One local service manager of a GM dealer told me that he has seen multiple technician applicants who managed to fiddle around with a small block Chevy in their backyard until they finally got it to start, and believed that one wrench-and-steel conquest and a couple of brake pad swaps on friends’ cars qualified them for an A-tech slot in the dealer service bay. He doesn’t hire them.

By far, we all know the best skill gained comes from performing lots of real repairs on vehicles people will be driving, day after day, one after another. And no matter how many vehicles we troubleshoot and repair, we’re going to encounter some that we will remember for many a year. For me, well, I can think of dozens. But in those moments when we think we know what to expect when we draw a work order but get blindsided, it’s downright annoying.

These are nice rides, but this one wouldn't move.

And then it gets personal – you against the machine – usually one-on-one, slugging it out, sometimes over several days. That kind of meat grinder works well for any skill level from my automotive students to full-blown techs. We never stop learning, and the tough ones put iron in our souls. And for those who are just getting started in this business or are reading these words as a consumer, this, ladies and gentlemen, is what we do.

The Durango

This one came in with a simple “Check Engine” light. And the initial annoyance was that this Durango started out by refusing to talk to us on the enhanced line, and while we did agree to have a look at the MIL issue, we aren’t doing network/comm stuff this semester, so I had my guys back out of the enhanced screen on and dive into the generic OBDII side – which is always a good idea anyway, because what doesn’t show up in the enhanced room might appear in the generic one.

And on the generic comm line we found a P0520 code – that familiar Chrysler oil pressure sensor circuit failure. That’s the one the PCM monitors even if the cluster doesn’t have a gauge. We’ve done these on the V8 Chargers – a few of them, anyway – and so I told the owner of the vehicle we could handle it – no problem. And we did. But we were surprisingly annoyed at just how involved that job turned out to be. And there were pitfalls.

This one was a 3.6L, and the upper and lower intakes had to be removed to access the rear of the oil cooler, where two different sensors are nestled. We packed the intake ports full of rags on the heads at this point for obvious reasons while the sensor swap was under way.

The oil temperature sensor was directly above the oil pressure sensor and also directly in the way, so it had to be disconnected and removed, and then the oil pressure sensor connector had to be disconnected, which turned out to be aggravating because the connector trigger was facing down and inaccessible. So, we’d need to turn the sensor to access the connector trigger. Piece of cake, right? Well, a thick, heat-stiffened wire harness was passing right next to the sensor and that harness was unyielding. Remember, we couldn’t disconnect the sensor wire connector, so a socket was a no-go. And a one and a sixteenth wrench is nice and beefy for turning big, tight fasteners but it doesn’t fit in a tight spot worth a toot. This sensor wasn’t all that tight (1/8 pipe thread), but it was tight enough that even if you managed to shove the open end onto the sensor flats, we couldn’t turn the sensor even a little without that heat-tempered 1.5-inch-thick wire harness forcing the fat wrench off the sensor flats. This was an annoying surprise.
 

I did some bench grinder work on one side of an old chopped-up 1-1/16 wrench I had already modified for something else, and we used that modified wrench to work the sensor around, getting it indexed so we could finger the trigger and remove the connector. We continued to use that same wrench to worry the sensor out, because even with the connector disconnected the harness prevented the use of the sensor socket. We finger-started the new sensor and worried it back in until it was good and tight, then we reinstalled the previously removed oil temp sensor and reconnected all the wires. Then we went back together with it using new intake gaskets and whatnot.

The job was a victory, but it took a couple of dedicated students just about an entire day to make it happen. That surprisingly annoying task was behind us, and so was the Durango and its MIL light.

The 2005 S10

This 4-cylinder S10 was a beat-up little farm truck that came to us with the owner complaining of a hesitation, and sure enough it stumbled on takeoff. But even after acceleration this dog was anemic at best. We applied the fuel pressure gauge to determine that the pressure was always steady and strong. We got a P0300 code, and on the scan tool misfire screen, cylinders 1 and 4 had recorded LOTS of misfires – thousands of them. Initially, I’d have believed there was a coil pack issue, since coil packs fire companions and 1 and 4 share the same coil on those. But this one is fitted with COP coils. What else could cause multiple misfires on companion cylinders? Was the valve timing skewed?

This misfire counter led us in the wrong direction on the S10 – at the end of the day, the farmer drove it home with the MAF connector swinging free. The truck ran good enough to chase cows that way.

Just for grins I had the students check compression, and they found that the firing cylinders actually had less compression (175 psi) than the ones that were reporting misfires (210). The two rear spark plug wells were awash with oil, so we did the valve cover while we were there. Those higher compression readings might have been due to surface quenching from unburned fuel, but it was strange, and we couldn’t see a lot of difference in the spark plugs on the misfiring cylinders and the plugs on the ones that weren’t reporting misfires. Just to be sure there wasn’t a cam/crank issue, we PICO scoped the cam and crank traces to check for a timing situation, but everything lined up perfectly so we moved on.

After the valve cover gasket was in place, we tossed a couple of coils in the reportedly misfiring holes along with a full set of plugs, but nothing changed – misfires were still being recorded on 1 and 4, but it honestly didn’t feel like it was misfiring – it only seemed sluggish and a holding a rag in hand by the exhaust didn’t show any puffing. And the ACE Misfire Detective was confusing enough as to be no help at all on this one.

At this point, I decided to focus on the MAF sensor, because, according to my professional eye, the airflow readings didn’t seem to reflect reality, even when MAF was the only PID being traced. Interestingly, when we unplugged the MAF and did a test drive, the truck ran like brand new, and as I peered through the sensor with my streamlight the hot and cold wires seemed dirty – but cleaning the sensor only helped a little. This one needed a new MAF, but when we showed the farmer how good it ran with the sensor disconnected, he opted to drive it that way and ignore the MIL, since most of the time he’s using this truck to herd cows. His call, I guess. But the surprisingly annoying part of this job was that the misfire counter pointed us in the wrong direction initially.

The Edge

One of my colleagues drives a Ford Edge – awhile back we had to replace the brake booster (which was dreadfully annoying). Speaking of brake boosters, for a short side story (annoying) we had to replace the booster on a 1998 F150, and after we changed the booster, the brake lights were always on because the booster pushrod had some flashing on it that had to be ground off so it wouldn’t keep the switch closed all the time – didn’t see that coming!
 

This stoplight switch on the 98 F-150 wasn’t giving a problem until we replaced the booster – I ground some flashing off the molded-and-cast booster pushrod on the rebuilt booster to fix this one

On the Edge this time around she was having issues with her A/C. She reported that it’d run for about 30 minutes and then get hot on one side (dual zone), so, after we duplicated that and saw erroneous readings coming from the blend door actuator on the driver side, we replaced that actuator with a Dorman unit and let her try that, but after a few days, the Edge returned with the complaint that the A/C that would totally stop cooling after about 30 miles of driving.

In addition to that issue, her radio would always begin to search wildly for no reason after a few minutes – obviously an APIM problem (the 2012s are problematic this way), which we figured might have something to do with the A/C issue, but it didn’t. We did that wacky Ford PTS software update/reflash with the IDS (with some guidance from Joey Henrich’s AE tools guy), but the APIM radio function still wasn’t fixed, so on her orders, we ordered a rebuilt replacement APIM from Ford. The core charge is $500 on one of those, by the way, and replacing that unit fixed the radio – but by the time the APIM came in, we had already figured out the A/C problem.

These were the readings we got on the Edge after it stopped cooling (with the A/C running, no less). After the expansion valve was replaced it was good to go with limitless cold air.

After letting the A/C run in the service bay with the recycler connected so we could watch the pressures, we noticed that when the register got warm, the low side had drifted into the negative and the high side was hung at just over 150 psi – much lower than it had been when the A/C was cooling. That was our smoking gun.

An expansion valve took care of that one. As an aside, the owner had, on a previous day dropped by a dealer shop when she was in another town for a quick check of the A/C and they told her she’d need a $1500 evaporator case replacement to take care of the no-cooling issue because, in their words, “the actuators aren’t communicating.”  I’m not sure what pocket to put that in, but she was glad she had opted against letting them do that!

Mysterious bearings

Another one of my colleagues drives an old Sentra that had developed a nasty noise, and after we determined by doing some tire-swapping that it was a bearing noise, we went out of our way to make sure we got the right bearing – these can be really tricky sometimes (can I get a witness?), and this one was no exception. I told the owner that we might wind up having to replace both bearings and he gave us his blessing. Using the Chassis Ear® we thought we had it pinpointed as the one on the left front, (swerving seemed to point to that bearing too), but when we broke it down I could have a good look at those shiny balls and race, I could tell that we had misfired on that – Mr. Murphy is alive and well, you see. But we were at the point of no return, so we installed that bearing and drove it again – no change.

The only difference between the noisy bearing and the non-noisy one was the color of the grease – there was no visible wear on the balls or the race.

With that, we attacked the other bearing, which still didn’t show any brinelling or wear as we had supposed, but we did notice that the grease in that bearing was discolored – instead of a healthy cream color it was kind of brown, and even though the balls and races looked good, replacing that bearing eliminated the noise. We had no smoking gun, but we had a solid fix.  That always bugs me, because I like visual verification of that kind of thing. Granted, you don’t always get that with transmission or ring and pinion gears, but with bearings you usually see something. This time, not so much.

The Altima – A perfect storm

This one came to us with the story that a guy at a shop in another town had replaced the transaxle, but that after only two hours of driving around, the transaxle had started slipping and then stopped pulling and now the guy who had changed the transaxle was telling them it needed a flywheel. So they brought the car to us with a used flywheel they wanted installed. How tough or annoying could this one be?

This bushing was never intended to contain a spinning torque converter snout – subsequently, when the flywheel failed while driving, that’s exactly what it did for probably 2 hours – and the results are plain to see.

This flywheel failed in such a way that the engine was able to spin the bolt circle very nicely – this was the perfect storm for the torque converter and its bushing, since the flywheel was stationary all this time – as was the converter

We worried that CVT out of there to find that, although we had unbolted the torque converter, it stayed attached to the engine when the CVT was removed. Furthermore, it didn’t want to come off – at all. But it was rattling around loose. After using a big prybar and a hammer and whatever else it took, I managed to get the torque converter on the floor.  It was at that point that I discovered a very serious issue.

The flywheel had broken smoothly enough that the engine was spinning the now-separate center of it. The outside of the flywheel and the torque converter were both sitting still while the engine was spinning to beat the band, and the pilot bushing those Nissans have in the back of the crankshaft had been whirling on the pilot of that converter until the pilot had become red hot and had swelled to the point that the pilot bushing came out of the crankshaft when we pried the converter out of there. This was surprisingly annoying, and that wasn’t all.

On the left is a good bushing in place (this was the 2004 engine). On the right is the cavity the destroyed bushing came out of when the flywheel was pried off. Note the cracked and overheated flywheel.

This was ultra-nasty, because all the information I found was that the bushing in question is not obtainable apart from buying a replacement crankshaft. Granted, with the right dimensions, a machine shop could have made us one on a lathe, but machine shops are hard to find these days.

As it was, this customer got lucky. It just so happened that I had a defunct 2004 Altima powerplant sitting in the engine shop that had been swapped out because it was knocking, and I got the bushing out of that one. It was an annoying process, but with a high-speed cutter, we made it happen. The bushing was a perfect fit, and with a replacement torque converter and the CVT back in place, the Altima was good to go.

Far left is the bushing in its boss – we used a high-speed cutter to surgically remove it. Middle is the bushing – far right is the bushing being driven into the rear of the crank on the Altima.

The customer asked if the previous tech had done anything wrong to cause this. My answer was that he hadn’t, and that was that.  I told them about a transmission we had replaced in a four-wheel drive Expedition that came back a month later with a busted flywheel it’s always annoying but sometimes it happens.

Article Details

Sat, 12/01/2018 (All day)

Richard McCuistian

<p>We never stop learning, and the tough ones put iron in our souls. And for those who are just getting started in this business or are reading these words as a consumer, this, ladies and gentlemen, is what we do.</p>

<p>auto repair, pattern failures, bushing, flywheel, Richard McCuistian</p>

I had a shop call me for advice on a 2002 Dodge Ram Truck with a 5.9L diesel engine that had a charging system issue (Figure 1). I probably field at least 50-70 calls a day and there are many times that I will provide my shops with free tech advice over the phone. This issue seemed simple to me because Chrysler, for many years, has used a strategy to control their alternators externally. In the early days, they mounted voltage regulators on the firewall but once onboard computers came into play the regulator worked its way into the circuit board of the Engine Control Module. The alternator field circuit was usually fed an ignition feed and controlled by a ground feed on the opposing side of the field circuit.

