Battery Breadkown
A battery breakdown is bad news. If the battery can’t supply enough amps to crank and start the engine, your customer’s vehicle isn’t going anywhere (except maybe downhill powered by gravity). A good battery is absolutely essential for reliable starting and for powering the vehicle’s onboard electronics and electrical systems when demand exceeds the charging
Alternator Altercation Electricity Fundamentals
Electrical principles, like voltage, amperage and resistance, can be described as cars passing along the roadway. Voltage was referred to as the vehicle’s speed, amperage as the number of vehicles on the road at the same time, and resistance as potholes in the road’s surface. Basically, electricity is a supply of atoms with an excess
Electrical System Service
Electrical System Service
Diagnostic Dilemmas: Battery-Related Driveability Issues
Any experienced automotive trainer will tell you that the automotive starter battery is the foundation of a vehicle electronics system. Of course, most of us nod our heads in agreement and then proceed to diagnose a driveability problem without first testing the battery’s condition! Unfortunately, short-cut procedures don’t work on the really tough no-code engine
Electrical System Service
Diagnosing Activated PSM Warning Light in Instrument Cluster
Handling the Load
It takes a lot of amps to power the lights, electric defrosters, wipers, power windows, power seats, power liftgates, the ignition system, fuel injectors, fuel pump, cooling fan, A/C compressor, heater fan, heated seats, audio system and navigation systems on today’s late-model vehicles. Since alternators can generate only so many amps, their output may depend
Vehicle Mileage Maintenance
A mere 0.7 of a mile does not sound like much, it is about 3,700 feet, or less than one-third the distance around Daytona International Speedway. On average, the U.S. population of vehicles will get 20 miles per gallon (including light trucks and passenger vehicles). A 0.7 of a mile improvement represents only a 3.5
Tire Speed Ratings
The Alphabet Soup Debate
Ignition Control Modules
Their Important Role in Creating Voltage at the Spark Plug Electrode
Rotating Electrical Parts Back to the Seller
Fighting the Urge To Return Electrica Components
Battery, Charging & Ignition System Diagnosis: Getting Around those Difficult-To-Diagnose Faults
What do you really need to know about diagnosing and repairing starting, charging and ignition systems? Basically two things: that electrical and ignition problems are often difficult to diagnose (especially intermittent faults), and that a lot of electrical and ignition parts are unnecessarily replaced in an attempt to repair problems that are hard to diagnose.
How Tread Design Impacts Wear, Traction, and Noise
When delving into the world of tread designs, one thing that is always fascinating is the size of the contact patch through which the tread design must roll. On an average-size passenger car tire, the contact patch is about the size of a 4×6-inch postcard. In total, all four contact patches reach about the size