Friday, March 13, 2009 10:25
By Dave Hobbs. Para What? It’s amazing how many IATN posts I see with good techs struggling in the area of parasitic battery drains. How much is too much? How to test? I guess I shouldn’t be amazed. I literally grew up in the family auto electric shop and this kind of thing was our bread and butter. For the rest of the shops out there who have to be experts in everything from the turn signals to the transmission, it can be a bit confusing. So what is a parasitic battery drain? Continue…
Thursday, March 12, 2009 15:02
By Ryan Kooiman. How many times have you been scrolling through your scan tool, and somehow run across a screen that said something like:
TID $01 CID$11 Min:$01E1 Max:NA Cur Val:$02DC Result:Pass
This was my first experience with Mode $06. Continue…
Friday, January 30, 2009 13:02
By Scott Holloway. As a vehicle service and maintenance provider, you are no doubt aware that with the model year 2008 all cars and light trucks sold in the United States have a Direct Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS). These systems actually have been in use for better than ten years and have only recently shown up in the repair centers with a resounding thud! We all know that with change comes opportunity, and TPMS represents huge opportunity for the tire service centers and auto repair garages alike. Continue…
Friday, November 14, 2008 20:11
By Craig Van Batenburg. In the beginning of hybrid car development the air conditioning systems were R143a systems that shared all the same components as a typical gasoline motor vehicle. The early hybrids were the Honda Insight, Civic Hybrid, Ford Escape, and Classis Prius (2001-2003). All hybrid A/C systems are really climate control. Only the Insight had A/C as an option, and it was a climate control system as well. Every other hybrid to date has factory climate control for some very important reasons. Continue…
Friday, November 14, 2008 15:14
By Dave Hobbs. Car audio? Been more interested in R.P.M.s than in watts R.M.S.? Better rethink that philosophy with today’s factory car audio and entertainment systems. The technology that used to be a handful of simple circuits like “power, ground, speaker and antenna” and totally independent of other electronic systems has given way to vehicles sprawling with wires and data busses interacting with the audio system. Continue…