Figure 1

Figure 2

The owner of the vehicle was a do-it-yourselfer and had changed the alternator with an aftermarket one but it did not resolve his problem. The truck was then shipped to the shop where they checked all the wiring and decided to opt for an OEM alternator to see if that would resolve the charging system issue (Figure 2). When this didn't work, the shop gave me the call.

Before I make the drive

I ran through all the steps with the shop technician and educated him on how the system should work and he mentioned that there was no power feed coming out of the PCM to feed the one side of the alternator field circuit. I explained to him that it was possible that the PCM was bad or that the PCM was sensing a partial short to ground in the feed line and was possibly turning off an internal driver to protect itself.

The next day the shop tech called me back to explain that he temporarily ran dedicated wires for both the power feed and triggering lines of the field control circuits between the alternator and PCM. The alternator still would not charge but if he supplied the 12 volts into the power feed circuit the alternator was charging fine so he decided that he was going to order up a rebuilt PCM unit from the dealer. I told him that once he purchased the PCM and installed it, to call me so that I could swing by and program it for him.

Later in the week I received the call that all was ready to go so I ventured out to his shop at the end of my day to program the PCM. Once I arrived there I set up my old Chrysler DRB III scan tool as a pass thru device with an interface cable to my laptop. I configured the PCM with the vehicle VIN number and then downloaded the necessary software into the PCM. The truck started up but guess what? We were back to square one. We both sat there scratching our heads and then I offered him to let me perform a full diagnostic on the vehicle in order to retrace ALL the steps that had been taken and he agreed.

Diving in a little deeper

I hooked up my scan tool and pulled codes from the PCM. One code was P1765 that indicated a loss of ignition feed to the transmission relay and the other code was a P0622 indicating that the generator field was not switching properly (Figure 3). These codes both had a common power feed issue because the PCM was still not sending the 12-volt output required to satisfy their circuits. There had to be a reason why the PCM was not doing its job and I decided to look at some data PIDs hoping to find a piece of the puzzle that could guide me in the right direction.

Figure 3

Figure 4

When I was viewing the data I saw something that raised my eyebrows. There was no RPM signal getting to the PCM and the desired charging voltage was 0 volts (Figure 4). The PCM was not performing its task of charging the alternator because as far as it was concerned the vehicle was not running. So then how was this vehicle running without an RPM signal? Why didn’t the PCM set a code for loss of RPM signal input? I now have to pull some diagrams to do some onsite strategy research because at this point I had no answers.

This vehicle was a diesel and was a horse of a different color because it used a separate Engine Control Module that was specifically used to run the Diesel engine. The crank sensor fed a direct RPM signal to the ECM and there was a cam sensor signal that was also supplied to the ECM coming from the engine driven injection pump. The ECM in turn would output an RPM signal to the PCM so that it could properly control the transmission and the alternator. So I now had to run some tests on the ECM to determine what was going on.

Figure 5

Figure 6

I scanned the ECM and found a code P1693 which indicated a fault in the PCM so I kind of ignored this code because the ECM was playing the “Blame Game” (Figure 5), I next looked at some ECM PIDs and found that it was receiving the RPM signal from the crank sensor and an RPM signal from the cam sensor (Figure 6). The ECM inputs did not seem to be an issue so now I was leaning towards an output signal issue with the circuit going back to the PCM but at this point I needed access to the ECM so I could put my scope on the signal lines.

Figure 7

I had the shop pull the fuel filter housing on the left side of the engine block to gain access to the ECM that was mounted to the side of the block (Figure 7). I placed my scope lead on the RPM output signal to the PCM on channel 1 and placed my other scope lead on the crank sensor RPM Input signal to the ECM on channel 2. I started the vehicle and you could see that the crank sensor RPM signal to the ECM was fine with good triggering transitions from 0-5 volts but the RPM output signal to the PCM was flat lined at 5 volts (Figure 8). The PCM signal line was not shorted because it was elevated at about 5 volts.

I next decided to think out of the box by opening the RPM signal line at the PCM and sending the RPM signal from the Crank sensor into the PCM to simulate that the engine was running to test PCM system strategy. My results were as expected because the alternator started to charge immediately. I went back to view the PCM data and you could now see that the desired voltage was 13.8 Volts and the charging voltage was also 13.8 volts. It would have been nice to just leave it at that just to get the truck out the shop door but the issue now was the PCM was seeing the vehicle running at 2528 RPMs when actually the truck was idling at 700 RPMs (Figure 9).

Figure 8

Figure 9

In the end

The ECM on this truck most likely took the crank sensor signal input and internally reduced the frequency of the signal delivered to the PCM for some type of strategy reason. There was an internal circuit board failure and the only choice was to have the ECM sent out for repair because there was not one available from the dealer or aftermarket due to the age of the vehicle. I just feel bad for the owner of the vehicle because this was a work truck and the shop owner never knew what a nightmare it would turn out to be and how long he would have it in his possession.

Okay so about another week goes by and the rebuilt ECM finally showed up and the shop installed the ECM which was a "plug and play" unit. The vehicle started up and the good news is that everything worked like a charm. I had to go back to just get a scope pattern out of this diesel monster and to validate the repairs before the shop buttoned it all up. I quickly hooked my scope up again to view the patterns and you could now see the input and output RPM signals were working as designed with different frequencies (Figure 10).

Figure 10

This vehicle really proves that a trouble code does not always lead you down the right path. It is vitally important to know how to read data PIDs. The code in the PCM only validated that the alternator field circuits had a power feed or switching ground issue that was pointing you to a wiring fault or a possible bad PCM with an internal alternator field driver failure. There was no cam signal reference to the PCM like there would be in a gas engine so there was no way for the PCM to fail the crank sensor for a lack of input. The strategy of this system would be for the PCM to provide a voltage output and field circuit toggling once a specific RPM threshold was met but this never took place. In the end it took some out of the box thinking to unmask the true culprit. My only hopes are that this story will enhance what you know or don’t know about Chrysler diesel controllers working in tandem.

Article Details

Sat, 12/01/2018 (All day)

John Anello

<p>I had a shop call me for advice on a 2002 Dodge Ram Truck with a 5.9L diesel engine that had a charging system issue.</p>

<p>diesel, charging system, diagnostics, auto repair, John Anello, Motor Age</p>

The vehicle that caused this is a 2011 BMW X3 2.8i (F25 Chassis) with a 3.0L (N52T) turbocharged engine. It was towed into the shop for stalling while driving and would not restart. I did not physically look at this vehicle on its original diagnosis but did offer the tech assigned to it some direction to find the problem. However, I was asked to get more involved and assist with the diagnosis when a problem still existed after the original repair.

2011 BMW X3 (F25) with an inline 6 cylinder 3.0L (N52) engine

The vehicle was initially dropped off with the concern that while driving, the engine sputtered and stalled. The engine cranked over fine but would not restart. Once at the shop the technician put the vehicle on a set of GoJaks Car Dollies to get it inside. Normally a couple of people would have just pushed the vehicle inside so they don’t have to work out in the 115 degree Las Vegas summer heat, but this vehicle, like many other modern BMWs, is not allowed to be shifted into neutral if the engine is not running making it very difficult to move.

No fuel or no fuel pressure?

Once inside the shop the technician did his basic checks and decided that fuel was the cause of the crank no start. He stated that he had no fuel pressure with the engine cranking. I asked, “Is there fuel in the tank?” to which he informed me that there had to be since the fuel gauge was reading at half a tank. Based on my experience, and probably anyone who has dropped a gas tank to replace a fuel pump only to find the tank completely empty, I recommended that he add a couple of gallons of gasoline before condemning the fuel pump just to be on the safe side. He did and the engine started within a couple seconds of cranking. 

Using the test plan in the factory scan tool gave me information on how the fuel level sensor circuit functioned. Most importantly, it contradicted what the dealer had stated and verified the vehicle does in fact have two fuel level sensors.

So the fuel pump was working but the fuel level was not being read correctly. The fuel gauge still read at half a tank, which cannot be correct for only having a couple of gallons of fuel in the tank. He came back to me later after some further diagnostic work and said that he had ordered the fuel pump assembly that came with the fuel level sensor. Well, OK running the pump with no fuel didn’t do it any favors so I agreed with his conclusion. On a side note, I later found out that the fuel level sender is available separately without purchasing an entire fuel pump. The dealer did tell the tech that the fuel level sensor was part of the pump assembly when ordered.

New part, same problem

The new fuel pump assembly was installed and the technician noticed that the fuel gauge still read a little under half a tank. He then added more fuel to the tank and test drove the vehicle. The needle still remained at almost the halfway point. A call to the dealer parts department was made and the parts person stated that this model only has one fuel level sensor on the right side and no left side fuel level sender was listed. He stated he also checked for TSBs and any matches in Identifix but came up empty handed.

The code pointed to the right fuel level sensor being shorted to battery positive, however that sensor was already replaced with an OE unit.

At this point the tech had hit a wall since he replaced the only part responsible to indicate the fuel level in his mind, but the same problem remained. Frustrated and out of ideas he asked to have me assist with the diagnosis.

Noting that the vehicle has a saddle tank, I find it odd that it does not have a sensor on both sides. The rear seat is still removed and it is easy to see that there is an access hole on the passenger side for the fuel pump, but there is no cut out on the body on the left side for an additional fuel pump sender or jet pump. Next I look up the fuel level sensor theory of operation. I do find that (depending on the series) one or two fuel level sensors are installed in the vehicle. So at this point it looks like the dealer parts person very well could be correct. As I read on, I find that voltage is supplied by either the Junction Box Electronics module (JBE) or the Rear Electronics Module (REM) or Body Domain Controller (BDC) or the Hybrid pressure refueling electronic control unit (TFE). Well we can rule out the last one since this is not a hybrid vehicle, but reading that there are three possible modules that supply voltage doesn’t make this diagnosis any easier. 

The test plan instructs me to test the resistance of the right side fuel level sensor in the installed state, which agrees with the nearly empty fuel tank level.

One of these control modules then measures the voltage drop across the potentiometer(s). From this a resistance value is added and it is transmitted to the instrument cluster (KOMBI) in a PT-CAN message.

Where is the information?

My first step is hook up BMW ISTA, which is the factory scan tool for the vehicle. While the system is gathering its preliminary information, I also print out a wiring diagram to get an understanding how the circuit is designed. 

Something interesting occurs during both. First, I have a code in the Junction Box Module (JBE) and the Instrument Cluster (KOMBI) for the Right fuel level sensor: Short circuit to B+. Several times codes may not be stored in the powertrain module but other modules may have codes that give clues to the fault being experienced. It is always a good practice to check for codes in all modules. This is something that is commonly done on vehicles, especially ones with Guided Fault Finding (GFF). Since all modules communicate over multiple Controller Area Networks (CAN), they all need to be included when performing a scan to help see problems in all system circuits. Second, according to the wiring diagram and ISTA’s circuit description, the fuel level sensor signals go directly to the Junction Box Module (JBE). This knocks out the other ones listed in the circuit description I had referenced earlier. Most important, the circuit diagram shows two fuel level sensors, not just a right-side level sensor like the dealer showed on their system. This is later verified by the same information in ISTA. 

The test plan instructs me to remove the fuel level sensor and use an ohmmeter to verify the resistance at full and empty levels while physically moving the float arm.

With that information I proceed with the GFF in ISTA. I am instructed to disconnect the 6-pin connector to the right-side pump/fuel level assembly and measure the resistance of the right-side fuel level sensor. I am looking for a range between 50 and 990 ohms and it passes. Next, I am instructed to remove the right-side pump and sensor assembly to test the range of the fuel level sensor while I physically move the float arm. Note that the lower limit of 50 ohms is actually corresponds to the high fuel level of the tank and the high limit of 990 ohms would indicate the tank is almost empty. The range indicated by the ohmmeter as I was moving the float from empty to full shows that the right-side fuel level sensor is working correctly. When asked by the GFF section of ISTA if the measured resistance values within the listed specifications I click on “Yes.” The response I received was disheartening, “The right fuel level sensor is OK. No fault can be currently found in the component group tested.” 

After performing the test with satisfactory results, ISTA informs me that no fault can be found with the right side fuel level circuit. However, the same code returns shortly after it is cleared.

What's next?

