MAINTENANCE

October is already there and, as 2011 is just like any other preceding year, it is now winter inspection time. [Full story]

Tire pressure monitoring systems are now standard equipment on most vehicles sold in Canada. Problems with the TPMS system can cause not only illumination of the low tire pressure warning light but may also result in reduced performance on some vehicles. [Full story]

The starting system includes the battery, starter and starter solenoid, ignition switch, safety switches and in some late model vehicles the PCM is also part of the starting system. Starting systems fall into 2 categories. Ignition switch controlled (Fig 1) and PCM controlled (Fig 2). Diagnosis of both systems is very similar. [Full story]

Today’s charging systems may or may not include computer controls and the normal voltage range on some systems can vary anywhere from 12.6 to 15.5 volts. [Full story]

The heat of summer is just a few short months away, so the time to begin paying attention to your customers’ air conditioning system has arrived. [Full story]

In this article we will look at troubleshooting some of the more popular accessories such as Windshield Washers and Power Windows. [Full story]

Drive By Wire technology was first introduced on military aircraft about 20 years ago. On cars, it is replacing the conventional mechanical cable between the pedal and the throttle body. It consists of a sophisticated pedal position sensor (PPS) that closely tracks the position of the accelerator pedal and sends this information to the Engine Control Module (ECM). The advantages are many as we will learn in this article. [Full story]

GM pioneered the technology of deactivating cylinders with the 1981 Cadillac V8 engine (4.6 L). The system used electrical solenoids to disengage the rocker arm assemblies, having the engine operating on 8 cyl mode to accelerate, 6 cyl on light accelerations and 4 cyl mode for cruising. It was very erratic and unreliable, and this is why it disappeared the year after. [Full story]

Due to tighter emission regulations and the demand for higher fuel economy, manufacturers are rapidly switching to direct fuel injection technology. GM/Saturn, Mazda, Volkswagen/Audi, BMW and Mercedes Benz are using it at this time. It addresses the problems related to poor engine efficiency due to incomplete combustion and heat dissipation, wasted heat energy and poor fuel vaporisation. [Full story]

Today’s charging systems may or may not include computer controls and the normal voltage range on some systems can vary anywhere from 12.6 to 15.5 volts. [Full story]

All fuel systems fail in one of 2 ways. Either too much fuel or too little fuel is being delivered. The most common failure is too little fuel resulting in the engine running lean or not starting. [Full story]

Problems in this system may prevent the vehicle from starting, may cause the vehicle to run poorly while driving or may cause the vehicle to misfire. According to the vehicles age and model, the ignition system may include the ignition switch, distributor, spark plugs and wires, ignition coil or coils plus crankshaft and camshaft sensors. [Full story]

The starting system includes the battery, starter and starter solenoid, ignition switch, safety switches and in some late model vehicles the PCM is also part of the starting system. Starting systems fall into 2 categories. Ignition switch controlled (Fig 1) and PCM controlled (Fig 2). Diagnosis of both systems is very similar. [Full story]

While most import and domestic vehicles are trouble-free, I think consumers depend too much on their reliability tending to shy away from maintenance schedules. Why is that? Forgetfulness? Cost?... [Full story]

Filters are an integral part of vehicles today. They come in different shapes and sizes, not to mention different locations throughout the vehicle. Filters need regular maintenance, too, so let’s take a look at some of them... [Full story]

The heat of summer is just a few short months away, so the time to begin paying attention to your customers’ air conditioning system has arrived. Some shops may decide to offer their customers A/C performance testing—either invasive ... [Full story]

Determining what is wrong with the suspension is sometimes a tricky job. Many items need to be checked out first before you can start the repair. We’re going to go over a few of them here. Tires play a big part in suspension and now because it’s winter, we’ll concentrate on winter tires.... [Full story]

Brake noises are annoying and in most cases the brake pads are usually the cause, however, sometimes I find this questionable. I strongly urge installers to perform a visual inspection of the front brakes. You may be in for a surprise and find that it was some other brake component that is the problem.... [Full story]

Prior to the advent of alternators (a 1960’s innovation that can be attributed to Chrysler), most vehicle charging systems utilized a dC generator. Looking much like belt-driven starter motors, dC generators had weak low-rpm performance, and required fussy and unreliable mechanical voltage and current regulators to control... [Full story]

As part of the cooling system, the water pump is pretty important in keeping the vehicle running in good order. Summer is coming, and you need to be on the lookout for symptoms that could suggest the water pump needs replacing. this is also good preventive maintenance... [Full story]

Spring is in the air and your clients’ vehicles should be getting a good going-over from the consequences of a long, cold winter. A good thing to start with is the A/C system… something that likely wasn’t used during the past few months... [Full story]