Fundamentals of Electrical System Diagnosis
Electrical principles, like voltage, amperage and resistance, can be described as cars passing along the roadway. Voltage would be the vehicle’s speed, amperage would be the number of vehicles on the road at the same time, and resistance would be the potholes in the road’s surface. Basically, electricity is a supply of atoms with an
Ignition Misfires
A flashing Check Engine light and a P0301 to P0312 diagnostic trouble code is a sure-fire indication that one or more cylinders are misfiring. Occasional misfires may pass unnoticed, but a steady misfire is hard to miss. The engine usually feels rough, lacks power and uses more gas than usual. Sometimes a misfire may feel
Tech Tip: Wheel Speed Sensor Service
According to a recent BRAKE & FRONT END magazine survey, the most commonly replaced ABS items are wheel speed sensors and wheel bearing hub units with wheel speed sensors.
Wheel Speed Sensors
According to a recent BRAKE & FRONT END survey, the most commonly replaced ABS items are wheel speed sensors and wheel bearing hub units with wheel speed sensors. Pulling a wheel speed sensor code does not mean that you should immediately pull and replace the sensor. If you do not confirm the source of the
A/C Update: Bad A/C Blowers & Fuses
One component air conditioners and heaters share in common is the blower motor. The blower motor is usually located in the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) housing under the dash. The blower motor spins a squirrel cage fan that delivers both cold and hot air. If the driver wants cold air and turns on
Olds Engines: Gone But Not Forgotten
By Larry Carley Times change and vehicle makes and nameplates come and go. The last official Oldsmobile rolled off the assembly line on April 29, 2004, when General Motors pulled the plug to stop the hemorrhage of red ink in their ailing Oldsmobile car division. Though the brand is now history, there are still millions
Tech Tip: Going Digital – DMMs and DVOMs
These days, no matter what kind of automotive repair work you specialize in, virtually every system has a certain amount of electronics. Consequently, one diagnostic tool every technician needs is a digital multimeter.
TechTalk: A Chevy Tahoe with Shifting Issues
A customer with a 1996 Chevy Tahoe brought the vehicle in, stating that it was shifting erratically, the cruise control would surge from 50 mph to 60 mph and then cut out completely and the speedometer, at times, was drifting. (This Tahoe had a 5.7L vin R engine with a 4L60E transmission coupled to a
Import ABS Diagnostics: Customer Input Can Help Pinpoint System Culprits
The ABS warning light is on in your customer’s car and he wants you to check it out. So where do you start your diagnosis? Because the ABS warning light is on, you know the ABS system has detected some kind of fault. But are there other problems that may be affecting the ABS system?
Under Pressure: Maintaining Ford’s Electronic Returnless Fuel System
By Glen Beanard, Technical Contributor Here we go again. A simple electric pump pushing fuel up to the engine, with its pressure being controlled by a little valve, and returning the unused fuel to the tank was not good enough. Now, we need to make that all fancy by adding a new controller, adding a