Next, I clear the code and see if any changes occur in the fuel level on the gauge, thinking that if there is a code in the system, it may substitute a default value until the fault is rectified. There is no change on the fuel gauge (still stuck at a little below half full) and the same code for a shorted right-side fuel level sensor signal returns on the next key cycle. Knowing that the GFF in ISTA already did some circuit tests in the background during the beginning of the test plan, I’m fairly confident that the Junction Box Electronics (JBE) module is working correctly and the Instrument Cluster (KOMBI) is simply displaying the information it received from the PT-CAN. 

So now what? Run the test plan again? Replace the JBE? Replace the KOMBI?Since all test procedures are contained within the factory scan tool and there are no other test procedures that I can find, I created a fault with both fuel level sensors by unplugging them and causing the module to code for the left side fuel sensor as well. Just a reminder that the left side fuel sensor is not accessible from under the back seat like the right side, there is no access to it even when the tank is removed from the vehicle. 

After inducing a fault code for both sensors by disconnecting the connector at the fuel tank I am given an option to choose the test plan for the left fuel level sensor.

I now have an option to pick the test plan for either the right or left fuel level sensor. Something interesting that I noticed when given that option was a note in ISTA, “If no fault cause can be determined during the check on one of the two fuel level sensors, you must start the test module again and select the checking of the other fuel level sensor.” 

The left fuel level sensor can only be tested in its installed state since there is no way to remove the sensor for testing like we did on for the right side fuel level sensor.

The test plan of the left side fuel level sensor is similar to the right for the first part, but I cannot physically remove the sensor to move the float through its full travel while observing the ohmmeter. When measuring the resistance of the left fuel level sensor I notice a strange value of 577 ohms. Strange because the fuel level sensor has a range of 50-990 ohms corresponding from full to empty and this fuel tank has less than two gallons of fuel in it. From that observation, I selected “No” when the test plan asked if the measured resistance in the specified range.

This connector is all that is visible of the left side fuel level sensor. Due to the saddle style fuel tank, the float for the left side cannot be seen even while looking into the opening of the right side level sensor/fuel pump assembly.

Based on that response, the next screen in ISTA stated there was a fault in the left-side fuel level sensor. The repair was to replace the fuel tank. Using a mirror, I looked into the opening for the right-side fuel pump/level sensor assembly hoping to see the float on the left side of the tank so that I might be able to move the arm with a long screwdriver to see if the resistance on the sensor changes but only found the transfer tube and wiring disappearing into the darkness. 

Pulling the trigger on the tank

The cost of a new fuel tank (which includes the left side fuel level sensor) is over $1000, not to mention the 5.7 hours of labor it calls for to replace it. I’m sure all of us have felt that doubt when asked, “Are you absolutely sure that will fix it?”

With that large amount of parts and labor, I wanted to be sure that the rest of the circuit and components were working as designed for myself, but how? There was no way to test the sweep of the left side sensor. Even if we filled the fuel tank, I could not see the left side float to tell if it was actually moving. So, I decided to simulate the fuel level sensors with a pair of resistance decade boxes. 

A resistance decade box is a device that will create a specific resistance using a combination of switches. With it I can create any resistance from 1 ohm to over 11 megaohms (11 million ohms) in 1-ohm increments.

After determining the left fuel level sensor is not reading correctly, I am instructed to replace the entire fuel tank assembly which is the only way to replace the defective level sensor.

I replace each fuel level sensor with a decade box attached at the 6-pin connector at the right-side fuel pump assembly. Each box was wired to the specific pins of its substituted fuel level sensor. Setting each box to 50 ohms and then changing each to 990 ohms, I was able to see the corresponding change on the fuel gauge from full all the way to empty. In fact, changing to various resistances, I could place the fuel gauge anywhere I wanted to.

Since the fuel tank and labor required to replace it was very expensive, I installed a resistance decade box in place of each fuel level sensor and verified that the fuel gauge responded correctly to changing the resistances throughout the ranges specified in the test plan.

This proved that the Junction Box Module (JBE), the Instrument Cluster (KOMBI) and all wiring were all OK and I could confidently make the call to have the fuel tank and labor authorized as this would fix the concern.

I do not know why the right-side fuel level sensor having a short to battery + was indicated when the left side sensor was at fault. Looking at the wiring diagram, each sensor’s value was determined by individual circuits to the Junction Box Module (JBE) and they were then added together. The sensor’s circuits appear to be completely isolated from each other, so the left sensor should have been the one that coded and I also don’t understand why it was a short to battery positive fault. Perhaps it is just a software error, but it definitely caused a lot of frustration and confusion to something that if coded correctly to identify the fault component would have made the diagnosis fairly straight forward.

Article Details

Sat, 12/01/2018 (All day)

Michael Miller

<p>Conflicting information can cause what would be a normal diagnostic procedure to become a massive headache, costing time, money and in some cases, sanity.</p>

<p>2011 BMW X3 2.8i, fuel level sensor, diagnostics, auto repair, fuel assembly</p>

Ok, So I live near the Philly area, born and raised. True, my mom is from Jersey City and dad, from Brooklyn. My friends across the country poke fun at the way I talk but hey, let’s face it, I am a “WHY’s GUY,” through and through (Yep, I spelled that correctly). It’s not what you think, though. When it comes to troubleshooting drivability faults, sometimes we got it made. We simply drive the vehicle and analyze the data we capture, looking for the root-cause of the fault presented at the time. We invest time learning how to understand the relationships between the PIDs and how they reflect underlying faults. We all know, it ain’t that easy all the time.

Why ask why (or when or how)?
Sometimes, It’s a bit more involved than that. Sometimes we get that vehicle that requires us to dig way deeper than we are accustomed to. Because I spend a lot of my day troubleshooting drivability faults, to remain efficient I had to devise a plan of attack, a strategy. This strategy involves analyzing preliminary data (the low-hanging fruit). I use this data to ask questions of the vehicle, like:

Why are you performing poorly? (Are you lacking sufficient fuel supply, can you breathe?)

When do you perform poorly? (Is it when you are idling, or when I force you to work hard?)

How can I get you to reveal your fault to me?  (Are there certain weather conditions you don’t like?)

Questions like the ones above help me decide which road I will head down. More importantly, it gives me a sense of direction and justifies the next test I will perform. Otherwise, we’d just be shooting from the hip. I do get lucky every now and then, and diagnosis falls in my lap, but I’d take a rock-solid game plan over luck any day of the week.

2002 Buick Park Avenue with a 3.8L (K) engine

The Bum
The subject vehicle of today’s topic is a 2002 Buick Park Avenue with a 3.8L (K) engine and just shy of 130k miles on the odometer. The customer is concerned with the vehicle’s lack of power and a “knocking” noise from underneath the hood. The vehicle was in the shop in the recent past for replacement of spark plugs and ignition cables and had been without fault for at least a few months.

Figure 1

I began the analysis with a scan for DTCs and, to my surprise, none had been stored. I drove the vehicle, monitoring some basic PIDs and within a very short distance, the vehicle began to ping hard and lacked power. This is where the questioning began. If you refer to Figure 1, you will see that I had placed the vehicle under heavy acceleration. Now, at this point, the vehicle wasn’t pinging but the goal was to see if the vehicle had adequate fuel supply. Ruling out what is “good” with the vehicle is equally as valuable as discovering what is faulty. As you can see, both the pre and post CAT H2O sensors reflected high voltage output, indicating a lack of O2 (or otherwise stated, plenty of fuel). The demand for fuel is much greater under heavy load than it is under less of a load. So, the fault doesn’t appear to be related to a lack of fuel delivery. But why the lack of power output?

Figure 2

The next screen capture answers that question, see Figure 2. It’s clear to see that as this vehicle begins to ping, the PCM compensates (through the ears of the knock sensor) and generates a command to retard spark. You are all likely aware that a spark occurring too early initiates a combustion process that hinders the piston’s ascent towards top dead center of the compression stroke. This in turn, places a tremendous force on the piston and can damage the internal engine components, due to the violent collision. So, the question then becomes why is the engine pinging?

Figure 3

To battle the production of the harmful gas, NOx, an EGR valve is utilized in this application. NOx is produced in abundance in temperatures exceeding 2500 deg F. The EGR valve is set to reintroduce exhaust gas back to the cylinder. The idea is to fill the cylinder with the inert gas to make the cylinders’ effective area smaller, reducing the intensity of the combustion event. This in turn cools the combustion chamber and reduces the potential for NOx production. My thought process is, if the EGR valve doesn’t open or fails to deliver EGR, it may be the root cause of the “ping” the engine is suffering from. Let’s have a look. If you refer to FIG 3 It shows the PCM’s intent to introduce EGR at the expected engine load levels. The EGR position feedback is reporting about 90 percent open, indicating that the PCM is hearing what I’m hearing and commanding a spark-retard of 20 degrees. So now the question is why is the engine still pinging, if the EGR is opening as intended? Is there a restriction of some sort, within the EGR system? A stroll through the bi-directional control function of my scan tool can answer that question right from the driver’s seat. I simply commanded the EGR valve open at idle and the engine struggled to maintain idle. Its clear to me the EGR ports were not restricted…Time to roll up my sleeves and dig in deep.

Brought in for questioning
As I mentioned earlier, sometimes we get lucky and we can get the vehicle to tell us everything we want to know with little effort. Other times, we must push to get the answers we need. In situations like this, maintaining a structured game plan is even more crucial to prevent going down a rabbit hole. Rather than trying to find out what is broken, I chase the symptom. I do this because I know what the symptom is. I’ve felt it and I can easily recreate it. I want to see the ping. I want to see inside the combustion chamber while the engine is running to determine the health of that combustion event. I can’t think of an easier way to do this than to view it through the eyes of an ignition scope.

Figure 4

This vehicle utilizes a waste-spark system, using three coils provide the energy to initiate combustion for six cylinders. This system tethers the coils to the spark plugs with ignition cables. The good news is that I can (unobtrusively) acquire the waveforms capacitively, right from under the hood in seconds. With the help of an assistant in the driver’s seat (to place the vehicle under the fault-conditions), the testing was carried out for all cylinders under heavy brake-torque conditions. Figure 4 displays a Bank #1 ignition event in yellow and a Bank #2 ignition event in red. The waveform displayed (indicated by the red trace) demonstrates an increase in cylinder resistance as the duration of the spark burn-line carries on. We can see this because the waveform slopes upward very sharply. A cylinder that is adequately fueled has less resistance and less energy is expended, trying to maintain the plasma channel (as displayed in yellow). The significance of this event tells me that the bank #2 cylinder is indeed, under-fueled. [all the cylinders were tested, and each shared this similar characteristic].

So, I know understand why the engine was pinging. But must now ask why is the cylinder under-fueled? A quick test of injector current (using an amp probe and lab scope) ruled out any differences between the injectors ability to flow amperage. An injector balance test was also carried out and showed the ability to deliver fuel was equal among all six injectors. Gaining the answers to these tests justified my need to dig even further. I’m not dealing with a flow issue; I’m dealing with a control issue.

Being in control of fuel delivery also means being in control of the fuel injectors on-time. I will have to monitor the suspect bank’s injectors on-time during the fault and compare it to the known good — dynamically! To gather all that data is as simple as sampling current from a single common point in the under-hood fuse box. I positioned my amp probe to acquire the current flow from fuse #12 of the under-hood fuse block. This fuse’s only purpose is to supply current to all six injectors (this was very convenient as there were no other circuits that could skew my results). 

The results of the test exhibit all 6 injectors yielding the same 1-amp current ramp. Hmmm — the ignition waveform clearly exhibited a lean condition on the rear bank of cylinders yet the injector flow test and amperage waveforms yielded no difference between Bank #1 and Bank #2? My mistake was the acquisition was not acquired during the fault conditions. I assumed the fault would be present because I assumed the injectors were restricted or lacked enough current flow. It goes to prove that we learn something new every day and knowledge will continue to beget new knowledge.

Just the facts
After a few moments to gather my thoughts, I had another idea. I would place the vehicle under fault conditions while capturing the injector current. The current is the result. It represents the work performed. I know the bank #2 cylinders are under-fueled so I’m confident I will see the fault reflected in the current waveform. After recreating the fault conditions, the symptom was exhibited, and the injector current trace revealed the cause. If you refer to Figure 5, it’s clear to see the that one injector ramp dropped out and another mis-triggered. This created a lack of injector on-time, which explains the lack of fuel delivery exhibited in the ignition trace, as well as the ping. This only proves that the injector failed to open properly. We have yet to decipher the cause.

