part of the work and there is nothing awkward about bringing it in.
The recurring findings are consistent, and none of them are exotic:
None of this is about running down whoever did the work — some of it is age, some is a rushed afternoon. We will tell you what we find, what it takes to put right, and whether rewiring it properly or replacing the unit is the better use of your money.
We see the fault ourselves. If it is intermittent, we agree what triggers it and how long it is reasonable to spend reproducing it.
Power, ground, fuses, connectors and current draw — whichever the symptom calls for, tested rather than assumed.
Narrow it to a circuit and then to a cause, and establish whether it is an aftermarket problem or a factory one.
What is wrong, what it takes to put right, what it costs, and whether it is worth doing on that vehicle. You decide before any repair starts.
Worth saying plainly: not every diagnosis ends in a same-visit repair. Some faults need a part ordered, and some need more time once we know where to look. You will hear that from us at the point we know it, not at pickup. Open Monday to Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Electrical troubleshooting is charged for the time it takes to find the fault, because finding it is the work. Replacing the part afterwards is usually the quick bit.
What is wrong, what it costs to fix, and an honest view on whether it is worth doing on that vehicle.
Nothing beyond the diagnosis happens without you agreeing to it first.
If you would rather have the repair done elsewhere, that is fine. You paid for the answer and you can take it with you.
Measuring first is what stops a job turning into a sequence of parts that each did not fix it.
Most often a fuse, a ground, a connector or a supply wire rather than the head unit itself — particularly if anything has been installed or removed recently. Testing tells you which, and it is a much cheaper answer than a new unit.
Intermittent faults usually come down to a loose connector, a weak ground, corrosion, or a wire damaged behind trim. They need to be reproduced before they can be measured, which is why they sometimes take longer than a fault that is present constantly.
Because something downstream is drawing more current than that circuit allows. Fitting a larger fuse is the wrong answer and a genuinely dangerous one — the fuse is protecting the wiring. The right answer is finding what is pulling the extra current.
Current the vehicle keeps drawing after it is parked and asleep. A small amount is normal and varies by vehicle, so there is no single figure that counts as correct. Excessive draw is found by measuring it and isolating circuits until the number changes.
It can be either, and testing is what separates them. We check the battery, the terminals and grounds, system voltage and whether the charging system is delivering properly, before assuming an accessory is at fault.
Yes, and it is a regular job. Badly wired stereos, cameras, lighting and starters come in often, including from shops that have since closed. We will tell you what we find without making a drama of it.
Usually. Rewiring an installation properly is a large part of what we do. Where the equipment itself has failed we will say so, and where rewiring is the better value we will say that instead.
Noise that rises with engine speed is usually a wiring or grounding problem rather than a faulty amplifier or head unit — often a ground loop or a signal cable routed alongside a power cable. It is fixable once it is traced.
It depends on the symptom. A dead accessory is often quick. A parasitic draw or an intermittent fault takes longer because the vehicle has to be measured in the right state, or the fault reproduced. We will give you a realistic expectation when you book.
Electrical troubleshooting is based on diagnostic time and complexity rather than a flat rate, because the work is the finding. We will be clear about what we expect before starting, and you approve any repair separately.
Send the details and we will come back with a price for your vehicle. No call centre, no generic quote.
Most of the electrical work we do sits behind these, so the same hands see both sides of it.
Speakers, amplifiers and subwoofers, wired in behind the trim and tuned before you drive away.
Car audio
Added behind the factory screen on most modern vehicles, or with a new head unit where it is not.
CarPlay
Hardwired and hidden, with parking mode wired properly rather than taped to the glass.
Dash cams
Integrated with the vehicle rather than bolted on, and tested before it leaves the bay.
Remote startersSend us the year, make and model, what the symptom is, and whether anything was installed or worked on before it started. If it is intermittent, tell us what seems to trigger it — that detail genuinely shortens the job.
#129 10985 38 St NE, Calgary AB T3N 1E7 · Monday to Saturday, 10:30 a.m.–6:30 p.m.