Clipper

You can put that experience in your virtual toolbox and benefit from it going forward! Been there, done that and know it won't be the last time! Thank you for sharing!

Test bulbs are such a low tech tool with generally high reliability! I use a few different bulb and socket combos depending on the current demands...and as a way to load a circuit to see if it can handle an actual amount of current, cant trust a DVOM all the time because one strand of wire can deliver voltage.

Wrong , but rather close looking battery was installed? Or were the pins bent as a result?

Good troubleshooting! Sometimes you look at something, not obviously broken, but broken just enough to cause problems. And then sometimes you find something big, and wonder how it hasn't caused a problem!

I'm all for not crossing the streams! But having different connector bodies that prevent cross mating might be an easier solution, and aren't as breakage prone as the pins are. Unless its an older Ford, all you had to do was look at a connector the wrong way and it broke lol!

I was used to simple Normally Open and Normally Closed! I wasn't aware of these varieties, with their unique operating characteristics.

Looking thru that catalog, made me wonder the same thing back in the early 2000s when GM was sending trays and trays of terminal pins to dealerships. Why on earth do we need a gazillion different terminals? I guess the short answer is...That's Big Business for you! But how much easier it would be if it was standardized to 50 different terminals and mating halfs!

That's pretty cool self diagnostic ability there! I wonder ... was the panel over that conx dented inward? like from a ramper's foot?

Great to see you are back! I hope all is well!
Interesting how the system copes with old software. When a version goes out of date, is there not some kind of warning to alert that the version has "expired"?