Figure 5

Remember, current is the output generated by the PCM’s reaction (or processing) of an input. This vehicle uses a sequential fuel injection strategy. It uses a CKP 18x signal and sync signal referenced from the crankshaft balancer’s reluctor. It also monitors a CMP pulse referenced from the nose of the camshaft.  These same inputs effect ignition timing as well. The Ignition events were also being affected but I’m just chasing the symptom though. Regarding injector control only, these signals are processed by the PCM to determine injector timing and TDC of the number one cylinder, so that it may synchronize the correct injector to #1 cylinder. A PCM just does what it is programmed to do. In this case, drive an injector when it sees the CKP 18x, sync pulse and CMP correlate in a certain manner. Because the failure was reflecting a fault pertaining to injector control, if the PCM receives a bad input, it’s going to create a bad output (unless the bad input is recognized as such). Shortly, you can see exactly what my next plan of attack is. The strategy was to capture the fault occurring and use that as my point of reference for the other correlating signals. Here, I monitored the fault (injector current) and I will correlate that to the responsible inputs that the PCM relies upon for fuel injection calculation (CKP 18x, sync, CMP).  I will simply see if, when the fault occurred, did my inputs to the PCM show any kind of deficiencies?

Figure 6

Keeping in mind, each test I perform is justified by the previous test. No time is being wasted. The beauty in approaching drivability faults from this angle is that logic prevents a step from being missed. Every test performed will almost always yield a diagnostic clue. Referring to Figure 6, it displays the fault quite clearly as my blue injector current ramp is once again, deficient. More importantly, there is an anomaly visible within the CMP pattern and the 18x pattern as well (only CMP signal visible for better clarity). So, let’s take a moment to ask why again. Why is the voltage CMP signal dropping low? There could be a few possible causes for a failure of this kind:

• faulty CMP sensor
• damaged CMP reluctor
• poor connection or voltage drop within the signal circuit or the reference voltage circuit
• shorted/ loaded sensor signal circuit or the reference voltage circuit

This simply requires another test. In this next step, I studied the wiring diagram and saw that the CKP 18x, Sync and CMP signals all shared the same reference voltage source. I will monitor the fault as carried out in the previous step but add some new data to the acquisition. We must now view sensor reference voltage feed, the common feed to all three suspect inputs. Viewing this piece of data will explain whether the reference voltage has a fault. It allows us the ability to divide the circuit up and determine on which side of the input the fault lays. Now, I want to mention something that I feel is a valuable point to make. I’m asked regularly, if it is necessary to own an 8-trace lab scope like the one I’m using in this case study. It certainly isn’t a necessity, but you will see how having one allows me to save a ton of time. As John Anello (the Auto Tech on Wheels) says, “It’s like fishing with a net instead of a hook.” Having the capturing capability of an 8-trace lab scope allows me to see relationships between multiple inputs, the ECUs response and the actions carried out, all simultaneously. You will see how this characteristic works to my advantage in this next step. There is one more tool that I will utilize in tandem with the scope, to further nail down the fault to a pinpoint. I will implement the use of a microamp clamp. The microamp clamp is a very sensitive device designed to accurately measure very miniscule amounts of current flow.

The final showdown
The final test will be to monitor the CMP sensor signal under the fault conditions (all inputs reflected the fault so, I just chose to monitor the CMP only). At the same time, I will be monitoring the reference voltage feeding the sensor. The third piece of the puzzle is to monitor current flow through that sensor reference voltage circuit. My thought process is simple.

When the sensor signal is deficient, I will immediately be able to see whether it is due to a deficiency in the reference voltage circuit feeding the sensor. At the same time, the current flow will tell me a story too.  If a poor reference voltage feed is due to a voltage drop, the current flow through the sensor will diminish. On the other hand, if the reference voltage circuit is being loaded/partially shorted to ground, the current flow through the reference voltage circuit will INCREASE!

Figure 7

Figure 7 tells the whole story. When the vehicle was operated under fault-conditions, the engine began to “ping” hard. This occurred while the injector current ramps showed a deficiency. The inputs responsible for the injector commands were deficient as well. They were fed a reference voltage that was common among all three inputs (CKP 18x, Sync and CMP). With the microamp probe surrounding the reference voltage feed wire, it was quite clear to see the amperage increasing as the fault presented in the CMP, CKP 18x and sync signals. This tells me that I must pursue a short circuit.  So now, the hunt is on for a rubbed-through harness. After a quick visual inspection, a suspect area was located. Just below the power steering pulley, but above the crankshaft balancer, the CMP sensor harness was unsecured and intermittently touching the crankshaft balancer (Figure 8). This exposed some copper and the wire suffering the damage was the sensor reference voltage circuit, common to all the sensors discussed above.

Figure 8

If you take the time to ask yourself “WHY” at least five times, you typically find yourself face to face with the root-cause of the fault and co-workers looking at you like you are a wizard. So, to sum it all up, lets revisit the chain of events through the questions I asked, to lead me down the path to beat the system:

Why is the engine “pinging”? (Lean condition)

Why is the engine running in a lean state? (Not a fuel delivery issue but a fuel injector control issue)

Why is the PCM failing to drive the injectors correctly? (The PCM operating with skewed inputs)

Why are the CKP 18x, CMP and Sync signals skewed? (A Loaded common reference voltage circuit)

Why is the reference voltage circuit loaded? (Ref. voltage wire feeding CMP is shorting to ground)

As mentioned before, the steps taken were not achieved in record-time but not a step was missed, and this led to an accurate and efficient diagnosis without any parts replaced unnecessarily. Taking the time to interrogate the vehicle will yield you some valuable diagnostic clues that will save you time in the long run. A great side-effect is the developing the understanding of PCM strategy and how different inputs are used in different applications.

So, in the end, being a “WHYs GUY” can really make you a Wise Guy.

Author's note: I’d like to say that this was a fast and simple find but that wouldn’t be correct. True, it was not difficult but did require some thought. Logic, studying of circuit topology, system strategy, and lots of practice with the tools I have were a huge part of drawing an accurate diagnosis, but my process would’ve been random without inquiring “why.”

Article Details

Mon, 12/03/2018 (All day)

Brandon Steckler

<p>Sometimes we get lucky and the cause of the customer&#39;s concern is readily apparent after a test drive and a review of some fundamental PIDs. And then, other times &mdash; well, you know!</p>

<p>automotive, diagnostics, strategy, Brandon Steckler, auto repair</p>

Research at Auto Repair Compare (ARC) found the automotive aftermarket has experienced a cultural shift in the way people shop for automotive repair services, especially among millennials. As a result, the company developed the ARC Smart Quoter™, a user-friendly product for auto repair shops giving them the ability to offer instant quoting services to their customers, online or over the phone. The ARC Smart Quoter can accurately quote any auto repair in 60 seconds.
 
“The days of manual quotes and ballpark estimates are long gone,” explained Rick Goodwin, ARC executive vice president. “There is a major distinction between an estimate and a quote. Today’s customers are comparing quotes, so shops must be competitive. At the same time, the quote must be accurate and profitable. To strike that difficult balance, we developed the ARC Smart Quoter.”
 
Goodwin says today’s consumer is a frequent online shopper. They have done online research and have an idea of what’s wrong with their car. They demand instant information and need a quote, many times just to know what they need to do to find the money to afford the repair.
 
ARC research data found that six out of 10 consumers that get an auto repair quote when requested from a shop, will make an appointment with the same shop. The data also shows that nine out of 10 consumers who do not receive an auto repair quote when requested will call another shop.
 
ARC shop customers report that the ARC Smart Quoter gives them the support they need to produce accurate quotes for every job. ARC’s Smart Quoter has a wide range of options, built-in calculations, customizations and document builders to help shops quote with confidence. Smart Quoter can easily integrate with a shop’s current website to allow shoppers to enter year, make, model and part information and receive an accurate quote in 60 seconds.
 
The ARC Smart Quoter system generates each quote using a shop’s labor rates and parts pricing from its local distributors. Because each quote is generated in 60 seconds or less, it gives the team at each repair shop the time to serve customers and not spend it looking up information. With no initial startup costs, the monthly fees for ARC Smart Quoter are $129 per month, per shop.
 
The ARC Smart Quoter was designed by automotive repair professionals with many decades of industry experience to create trust and confidence in the mind of the retail customer. The product was field tested for more than two years in the shops of auto repair professionals.
 
For more information, visit www.autorepaircompare.com.

Article Details

Tue, 12/04/2018 (All day)

MOTOR AGE Wire Reports

<p>The ARC Smart Quoter is a user-friendly product for auto repair shops giving them the ability to offer instant quoting services to their customers, online or over the phone.</p>

<p>Smart Quoter, quotes</p>

Didn’t make it to AAPEX? Missed the Facebook Live event broadcasting from the Mitchell 1 booth? 

We have you covered!

Click here and watch the video that can help you get ready for the “accident free car.”

OK, maybe that vehicle specifically is a while down the proverbial road, but the information to help you diagnose Advance Driver Assistance Systems – ADAS – is here today. 

Mike Alberry, product manager at Mitchell 1, gives the overview of the new ADAS feature in ProDemand® that helps you diagnose, repair and calibrate ADAS functionality in today’s high-tech cars.

From going over various ADAS systems to what OEMs call these areas of the vehicle, Albery explains the case for the importance of proper ADAS repair before looking at the new ProDemand feature. ADAS QuickLink explains the information for repairs in easy-to-use cards to find the information you need for the ADAS system from TSBs to OEM repair info and more. 

Watch the Facebook Live event here and see the live demo for yourself. 

Article Details

Thu, 11/08/2018 (All day)

Tschanen Brandyberry

Click here and watch the Facebook Live with Mitchell 1 at AAPEX that can help you get ready for the accident free car.

Mitchell 1, ADAS, Advance Driver Assistance Systems, AAPEX, Facebook

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, or as they’re more commonly known – ADAS, is changing. What you knew how to repair two years ago is changing and growing in number of systems. 

From Adaptive Cruise Control and back-up cameras/sensors to adaptive headlights in the early 2000s, to emergency braking, pedestrian detection, drowsy driver detection and Night Vision since 2010, there are numerous systems on late-model vehicles that fall into the ADAS category. 

That presents a real problem for many technicians and even service writers today. Not only are these systems increasing in number, each individual system could be known by multiple names depending on the automaker. 

Ben Johnson, director of product management with Mitchell 1, says this really is where the challenges begin. “We want to make sure when we’re finished with a repair the vehicle is returned to safe operation,” he says. “But there are so many of these systems, and the vehicle manufacturers are (so far) inconsistent with even what they call them!”

He’s right. That chart is hard to read (trust us, it’s a lot of information when it’s full-sized or even magnified!), but each system in the left column is known by a different name based on OEM in the top row. (Watch now: Get Ready to Repair ADAS-equipped Vehicles.)

• Collision Warning Indicator: Forward Collision Warning System and Brake Support (Ford), Pre-Collision System (Toyota), Forward Collision Alert System (GMC). 

• Automatic City Braking: Intelligent Forward Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Control (Nissan), Automatic Emergency Braking System with Pedestrian Detection (Hyundai), Active City Stop (Ford), 

• Lane Assist: Lane Keep Assist (Chevrolet), Steering Assist (Toyota), Lane Sense (Jeep), Lane Keeping Assist System (Kia). 

And that’s just a few of the examples. It’s a lot to take in for any technician or service advisor working to order the proper parts and create an accurate estimate. The challenges extend to when these systems need calibration and how that’s done. Most require scan tools to support the calibrations. 

Johnson covers a lot of this in the new webinar Get Ready to Repair ADAS-equipped Vehicles. The free webinar is available now, and features information on ADAS systems, what they are (and they aren’t), space and targets needed for systems and what to add to your diagnostic processes to make sure you are finding the right information for these repairs every time. 

ADAS will continue to grow, and every shop across the country will have to make changes to service them properly. This webinar provides you insight now to prepare for the future. 

Article Details

Fri, 12/07/2018 (All day)

Tschanen Brandyberry

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, or as they’re more commonly known – ADAS, is changing. What you knew how to repair two years ago is changing and growing in number of systems. That's why you need the new webinar from Mitchell 1.

Mitchell 1, ADAS, Advance Driver Assistance Systems, webinar, Ben Johnson

Your customers prefer to replace batteries as infrequently as possible. At the same time, they want their vehicle’s 150+ electrical devices to keep working — but standard batteries just aren’t keeping up.

