AE AE & AC (08) 9249 8619

Auto Electrician in Malaga

Auto electrical work is the half of the trade the business is named after. Wiring, modules, sensors, charging faults and the intermittent problems that other workshops hand back unsolved.

Malaga workshop Mon–Fri 8:00am–5:00pm Sat 8:00am–12:00pm Auto electrical, AC & mechanical in-house

Symptoms that point to an electrical fault

  • The car is dead, or dead intermittently — no crank, no dash lights, or it works one morning and not the next.
  • A battery that keeps going flat without an obvious reason. Usually a parasitic draw rather than the battery itself.
  • Warning lights with no drivability change, or several unrelated lights at once, which often points to one common cause such as a supply or earth fault.
  • Something works sometimes — a window, a central lock, a sensor, a fan — particularly if it changes with heat, damp or vibration.
  • Blowing the same fuse repeatedly. The fuse is doing its job; something upstream is the problem.
  • Dash lights dimming or flickering at idle or under load.
  • Aftermarket accessories that stopped working, or that started causing unrelated faults after being fitted.

Intermittent electrical faults are the ones worth bringing to a workshop that does this daily. They are frustrating precisely because they are not present when the car is on the hoist, and finding them is a process rather than a guess.

How we find the fault

Electrical diagnosis is deductive, not a matter of reading a code and replacing the part it names. A code tells you which circuit reported a problem; it does not tell you whether the component, the wiring, a connector, a supply, an earth or the module itself is at fault.

  • Confirm the symptom and, where possible, reproduce it. Half the job on an intermittent fault is making it happen on demand.
  • Scan for stored and pending codes across all modules, not just the engine, and read freeze-frame data for the conditions at the time.
  • Test the basics first — battery condition, charging output, supply voltage and earth integrity. A surprising share of "module faults" are a poor earth.
  • Measure at the circuit using voltage drop testing and, where the signal matters, an oscilloscope to see what the wire is actually doing rather than an averaged multimeter reading.
  • Work from the wiring diagram to isolate the section at fault instead of replacing parts in sequence.
  • Confirm the repair by reproducing the original conditions.

What we repair

  • Electrical fault finding and intermittent-fault diagnosis
  • Wiring repairs, loom damage, chafed and rodent-damaged wiring
  • Parasitic battery draw testing and repair
  • Charging system faults — see alternators and starter motors
  • Starting faults, no-crank and crank-no-start diagnosis
  • Sensors, switches, relays and fuse box faults
  • Lighting faults, trailer wiring and towing electrics
  • Central locking, windows, mirrors and comfort electrics
  • Module and body-control faults
  • Accessory installation — driving lights, UHF, inverters, and dual battery systems
  • Battery testing, replacement and coding — see battery replacement

What affects the price

We quote after we have looked at the vehicle, because an honest number needs the actual fault rather than a description of it. What moves the price on this kind of work:

  • Diagnostic time. An obvious fault is quick; an intermittent one that only appears when hot, cold or over a bump takes longer to reproduce and confirm.
  • Part cost for your specific vehicle. This varies enormously between makes — European parts are frequently multiples of the equivalent for a common Japanese model.
  • Access. Some components are behind a dash, a subframe or an engine mount. The part can be cheap and the labour the opposite.
  • Whether the fault has caused secondary damage that also needs addressing.
  • Whether coding or calibration is required after fitting.

You get the number before the work starts, and nothing extra happens without you approving it first.

Vehicles we work on

European, Asian, Australian and American vehicles — passenger cars, 4WDs, utes, vans and light commercials, for private owners and fleets.

If your vehicle needs something we are not equipped for, we will tell you rather than have a go at it. That is not a common outcome, but it is the honest answer when it happens.

Warranty on this work

Workmanship and parts are covered. The specific period depends on the job and on the part supplier's own warranty, so the terms that apply to your repair are set out on your invoice — ask us to walk you through them before you approve the work if you would like it clear up front.

This sits alongside your rights under Australian Consumer Law, which apply regardless of what any warranty document says.

Frequently asked questions

What causes a car battery to drain overnight?

Most often a parasitic draw — a module, relay, light or aftermarket accessory staying awake when the car is off. It can also be a failing alternator that is not fully recharging, or a battery near the end of its life. A parasitic draw test identifies which.

How is a parasitic battery drain tested?

By measuring the current the vehicle is still drawing once it has gone to sleep, then isolating circuits one at a time until the draw disappears. On modern vehicles this requires waiting for the modules to actually shut down, which is why the test takes time rather than minutes.

Why does my car keep blowing the same fuse?

Because something in that circuit is drawing more current than it should — usually a short to earth from damaged wiring, a failing component, or a chafed loom. Fitting a larger fuse is dangerous: the fuse is protecting the wiring, and a bigger one lets the wiring become the fuse.

Can you fix an electrical fault another workshop couldn't find?

Often, yes — that work makes up a fair share of what comes through the door. Bring any diagnostic paperwork you have; knowing what has already been tested and replaced saves repeating it.

What does an automotive oscilloscope diagnose?

It shows what a circuit is doing over time rather than an averaged value, which is how you catch brief dropouts, noisy sensor signals, and communication faults that a multimeter or a scan tool will read as normal.

Other services

Areas we service: Malaga · Morley · Ballajura · Wangara · Bayswater · Midland · Guildford · Ellenbrook · Bassendean · Perth and the wider Perth metropolitan area.

Book your vehicle in

Tell us what the vehicle is doing and we will diagnose it properly. You get the price before the work starts.