Currently, there are about 1.2 million hybrid vehicles on the road. Within five years, hybrids are expected to account for 20 to 25% of all new car and light-truck sales. So sooner or later, you'll be working on these vehicles at your shop. These vehicles have the same service opportunities...
While the Toyota Prius dominates most of the hybrid discussion, the Nissan Altima Hybrid warrants some attention too.
Plug-in hybrid silently laps racetrack without gasoline.
The hybrid version of the Saturn VUE was initially referred to as the "Green Line" model because of its improved fuel economy: 25 mpg city and 32 mpg highway versus 22/27 for the regular version of the VUE. The Green Line moniker has since been dropped for the 2009 model...
Most hybrid vehicles on the market today share wheel bearing components with their non-hybrid counterparts. There is no need to turn away these vehicles for wheel bearing replacement. As these vehicles increase in age, failures of the wheel bearings are inevitable. The main trend for some makes of hybrids, such...
A hybrid vehicle is a different animal than many of us are used to seeing. After all, if the engine of a typical vehicle were to stall out at a traffic light, the driver of that vehicle would know something was wrong with it. If that same vehicle still drove...
The owner of a Ford Escape Hybrid or Mercury Mariner Hybrid may complain of an illuminated malfunction indicator lamp (MIL). If you obtain the diagnostic trouble code (DTC) of U2062, the problem may originate in the brake system control module, part of the hydraulic control unit (HCU). Follow the steps...
Dana Holding Corp. recently introduced new hybrid drivetrain technology specifically engineered for off-highway vehicles. A concept transmission in the evaluation phase, the Spicer TE-15HX is an electric parallel hybrid that features a dual power path transmission control system. This system continuously monitors operating conditions and selects the proper combination of...
Navistar recently unveiled its newest hybrid truck, the International WorkStar Hybrid 4x4, which the company says is the industry’s first four-wheel-drive diesel-electric hybrid commercial truck. The International WorkStar Hybrid 4x4, part of the International severe service line-up of trucks for heavier duty applications, adds to Navistar's industry-leading line-up of diesel-electric...
Under certain driving conditions, some 2001-'02 Prius vehicles may exhibit a Master, Hybrid and MIL Warning Light "on" condition where only DTC P3125, information code 287, has set in the Hybrid Vehicle Control Unit (HV ECU). Use the following procedure to identify whether the HV ECU or inverter/converter assembly should...