It’s time to introduce your customers to absorbent glass mat (AGM) batteries. These advanced lead acid batteries feature an absorbent glass mat separator, which helps this type of product offer better performance than other lead acid batteries. Research shows that techs — and their customers — are excited about AGM batteries once they discover the benefits. In fact, by 2022, AGM adoption is projected to jump to 47 percent of vehicles. Here are a few reasons why:

Reliable power for GPS, backup cameras, DVD players, heated seats and more. Yesterday’s batteries were primarily needed just for starting the car. Today’s batteries must support extended use of the safety, comfort and convenience features that consumers enjoy on today’s vehicles. With superior charge acceptance and repetitive charge / discharge cycling capability, best in class AGM batteries, like Johnson Controls brands, are precision-engineered to meet those demands.

Extended life, even in extreme conditions. AGM batteries last longer than standard batteries in real-world, like-for-like use, ensuring the consumer gets worry free dependable operation in today’s more demanding applications. In cold weather, AGM batteries start the car reliably, thanks to improved electrical flow, and recharge faster, reducing failures. In hot weather, the unique AGM design resists deterioration, ensuring stable voltage and supporting longer cycle life.

Safety in design and performance. The NON-SPILLABLE design of an AGM battery means it won’t leak during transportation or installation; it’s also the safest lead-acid battery in the event of a crash. And as vehicles become more autonomous — self-parking, self-braking, self-driving — it’s essential to have a battery that won’t fail when you need it.

Start-stop ready. Start-stop technology shuts off the engine when a vehicle stops, at a traffic light or in stop-and-go traffic, and restarts it quickly and quietly when the clutch is engaged or the brake pedal released. These vehicles need a more robust battery to power electrical loads when the engine is off and to support a high number of starts per trip. AGM batteries deliver the required power and endurance, and are the preferred solution for start-stop technology, which is already popular in Europe and expected to be in 50 percent of all vehicles globally by 2023.

Vehicles are changing — and it’s time for a battery technology that can power these changes. Today’s AGM batteries offer optimal cycling performance, high reliability with no potential for acid leakage, and above all, the right technology for tomorrow’s vehicles.

Introduce your customers to the benefits of AGM batteries, demonstrating that you’re on top of change — and committed to their vehicle safety and satisfaction.

Article Details

Thu, 12/13/2018 (All day)

Jason Searl

<p>It&rsquo;s time to introduce your customers to absorbent glass mat (AGM) batteries. These advanced lead acid batteries feature an absorbent glass mat separator, which helps this type of product offer better performance than other lead acid batteries.</p>

<p>Johnson Controls, AGM, absorbent glass mat batteries</p>

Jimmy Brigance knows the value of ASE certification, and it is one he works to pass on to his students.

Jimmy Brigance

And it is a value he is now being recognized for. Instructor and Master Technician Brigance, of Stigler, Okla., was named the 2018 Motor Age Training/ASE Master Automobile + L1 Technician of the Year. He received his award at the ASE banquet late last year. “I was really proud and impressed of all the people they were honoring, not just me. There are a lot of people in our industry who don’t understand how important as ASE certification is,” Brigance said. “We joke that you have to have a license to give someone a haircut, but not to fix someone’s car. Being certified is just the right thing to do.”

An Automotive Service Technology Instructor for more than 8 years with Kiamichi Technology Center in Stigler, Okla., former working technician Brigance continues to work on his education and set a positive example for his students.

Brigance because his career as a child, working in his father’s two-bay general repair shop in Oklahoma. “I helped him whenever I could, and in the summers. His shop is still open, but he pretty much sticks to tractors and lawn mowers now,” he said. Once he got older, Brigance began working at Williams Chevrolet Pontiac in 1995 when he was in college working on his automotive repair associates degree. “I started as a general tech and specialized in automotive transmissions until about 2010. In 2005, I started taking college courses for education because I decided it was time to transition to something else, something different,” he said.

100 Years and Still Accelerating
	Only here can you read the unique history of Mitchell 1 and see how the company is accelerating through the coming years to bring more services and features to automotive pros.

Currently 8 credit hours shy of his bachelor’s in Career and Technical Education at Oklahoma State University Stillwater campus, Brigance plans to stay in his position at Kiamichi once he is finished.

Amid teaching and going to school, Brigance also maintains his ASE Master Tech status. “The students talk about it and you can tell they really look up to you with that certification. Because ASE is voluntary, it lets customers know that you want to have experience and knowledge for them, and you are more likely to know what you are doing. The students appreciate that,” Brigance said. “I get questions weekly on how they can get certified, and it is something we do work on. I just had 6 students pass their student tests last week.”

In addition to striving for career excellence, Brigance has a strong foundation and focus at home as well. Married for more than 20 years, he and his wife stay active at her business — a local gym — and enjoy traveling and kayaking in their free time. “We travel as much as we can. Right now we go to Florida a lot and Delray Beach is one of our favorite spots. And at home, we visit Lake John Wells when we can. It is a small lake, but just the perfect size for kayaking,” he said.

Article Details

Mon, 12/17/2018 (All day)

Krista McNamara

<p>Instructor and Master Technician Jimmy Brigance, of Stigler, Okla., was named the 2018 Motor Age Training/ASE Master Automobile + L1 Technician of the Year.</p>

<p>Master Technician Jimmy Brigance, Motor Age Training, ASE</p>

Technicians, automotive instructors, sales representatives, students, and industry professionals are invited to join ZF Aftermarket’s free technical training webinars to learn about a number of hot topics, ranging from the latest in automotive technology to tips and tricks on servicing transmissions. In-house experts from the ZF Aftermarket technical training team will delve into topics over the course of an hour, with both English and Spanish language webinars scheduled.

“Our eye is on the future of the automotive industry. We offer continuing education and expert training through our webinar series to prepare technicians for what’s coming next,” said Dirk Fuchs, ZF Aftermarket, Technical Training Manager.

Fuchs continued, “The webinars offered in 2019 truly give participants a virtual hands-on overview to some of the biggest issues technicians encounter in the field.” Participants who attend this round of webinars will witness first-hand the new learning formats and technical knowledge ZF Technical Trainers will use to present.

Participants can register for the upcoming webinars at www.aftermarket.zf.com/us/trainings.

2019 Schedule

The upcoming webinar series is as follows:

• January 9th – ASE L1 Transmission Preparation, English
• January 23rd – ASE L1 Transmission Preparation, Spanish
• February 13th – ZF/TRW ADAS Technology, English
• February 27th – ZF/TRW ADAS Technology, Spanish
• March 27th – ZF Hybrid Technology for BMW and Audi, English
• April 10th – ZF Hybrid Technology for BMW and Audi, Spanish
• May 1st – BMW 6HP Transmission Diagnostics, English
• June 26th – Chrysler 8HP Transmission Diagnostics, English

The remainder of the webinar schedule will be released in 2019. Webinar dates and times are subject to change. For additional resources and the most up-to-date information on ZF Aftermarket Technical Training, please visit www.aftermarket.zf.com/us/trainings.

Article Details

Tue, 12/18/2018 (All day)

MOTOR AGE Wire Reports

<p>ZF Aftermarket announces dates for the first half of the 2019 technical training webinar schedule. Hosted by the ZF Technical Training team, all webinars are ASE certified.</p>

<p>ZF Aftermarket, auto repair, training, webinars, technical, ASE</p>

A few months ago, General Motors (GM) donated a large high voltage (HV) Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) battery section from a 2018 Chevrolet Bolt EV to our automotive department for training purposes. This battery section is just one of five sections inside the Chevrolet Bolt EV battery. This battery section represents the latest reliable Li-Ion battery technology used in GM electric vehicles. 

Located next to the Bolt EV battery section in my classroom is a small HV Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMh) battery section from a 1998 Toyota RAV4 EV. This battery section is just one of 24 sections inside the Toyota RAV4 EV battery. This battery section represented the relatively new high-tech NiMh battery technology available for use in Toyota electric vehicles in the mid 1990s.

Figure 1 - 1998 Toyota RAV4 EV (left) and 2018 Chevrolet Bolt EV battery sections

Although these two battery sections use different chemistries, and are over twenty years apart in age, the complete battery assemblies in which they are placed have the same basic layout and components. Many EV manufacturers allow service of the components inside the battery housing. Many times, it is much less expensive to replace a battery component than it is to replace the entire battery. In this article, we will look at the individual Hybrid and EV battery components and highlight the ones that are serviceable.

Safety first

There are many important safety requirements you must follow to protect yourself and others from the potential of high voltage shock, electrolyte spills and fire. This article is not intended to cover the laws or requirements for working around high voltage batteries and high voltage systems. If you are not familiar with those requirements, you should acquire HV automotive safety training before working on these systems.

The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sets regulations to help protect you in your workplace. For the purposes of this article, there are two very important high voltage safety requirements of which I want to remind you.

1. When are Insulative Gloves required? OSHA Standard 1910.269 references the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard 70E. My summary of this standard: Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is required when voltage levels are higher than 50V Alternating Current (AC) or 100V Direct Current (DC). Keep in mind that many vehicle manufacturers require PPE above 50V AC or DC for service work on their systems.
2. How to Protect Insulative Gloves: OSHA Standard 1910.137 is specific to Electrical Protective Equipment. My summary of this standard: Leather protector gloves shall be worn over insulating gloves, except under limited-use conditions, when small equipment and parts manipulation necessitate unusually high finger dexterity. Insulating gloves that have been used without protector gloves may not be reused until they have been recertified by a testing facility.

Just last week I saw an advertisement for professional automotive HV training where a technician was shown wearing insulative gloves only. I have also participated in factory training classes where the use of the required outer protector gloves was never discussed or emphasized. This is a dangerous and illegal practice that needs to stop before someone gets hurt.

Figure 2 - Insulative HV gloves with leather protectors

Battery sizes

You may have noticed that high voltage batteries come in a variety of physical sizes and power ratings. Most modern High Voltage (HV) automotive batteries can be categorized into three major groups:

1. Small size Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) batteries. These are typically rated at 1.5 kWh at 300V or less. These batteries are typically air cooled/heated with a blower fan. Example vehicles: Toyota Prius, Ford Fusion, Honda Civic.
2. Medium size Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) batteries. These are typically rated at 18 kWh at 390V or less. (A typical driver can drive 3 miles per kWh). These batteries are air cooled/heated with blower fans or liquid cooled/heated (Volt). Example vehicles: Chevrolet Volt, Ford Fusion Energi, Honda Accord, Toyota Prius Prime.

Large size Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) batteries. These are typically rated at 100 kWh at 390V or less. These batteries are typically liquid cooled, refrigerated (BMW), or not cooled at all (Nissan). Example vehicles: Tesla Models S, X, and 3. Chevrolet Bolt EV, BMW i3, Nissan Leaf.

Figure 3 - 2011 Nissan Leaf EV 30 kWh 390V Battery (no cooling system)

Internal components

Service Disconnect Lever or Service Plug Grip: Before exploring or servicing internal battery components, you need to realize that there are live high voltage circuits under the battery cover. Removing a service disconnect lever or service plug grip accomplishes two things:

1. It creates an open series circuit inside the battery which protects you from high voltages as long as the battery cover is installed. Once you remove the cover, you are in the danger zone and must use PPE.
2. It divides the battery into separate, smaller, safer, lower voltage sections. For example: Removing the service disconnect lever of a fully charged 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV 390V battery separates the battery internally into two much safer 195V sections. Another example: Removing the service plug grip of a 2010 Toyota Prius 201.6V battery separates the battery internally into one 64.8V section and one 136.8V section.

I have learned that the higher voltage batteries (400V to 800V) of the near future will have multiple service disconnect levers to divide the battery into multiple, safer, lower voltage sections for service work.

As shown in figure 4, the larger service plugs and levers contain a HV fuse. In an accident, if there is a short circuit of one of the HV wires, the HV fuse is designed to open and protect the battery from damage. Batteries utilizing the smaller service plugs and levers have the HV fuse located inside the battery housing instead.

Figure 4 – HV service disconnect levers and service plug grips since 2001

Battery Tray: The lower battery tray, or carrier, on a PHEV or EV is typically located under the vehicle. It houses all of the battery internal components. If damaged, the tray is typically serviceable, but it is a lot of delicate precision work. The tray, or carrier, on many HEVs is located inside the vehicle and is not typically serviceable without replacing the entire battery module.

