Primary Electrical System Troubleshooting.
Volkswagen: Primary Electrical System Troubleshooting
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Froggy came a-shortin’: Part Two
The complex electrical web of the Mazda retractable headlight system, unraveled at last.
Routine Maintenance 101
One of my main income-generating activities involves ‘routine’ maintenance services on Hondas
A Quest For Control
As long as electronics have been around and as long as they will exist, someone will always try to economize on circuit materials. When too much current is applied for the circuit materials to handle, the electronics overheat. Heat is the skulking menace of electronics. If all the heat could be dissipated effectively, most electronic […]
Honda Main Relay Insider
In previous articles we discussed electrical troubleshooting techniques for measuring circuit voltages and voltage drops using a DMM. We also discussed using a DMM to measure resistance. But let’s not get so focused on the theory of DMM’s and voltage and resistance measurement. If we do, we risk overlooking the application of these principles of […]
Business Software Part Five
Part Four of the “Front Counter Mechanics” Business Software series (Import Service, November 2000) described how to retrieve certain facts and figures from shop management programs, then import the data into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. This month’s article describes how to import data that Excel doesn’t recognize. Please log in below to view content. If […]
Autodiagnostic Therapy
It looked very sharp for a nine-year-old car. The still shiny ’91 Camry came in running fine, on its own with no obvious problems – no misses, no smoke, nothing scraping, banging, flapping, clanking or dragging. It was clean as a whistle and rustless entirely. So why did the man behind the wheel look so […]
Telematics: A Full Menu of Options
The recent SAE Future Transportation Technology Conference in Costa Mesa, California, provided information on hybrid electric vehicles, 42-volt electrical systems, alternate fuel and fuel cell technology, Intelligent Data Bus (IDB) and OBD-II+ systems. All of these technologies will (perhaps) find their way into new vehicles in the not-too distant future. However, I believe the Intelligent […]
Repair Shop Confidential Episode Two: The Case of the Two-Stepping TPS
When you are the world’s greatest automotive detective, you meet all kinds of guys. Well, guys like Dave. That’s Dave as in “Dave’s Transmission City,” formerly “Dave’s Lifetime Brake & Muffler,” still earlier “Dave’s International Auto Repair,” “Dave’s Dependable Towing,” “Dave’s Quality Detailing” and so on back through a long chain of sequentially failed automotive […]
Hot-Wiring Nightmare No-Starts
To a ‘civilian,’ a no-start seems like the most frustrating and difficult of all car problems. It’s always unexpected and inconvenient. And entirely inexplicable! After all, ‘didn’t the engine start fine thousands of times before, with the same gas in the tank and the same key in the ignition slot, just like now? Doesn’t it […]