Figure 5 – Lower battery tray and air-cooled cell stack - 2017 Toyota Prius

Air Cooled Battery Modules or Stacks: The battery stack shown in Figure 5 contains 28 3.6V Li-Ion cell packs wired in series with each other for a total of 103.6V. There are two cell stacks wired in series in this battery for a total of 207.2V. Each cell stack is serviceable as an assembly. Each cell stack contains three temperature sensors and 28 cell voltage monitoring circuits. The serviceable battery smart unit (computer) monitors those sensors and commands changes in the serviceable battery blower fan speed to maintain the proper battery temperature. Additionally, there are serviceable cooling ducts and battery vents in case a battery overheats and starts gassing. Automatic voltage balancing of a replacement cell stack with the existing cell stack(s) can take up to three days. The vehicle can be driven while automatic balancing is taking place.

Liquid Cooled Battery Modules: The liquid cooled battery shown in Figure 7 contains 96 3.7V Li-Ion cell packs wired in series with each other for a total of 355.2V. The 96 cell packs are divided into three serviceable battery sections. Voltage balancing of a replacement battery module with the existing battery module(s) requires use of a special HV battery Charging, De-Powering, and Balancing machine. An example of one machine used by GM and Toyota is the Midtronics GRX-5100 EV/HEV Battery Service Tool.

Figure 6 - Midtronics GRX-5100 EV-HEV battery service tool

Shipping a Battery: Shipping a new or replacement battery module requires de-powering the battery module down to the nominal (normal or un-charged) voltage level. The Midtronics GRX-5100 EV/HEV Battery Service Tool (Figure 6) is designed to do that on many battery modules. Shipping also requires special hazardous material shipping labels and packaging.

Disposing of a Battery: Disposing of a used or damaged battery module requires completely de-powering the module. Complete de-powering can be done with the special Midtronics machine or with a 1 percent salt-water solution bath of the module. Salt water solution discharging can take several days. De-Powering the battery module makes it safe to be near without the need for PPE.

Battery Cooling System: Each battery section has serviceable coolant hoses running between them to keep the battery cooled or heated to the proper temperature during operation. Some liquid cooled batteries have serviceable cooling plates, heat transfer pads, and cooling manifolds. The battery tray on liquid cooled batteries typically contains an inspection plug to inspect for coolant leaks without the need to remove the battery from the vehicle. If you remove the plug and coolant comes out, you have an internal coolant leak and will need to pressure test or vacuum test the internal battery cooling system to locate it.

Additionally, each section has serviceable temperature sensors to monitor the temperature of the end cells. The battery has a serviceable built-in battery coolant heater and serviceable battery heater temperature sensor. The serviceable battery computer monitors those sensors, controls the heater, and requests the desired coolant pump speed.

Figure 7 - Battery tray and 3 liquid cooled battery sections - 2018 Chevrolet Volt

Some battery trays contain serviceable electric radiant heaters positioned below or in-between the battery stacks or sections. BMW uses a large refrigeration unit (evaporator) and a thermostatic expansion valve in their i3 battery tray to cool the battery sections. BMW only sells battery components for their i3, no complete batteries are available.

Figure 8 – 2014 BMW i3 refrigerant lines, battery computer, and junction block

Each battery section also has serviceable bus bars and/or wire harnesses connecting the sections in series electrically. There are also serviceable low current HV fuses that protect the battery coolant heater, plug-in charger, DC-DC converter, and A/C compressor. There is also a serviceable service disconnect lever socket. Each battery section has its own individual battery cell voltage monitoring circuits in a separate serviceable harness. The battery computer monitors those circuits for bad battery cells and other possible malfunctions.

Battery Junction Blocks: All HV batteries that I have ever seen or researched contain one or more Battery Junction Blocks or Relay Centers in the lower tray. The purpose of the junction block is to connect and disconnect the HV battery from the rest of the vehicle’s HV systems. The junction block is typically controlled by a computer module inside the battery housing.

The junction block of a HEV typically contains:

1. A Positive Contactor. Function: to connect the HV battery positive terminal to the positive HV battery cable and the inverter upon initial vehicle power on.
2. A Pre-charge Contactor. Function: to slowly charge the inverter smoothing capacitor through the pre-charge resistor upon initial vehicle power on. Once charged, almost no current will exist in the circuit and the remaining contactor can close without damaging its contacts. The pre-charge contactor will then open.
3. A Pre-charge Resistor. Function: to limit the charging current of the smoothing capacitor upon initial vehicle power on.
4. A Negative Contactor. Function: to connect the HV battery negative terminal to the negative HV battery cable and the inverter after the inverter smoothing capacitor is charged.
5. A Current Sensor. Function to monitor the operation of the contactors and the amount of current leaving and entering the HV battery.
6. One or more low current fuses. Function, to protect the HV DC-DC converter.

Of course, there are several individual Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTC)s for each of the junction block components. Some vehicle manufacturers allow individual component replacement while others require replacement of the entire battery junction block for any failure.

Figure 9 – HEV battery junction block – 2010 Toyota Prius

In addition to the components listed above for the HEV, the junction block(s) of a PHEV, or BEV contain a few more components to allow for the HV battery to be charged by a plug-in charger. These additional components include:

1. A Charging Positive Contactor. Function: to connect the HV charger positive cable to the HV battery positive terminal, the positive HV battery cable, and the inverter while charging.
2. A Charging Pre-Charge Contactor. Function: to slowly charge the inverter smoothing capacitor through the pre-charge resistor while charging the battery. Once the inverter smoothing capacitor is charged, almost no current will exist in the circuit and the remaining contactor can close without damaging its contacts. The pre-charge contactor will then open.
3. A Charging Negative Contactor. Function: to connect the HV charger negative cable to the HV battery negative terminal, the negative HV battery cable, and the inverter after the inverter smoothing capacitor is charged.
4. A Contactor Temperature Sensor. Function: to monitor the temperature of the positive contactor terminals while charging the HV battery.

Battery Energy Control Module (BECM) – The computer which monitors the condition of the battery from inside the battery housing is known by different names assigned by their manufacturers. Most of these computers perform the same functions:

1. Communicate with modules outside the battery for proper battery temperature control and to send fault messages.
2. Operate the contactors in the junction block at the appropriate times to insure proper vehicle operation and collision activated HV system shutdown.
3. Monitor the battery temperature sensors to insure proper battery cell temperature.
4. Monitor the individual battery cell or module voltages to insure proper current in the HV circuit and proper cell operation.
5. Monitor the battery current sensor(s) to verify proper operation of the contactors.
6. Perform battery cell balancing on some models.

These computers rarely fail, and most are updatable with a factory scan tool. When replacing a BECM, it is critical that its electrical connections are disconnected and reconnected in a certain order. Be sure to read the service information to prevent additional damage. Sometimes other modules or computers will need to be reprogrammed after replacing the BECM.

Figure 10 - Battery Energy Control Module – 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV

As we have seen in this article, there are many serviceable components inside an HV battery pack. Regardless of the vehicle manufacturer, most batteries have the same general components. They might not look the same, but they perform the same function. Every time I open another HV battery, I look for those same components and I am instantly more familiar with that battery. Becoming more familiar with the battery pack components will help you in your diagnostic efforts as these vehicles get older and service work is more common. Best wishes!

Article Details

Tue, 01/01/2019 (All day)

John D. Kelly

<p>Learning how to test and service the HV battery is becoming as important as knowing how to test 12v systems</p>

<p>hybrid, EV, battery, auto repair, service, test, John Kelly</p>

High voltage hybrids have been out close to two decades. More recently, 48-volt micro hybrid electric vehicles have been introduced in Europe and will soon be spreading to American roadways starting with select 2019 Dodge, Jeep and Mercedes models.

Figure 1 - This GEN IV Prius (2016-Present) HEV has had the back seat removed  and the 12-volt High Voltage Interlock connector removed from the back or the HV service plug’s connector. Key on and connector removed – 12-volts. P0A0D sets.

All this greatly increases your chances of having to work on hybrids and EVs beyond the realm of preventative maintenance. To prepare you for today’s higher voltage hybrids as well as tomorrow’s lower voltage 48-volt systems, we’ll go over some common hybrid DTCs to help you diagnose faster by understanding how they work and why they set.

P0A0D – High voltage interlock circuit voltage high

The title of this common DTC is a bit misleading. The circuit that sets the DTC itself is NOT a high voltage circuit but rather a 12-volt circuit that is a watchdog for high-voltage components (Figure 1). On GM 2-mode HEVs for example, if you remove the hard plastic cover that hides the inverter and DC-DC converter assembly a shorting bar in that plastic cover is now pulled from a connector in the HV interlock circuit. A similar arrangement is on Toyota inverter cover plates  (Figure 2). A DTC P0A0D then sets and the high voltage contactors in the battery pack open (if they were closed) or won’t close if you then try to power up the vehicle. On Fords (Figure 3), this circuit will be attached to the major orange high voltage cables to insure those cables are fully seated/latched. On many hybrids, simply extending the high voltage battery pack’s service disconnect plug (Figure 4) prior to unlatching it will remove a shorting bar in the service plug from the terminals in this circuit. The whole point of this circuit is for safety.

Figure 2 - This GEN III Prius’ (2010-2015) inverter assembly cover has been removed to expose the HV battery pack’s cable connections. With the white plastic shorting bar connector remaining on the inverter access cover, a P0A0D will set and the system will not ‘boot up’ due the shorting bar not being in place.

Figure 3 - This 2010 Ford Fusion hybrid model  can set a P0A0D “High Voltage Interlock Circuit Voltage High” DTC if one of the 12-volt circuits (small wires) are not seated when the larger orange HV cable connections are not completely latched.

P0AA6 – Hybrid battery voltage system isolation fault

Battery packs are subject to leakage DTCs as are motor generators, HV electric AC compressors and high voltage cables. Full-voltage (over 60 volts) HEVs and EVs connect both of their HV battery pack’s cables directly to the inverter. The negative DC HV cable does NOT connect directly to chassis ground. However, if you have ever connected a DMM set to DC between chassis ground and either of the HV battery pack’s positive or negative cables you will read half of the HV battery pack’s voltage on Toyotas. On Fords, you’ll see something curious; a rhythmic sweeping of this voltage moving from 0 volts up to about 70 percent of the HV battery pack’s total voltage. This sweeping action takes just a couple of seconds. This “diagnostic” high-voltage circuit carries a harmless low current – about 2 mA. It is there to inform the vehicle’s electronics of the even the smallest amount of high voltage leakage. Similar in design intent to a bathroom/kitchen’s GFI (Ground Fault Interrupt) they cause the disconnection of high voltage power for safety’s sake. The down side is a no start condition will occur on HEVs that use their MGs for starting the gas engine. Isolation fault detection use high ohm (typically around 150K ohms) resistors in parallel between the high voltage circuit and chassis ground (Figure 5).

Figure 4 - Newer Honda HEVs are now using orange service plugs like other OEMs. The larger contacts complete the high voltage connections within the battery pack. The smaller contacts are for the high voltage interlock (safety) circuit which is actually a 12-volt circuit. If the service plug is NOT inserted AND latched properly, the high voltage interlock circuit voltage goes to 12-volts to indicate a problem.

Figure 5 - SMRs 1,2, & 3 (a.k.a. contactors) close in the order of their number to allow the power resistor to 1st feed limited current to the inverter on battery pack power up to eliminate inrush current damage to inverter.  Whenever contactors are closed the high ohm resistors tied between each of the high voltage circuits and ground. This allows only a couple of mA of high voltage to flow to ground while allowing the battery smart unit to monitor for high voltage leakage.

P0A80 – Battery performance

While the first two DTCs may not appear on the newer 48-volt micro hybrids this battery performance DTC will most likely be applicable to just about any hybrid or EV on the road regardless of voltage levels. The P0A80 is a generic DTC and the reason a lot of battery packs get replaced. This DTC basically says the hybrid battery pack “smart” module has detected a variation exceeding 0.3 volts between pairs of battery modules. Battery modules in the case of the older (and popular) NiMH battery packs are either cylindrical (appearing like large D-cell flashlight batteries) or prismatic (flat rectangular) groups of six 1.2-volt cells in series equaling 7.2 volts. Two NiMH battery modules are then wired in series to comprise a battery block (Figure 6).

Figure 6 - Measuring between these points with a DMM for each pair of HV battery pack modules (called V-blocks by some OEMs) confirms what the smart battery unit / battery control module (A) measures and displays on your scan tool. Contactors (B) a.k.a. relays close when commanded to connect the battery pack’s output to the vehicle’s high voltage cables.  Higher voltage systems require another contactor (C) and power resistor (D) to reduce high current inrush into the inverter on power up.

The battery blocks are then wired in series within the pack to comprise the HV battery pack’s total voltage. The battery control module/smart battery unit monitors the internal resistance, temperature, voltage and current draw of the total battery and its individual blocks. If the blocks are not nearly identical in voltage under various conditions, the module with flag this DTC. However, diagnostic charts for this DTC can be a bit confusing (Figure 7). The charts instructs techs to use a scan tool to monitor the voltages between the various combinations of blocks. You’re supposed to replace either the battery pack or the battery control module depending on the outcome of the battery block voltage comparisons. The key word is “ALL” in the chart when the question is posed regarding “are all the battery block voltages greater than 0.3 volts from each other?” Toyota makes this distinction clearer than Nissan by stating that a common symptom of a faulty battery control module (battery smart unit) is ALL of the battery blocks being 0.3 volts different than each other.

(Image courtesy of Toyota) Figure 7 - P0A80 - Numerous HEVs, including Toyota, lead technicians through a process of observing battery block PID voltages. A faulty pack will typically have a few blocks (two 7.2-volt battery  modules connected in series equals one 14.4-volt battery block) with voltages varying over 0.3 volts from each other. If ALL the block voltages are greater than the 0.3 volt spec from each other, the Electronic Battery Control Module (battery smart unit) is faulty.

48 volts? Again?

Didn’t the industry already try that once? Forty-two-volt dual voltage systems were designed and ready to implement in the late 1990s. The 42-volt systems did NOT make it from the engineering labs of OEMs and into consumers’ driveways outside of the few exceptions of GM’s early BAS (Belt Alternator Starter) blue cable models and the PHT (Parallel Hybrid Truck). Neither the 42-volt BAS or PHT technology had the latest Li-Ion high output/low-weight battery packs that today’s HEVs and EVs are equipped with. Inverters and DC-DC converters used IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) technology that was state of the art then. A new technology referred to as the “Viper inverter power switch” by Tier 1 OEM supplier Delphi Technologies allows for new inverters and converters to be 40 percent lighter and 30 percent smaller. This leads to a 25 percent higher power density increase. The Viper power inverter switch also does away with wire bonds and tedious connections, which can lead to quality and reliability issues.

Figure 8 - Watt’s Law displayed tells the story mathematically why 48-volts is better than 12. Same wattage (electrical work) means lower amperage (and cable size) when system voltage is higher.

(Image courtesy of Delphi Technologies) Figure 9 - Adding to the weight and cost advantages of 48-volts are the smaller power electronics (DC-DC converter on left) and common chassis grounds (center) shown in this photo with an uninsulated connection of the two brown negative cables. Sealed connections for the 48-volt positive circuits (blue cables) are maintained for safety’s sake.

Unlike more complex and higher voltage HEVs/EVs, a 48-volt system will not propel the vehicle around town without the gas engine contributing power. Then why bother? Increasing voltage for high wattage accessories and functions is fueled by a simple electrical principle called “Watt’s Law” (Figure 8). The higher the voltage, the lower the amperage required for a given electrical work requirements (watts).  While higher voltage systems are typically required for propelling the vehicle without the I.C.E., the extra voltage that 48-volt systems afford have a fair amount of other benefits. A 48-volt system is quite adept, being able to spool up an electric super-charger to launch the vehicle faster and smoother, eliminating turbo lag. Other heavy electrical (high wattage) load such as A/C compressors and electric power steering motors will run more efficiently on 48 volts as well.

48-volt system safety and simplicity

GM advised technicians back in their small niche 42-volt era (BAS/PHT) to practice similar safety precautions they were in the habit of doing on higher voltage systems during the service of the high-voltage side of the vehicle. OSHA regulations however, are laxer with voltages under the 50-60 volt region that borders the realm of injurious to lethal. This eliminates the need for heavier and more expensive circuits that lead to DTCs such as P0A0D and P0AA6. That means 48-volt and 12-volt systems can both share a chassis ground (Figure 9).

When will we see 48 volts?

Forty-eight-volt vehicles have already been appearing in Europe in fair numbers due to the higher price of fuel there. As for models made in/imported into the USA, Mercedes has launched 48-volt system in their CLS 450 model (Figure 10) for American roads this year. In addition, select Dodge Ram 5.7 liter V-8 Hemi, Dodge Ram 3.6 liter V-6 and Jeep Wrangler 3.6 liter V-6 models for 2019 have adopted a belt driven 48-volt motor generator system called E-Torque.

Figre 10 - This 2019 Mercedes CLS 450’s MG (Motor Generator) is a 48-volt stop start unit located between the engine and transmission. The unit is large, heavy and contains the typical features of a higher voltage full hybrid’s MG – such as a resolver to sense torque and direction.

Dodge/Jeep E-Torque 48-volt system explained

The E-Torque system uses two major serviceable assemblies each containing non-serviceable main subassemblies/components.

1. Battery Pack – PPU (Power Pack Unit)

HV Battery, HV Battery Control Module and DC-DC Converter

Dodge’s 48-volt Li-Ion battery pack contains a BPCM (Battery Pack Control Module) that is an integral part of the complete PPU (Power Pack Unit, Figure 11). The PPU’s Li-Ion battery pack is an air-cooled unit containing 12 4-volt Li-Ion cells. The BPCM monitors for current, temperature, voltage and internal resistance of the pack the same as any HEV/EV’s battery control module. The BPCM also controls the charging and discharging of the battery pack. The BPCM’s HV battery self-diagnostics include SoC (State of Charge) and SoH (State of Health). SoH is based on the rise in calculated internal resistance and decrease in capacity. Battery end of life is generally defined as a 20 percent decrease in the 48-volt battery system capacity or 25 percent power degradation. The unit contains a DC-DC converter, which is, of course, any hybrid vehicle’s solid-state version of a conventional 12-volt alternator. The BPCM communicates on and manages a special CAN bus called a CAN-ePT data network. The CAN-ePT is a private bus network used only in the e-Torque system with e-Torque components.

(Image courtesy of FCA) Figure 11 - The Dodge Ram e-Torque PPU (Power Pack Unit) mounts at the back of the cab and is an all in one battery pack / DC-DC converter that is air cooled and contains the BPCM (Battery Pack Control Module). Care MUST be taken to remove the underhood 12-volt battery’s negative cable first. Then verify the lack of 12-volts at the PPU before removing the 12-volt cable from the unit (6) for safety’s sake. Then the 48-volt cable can be removed. (5) A common ground for both voltage levels is next to the PPU. (4)

2. Belt driven MGU (Motor Generator Unit)

Motor/Generator, Inverter and Main Hybrid ECU

The MGU mounts on the front of the engine (Figure 12) and contains the HCP (Hybrid Control Processor) which is the major smarts for the entire e-Torque system. The HCP serves as an electronic controller for the E-Torque system as well as an inverter module to change the MGU’s internal 3-phase AC to 48 volts of DC power. The HCP commands the PPU to close the HV battery pack’s contacts via a bus message. The HCP also serves the important job of sending the PPU a message to go into a cell balancing mode when the BPCM indicates there is an imbalance. The MGU also serves as the starter motor to crank the engine as well as the generator for the vehicle. E-Torque systems also utilize a stop/start strategy that interfaces with several other modules on the vehicle such as the HVAC, ABS and TCM.  In addition to electrical generation and gas engine stop/start duties the MGU handles regen braking and engine low end torque boost with 130 ft. lbs. of additional torque.

(Image courtesy of FCA) Figure 12 - The Dodge Ram e-Torque MGU (Motor Generator Unit) contains the system’s HCP (Hybrid Control Processor). For all practical purposes this entire assembly does the job (using generic terms) of and engine’s starter motor, generator (for 48-volt electrical production and regenerative braking), inverter and hybrid ECU. Dodge service information recommends getting a helper to assist in removing the unit. It is HEAVY!

48-volt future – big or small?

According to the EPA, a fleet of 11 million 48-volt mild hybrids would benefit consumers and increase the nation’s air quality by saving over 4 billion gallons of fuel over the life of those vehicles. That’s a very good thing no matter how you state it. Will we see 11 million new 48-volt micro hybrids or will the American fleet hit some other number...lower or higher? Mary Gustanski, senior vice president and chief technology officer for Delphi Technologies gave some interesting insights into that question as she predicted some directions where electrification is likely to be heading while speaking at the 2018 AAPEX show in Las Vegas. Significantly lower costs for 48-volt systems are a big plus but higher voltage system prices have started coming down. Adding into that mix are the variables of governmental policies regarding required MPG increases/relaxations along with EPA restrictions on PM (Particulate Matter) and NOx (diesel emissions) for the diesel option some OEMs take. This leads us to the opinion that the only thing we can really bank on is more electrification and continuing changes in technologies. To that end Motor Age will be keeping you informed and ready for whatever new technology comes into your service bay!    

Article Details

Tue, 01/01/2019 (All day)

Dave Hobbs

<p>Take a look at this collection of tips and test techniques to help you handle the more routine HV and EV DTCs.</p>

<p>auto repair, EV, HV, volts, DTC, diagnostics, Dave Hobbs</p>

Hybrid vehicles have been on our roads since the model year 2000 and are now developing problems just as non-hybrid vehicles do. In this article, we will cover a couple of hybrid vehicles that we've diagnosed and repaired. Let’s start with the first hybrid vehicle that hit U.S. roads, the Honda Insight. The Honda Insight is not a real common vehicle, but its hybrid system was the foundation that is still used today on the 2018 Acura NSX.

The problem Insight

This 2001 Honda Insight (Figure 1) came in with a code "78" Honda DTC (Figure 2) that translates to a P1449 (High Voltage (HV) Battery Deterioration). This common code is related to Honda’s weak link in the IMA system — the HV battery. The HV battery used on this vehicle is a Nickle Metal Hydride cylindrical cell that has had issues maintaining a balanced charge. Since our problem vehicle is an Insight that only has a 3-cylinder ICE, it is important that the HV battery does its job in supplying power to the overall powertrain output.

Figure 1

Figure 2

The owner of the problem Insight normally does not start or drive the vehicle for over a month. She arrived at our shop complaining of a loss of power and the check engine light illuminated. We performed a visual inspection after speaking to the Insight owner and found a gym bag behind the right front seat. Normally, no big deal, but on a Honda Insight Gen 1 this is where the HV battery vent is located and the bag was blocking air flow to the HV battery. We showed the Insight owner where the vent was located and asked her not to place her gym bag behind the passenger seat anymore. I explained that blocking the vent was causing the problem with the HV battery. I told her that the HV battery needed to be cooled or it would be damaged.

Figure 3

Next, I opened the Insight’s hood and proceeded to show her the HV battery label (Figure 3) that states the 144 volt HV battery can become damaged if the vehicle is not driven at least 30 minutes a month. Since the Insight owner purchased this vehicle used about 3 years ago she did not receive any information on how the vehicle operated. She, like many of our customers, thought that you just get in and drive the vehicle like any other.

After performing a diagnosis, we uncovered an out of balance HV battery so we tried the easiest fix first and performed the MCM (Motor Control Module) Reset. This reset requires starting the engine and holding the RPM at 3500 with no load (in neutral) until the IMA Battery Level Indicator (BAT) on the gauge displays a normal level. Since this HV battery was so far out of balance, we performed three MCM resets only to find that there was little to no improvement. The next step was to recommend and perform a HV battery reconditioning.

Figure 4

The process of reconditioning an HV battery begins with removal from the vehicle and cleaning all the vents in the HV battery case. Then we connect the HV battery to our reconditioning machine and set it up for discharge and charge cycles. The HV battery sticks are connected to the NuVant EVc-30 (Figure 4) in parallel. This type of connection ensures that each battery stick (which contains 6 D-size cells) can accurately be discharged, charged and finished to the correct battery level. The NuVant EVc-30 HV battery unit is operated by a PC that graphs and compares all the different sticks, so the user can see if any stick needs to be replaced.

You need to know that the HV battery in this vehicle had been replaced by Honda three years prior under warranty, making it a good candidate for a battery reconditioning. If a battery is more than 10 years old, it’s life as a vehicle battery has come to an end and it needs to be replaced. This is true of all NiMH (nickel metal hydride battery) packs that are over 10 years old.

After the NuVant EVc-30 battery unit discharged and charged the HV battery pack for six plus hours, the Insight battery pack came back to life. The next step was to install the battery pack in the Insight, clear the DTC and test drive the vehicle. We kept the vehicle for two weeks since the vehicle owner was on vacation, providing us additional time to make sure the Insight was back to normal. Now the Insight was running great along with an educated hybrid owner who understood to put her gym bag somewhere else so the HV battery could get the cool air it needed to stay healthy.

On to a Ford Escape Hybrid problem

Our next hybrid issue is a 2008 Ford Escape with 110K on the odometer. It had a bunch of problems preventing it for being driven to our shop. We got this vehicle through a recommendation from John Anello, also known as the AutoTech On Wheels. He had diagnosed a no-start issue for the Escape owner, who had the vehicle towed from New Jersey to our shop in New York based on John's referral.

The first thing I checked was the HV inertia switch since the vehicle had a no start condition. I found the inertia switch in the normal state and also found the shut off/service plug installed correctly. Since they were both in their normal state, my next step was to perform a visual inspection of the remaining HV components. I followed that up with connecting the Ford IDS scan tool to check for DTCs and PID information.

Figure 5

The scan data revealed over eleven DTCs (Figure 5) but the one that attracted my immediate attention was a P0AA6-60 (High Voltage System Isolation Fault) DTC. This was the main cause of the no start condition. When you encounter a hybrid vehicle that displays an isolation fault, you could be in for big problems. Since this Ford Escape does not have an electric air conditioning compressor I could rule out the isolation fault being caused by an A/C compressor that had been contaminated with PAG oil. My next step was to look at scan data for the HV battery and see if the scan tool data would reveal anything else besides the P0AA6-60 DTC.

Figure 6

I found that the HV battery pack (Figure 6) was at a 0 percent and R_LeakN and R_Leak P at 1 Mohm of resistance that was off the scale indicated by a blue dot at the right side of the data PID. The battery pack voltage was down to 247.13 volts, very low since it should be somewhere in the 300 volt SOC (State Of Charge) range. The average SOC at 0 percent, but yet the BathPac_Stat stated OK along with one CCNT_BCM DTC. I now knew this was going to be a big mess after reviewing the scan tool data. I had never come across a Ford Escape hybrid with so many issues. Ford took their time making sure they built a robust hybrid, so they could launch their way into the hybrid business. I should also state that this is a second generation Escape hybrid that if anything was an improvement over the Gen 1 models.

Figure 7

With my work cut out for me I started with the service disconnect fuse (Figure 7) that I checked carefully, discovering an issue with it. Looking at the fuse I notice it had a black stain on the white band that I had never seen before. Knowing that the fuse condition was not normal even though it had continuity, I knew there had to be something that caused this issue, such as low electrical resistance that caused too much current flow. I moved the service plug disconnect in to the Service Shipping position then proceeded to remove the HV wires from the right side of the HV battery pack. I followed that up by removing the HV wire connector from the motor generator that is located under the air filter box on the left front of the vehicle. With both ends of the HV wires disconnected I could now use my Fluke 1587 Meg Ohm meter to check the wiring. You can see what I saw in (Figure 8). One of the pins of the HV wire was burnt and missing.

Figure 8

This now led me to believe that there was one serious problem that I have never seen before. As I continued checking the rest of the HV system out I found that the HV MG/transmission, inverter and the converter wires had also been affected. Remember that this hybrid was at another shop before it was towed in so I could not be sure what was done or touched before I checked it out. To burn the main HV fuse and the wire connector, there had to be a major event that caused so much damage.

I proceeded to remove the inverter cover from the traction motor and found that the unit had had an electrical melt down (Figure 9). This now made sense why the main HV wire from the HV battery to the traction motor had a completely burnt terminal. Since the traction motor and inverter were toast, most likely the converter was not in good shape either. My next step was to check the HV wire from the traction motor to the converter with the Meg Ohm meter. My testing revealed that the wires did not meet the required specifications, so they also needed to be replaced.

Figure 9

I priced out all the parts and called the vehicle owner to explain what would be needed to get this hybrid back on the road. Since the traction motor and converter could be purchased from a salvage yard, this would help keep the cost down. The fuse alone for the HV battery is only sold as a one-piece service disconnect unit from the dealer for $855. The high voltage wires from the HV battery to the traction motor were over $1,300 and the wire from the traction motor to converter was about $490. A used traction motor was difficult to find but I found one that had only had 45K on it for $500. I continued to do a bit more research online finding that LKQ had a used converter for $150 making the repair parts somewhat reasonable. Since the service disconnect was so expensive from the dealer I decided to look for a used HV battery from LKQ online. I only saw one of them had the service disconnect plug pictured with the HV battery. I emailed LKQ inquiring about the HV battery that had 250K on it that was being sold with the service disconnect connector that listed for $500. With all the parts lined up and priced out, I just had to add the labor to come up with a total price for the repair. As you can imagine this was going to be one expensive repair for this hybrid. I called the customer with the estimate and explained that the price to repair the vehicle.

When the owner arrived at our shop I showed him what we uncovered and explained what would be needed to get the hybrid running again. The owner, Harold, explained to me that he had just spent over $800 at the other shop in New Jersey and another couple of hundred plus bucks getting the Escape towed to me. I felt really bad for Harold because he was such a nice guy that was also going through chemotherapy treatment. After showing him what the vehicle was worth with 110K miles on it, he realized that it would not be worth repairing. He offered to pay my fee of $1,200 and said he had to decline repairing the Escape because of his financial and health situation.

Feeling bad for Harold I offered him some money for the vehicle, along with waving the charges for my diagnostic and components testing. Harold was extremely happy that I made such an offer and sold me the vehicle. I thought what the hell did I just do, the work and money involved to get this hybrid up and running was going to be extensive. The only saving grace was that I helped a person in need along with having a good project on a major hybrid problem.  

Repairing the Escape

Our next step was to consult the SI systems and read through ALLDATA, ProDemand and Moto Logic for the recommend removal of the traction motor. The HV wiring was a no brainer-just time consuming because we would have to remove the HV wire from the HV battery that runs along the unibody of the vehicle to the firewall and on to the traction motor. The HV wire from the traction motor to the converter was not going to be that hard, but the inverter/MG removal and installation would make up for that. With a game plan in place we ordered all the needed parts and proceeded to remove the engine and transaxle/MG assembly.

Figure 10

On this Escape hybrid along with many other modern vehicles, the engine and traction motor is a bottom drop (Figure 10). The first thing we do when removing any transmission, engine or differential is to strap the vehicle to the lift using heavy duty ratchet straps. This ensures that the vehicle will not move when any heavy component is removed. Safety is an important part of the job, we like to go home at night all in one piece.

Figure 11

Once the engine and traction motor were removed we disconnected the traction motor from the engine and installed the engine on our engine stand (Figure 11). We made sure to check the engine over, cleaned and tighten all bolts along with replacing spark plugs, thermostat, valve cover gasket, etc. while the engine was out. With everything out of the way, we removed and installed the HV wires from the HV battery to the traction motor. We waited to install the inverter to converter HV wires until we installed the engine and transaxle. The installation of the ICE and traction motor generators went well since we had everything planned out and ready to go back in.

With all the heavy lifting out of the way the next step would be to program the vehicle since the traction MG inverter unit had been replaced. I used the Ford IDS factory scan tool then proceeded to program the unit (Figure 12) since the traction control unit is on the CAN Bus. The vehicle would need the security update, aka PATS system programmed, or the vehicle will not become Ready and start. The programming was successful, so we started the vehicle up to make sure it ran then shut it down. We changed the oil using synthetic oil and filter followed by replacing the inverter pump as a precautionary measure.

Figure 12

Figure 13

The inverter pump is the heart of the HV electronics cooling system and is a weak link that can cause major problems. We installed the required Ford Motorcraft coolant/antifreeze both into the HV and engine cooling systems using Airlift followed up with the coolant burping funnel. One of the last tasks that needed to be performed was a HV battery rebalance. The rebalance of the HV battery was desperately needed since the HV pack was so out of specification. With all task completed it was time for a good test drive followed by performing a full system scan (Figure 13) to make sure that there were no issues. Since everything came up normal we started using the vehicle as a shop loaner without encountering any issues. We recently loaned the Escape Hybrid to one of our good customers who lives in Ohio. The Escape hybrid averaged 30 mpg and now has about 158k on it without issues.

In closing I hope that these two stories from the bays helps you diagnosis and repair hybrid vehicles. One quick note, please make sure you get the proper hands on training and have all the required equipment before you start working on hybrid and electric vehicles. Be safe and smart!

Article Details

Tue, 01/01/2019 (All day)

G. Jerry Truglia

<p>Hybrids have been on the road for nearly twenty years. Here are some examples of what&#39;ve seen in our shop when customer concerns arise.</p>

<p>Hybrid vehicles, diagnostics, auto repair, G. Jerry Truglia, Ford, Honda, Toyota</p>

We usually do our best and most efficient work on vehicles with which we’re familiar, but there are times when even the ones we know the best can smack us around – particularly if we make the wrong choices. But in the midst of troubleshooting and repair, we usually learn the most from our errors. An old cowboy proverb I read years ago can be paraphrased by the statement that we usually learn good judgment after having experienced the negative results of bad judgment. In the world of automotive electronics, that good judgment learning curve can be deep and steep, even if we’ve already fixed a multitude of vehicles, and I’ve been in this business for more than 40 years now.

The F-150 and the not-so-perfect storm

A 2003 four-wheel drive F-150 5.4L with 213,654 miles was one of those bad-judgment learning curves. Sometimes trying to save a customer some money costs us a heck of a lot of work. This was a windshield wiper concern. How hard could it be? Somebody had already replaced the multi-function switch, too.

This 2003 F150 is in pretty good shape, but you don’t need to drive in the rain without wipers and so here it is.

For the last 20-plus years on these F-150s, the wiper system has its switch (part of the multifunction switch) wired to a dedicated control circuit in the Generic Electronic Module (GEM), and three relays in the underhood fuse box; one for low speed, one for high speed and a third relay for the washer motor. The algorithms in the GEM module software are supposed provide the relays with their marching orders based on the chosen switch position.

The wiper switch portion of the GEM module’s IDS datastream screen is a long tracking bar that has failure areas on each end and normal switch positions in the middle. As we cycled the switch through its positions, the IDS put shadow tracks in all the right places and none of the wrong ones, indicating that the GEM was reading crisp, accurate commands. So far, so good, but still no wipers.

When this first wiper module didn’t work right (top), I had the salvage yard snag me another module – which turned out to be a problem because Hurricane Michael heavily damaged the yard’s Panama City warehouse and replacement module was still on the truck inside the warehouse.

I was able to turn the wipers on by telling the IDS to activate the wiper relay, and when I then activated the speed relay, the wipers would go into high gear. When I turned the wiper relay off, the wipers would park. I could select the washer pump relay and the pump would wet the windshield with its spray.

Removing the steering column shrouds, we found the square connector crumbling, so we bought a replacement pigtail and put it in place with solder and heat shrink to no avail – the wipers still didn’t work. As an experiment, we had the parts store send a new switch, because these switches look exactly alike from year to year but are different internally – I found that out the hard way when I was at the dealer. From previous experience I discovered that a ’98 switch won’t work on a ’99 model, and so on. You must use the right switch. Period. The new switch changed nothing, so we sent it back.

So why wouldn’t the GEM activate the relays when commanded by the switch if the IDS indicated that it was receiving (and reporting) the switch commands? This had to be a problem within the GEM module, and I usually get black boxes from the salvage yard when I can, sometimes because replacement modules aren’t available at the dealer and sometimes because the replacements are so expensive. So, I gave the salvage yard the number that was on the old module’s sticker and bought a $65 used module that was supposed be the right one. The sticker on the replacement did say it was for a 4-wheel drive F-150, but it didn’t have the same prefix and suffix numbers as the original module.

We used the IDS “Programmable Module Installation” feature to save the existing module’s data in the Toughbook, and then we installed the replacement module (which rides piggyback on the fuse panel in true Ford style) and did the requisite data dump into it from the IDS. Well, we got an error message. Was this even doable with a used module? I wasn’t sure. We were in discovery mode. With the used replacement module in play, you could turn the wipers on first low and then high and they would work, but when you turned the wipers off, they would remain on high, and sometimes the washer would randomly start spraying.

I had installed new/rebuilt GEM modules like this, but this was the first time I have ever tried to install a used GEM module like this. Was it a bad idea? It was beginning to look that way.

At this juncture it was evident that this module obviously wasn’t going to work for us on this job, but it did let us know we were moving in the right direction. The salvage yard said that there was another module at their warehouse that did have the right prefix and suffix numbers, but we ran into a hiatus on that one because Michael the hurricane washed that warehouse away the next day, so we had to wait for the next GEM module. But when it arrived and we did the Programmable Module Installation again, we got a different error message and different errors. This time, the wipers worked almost perfectly but the power windows didn’t because the GEM module wouldn’t turn on the accessory delay relay. We had wipers but no windows. We So we were back to square one. The discovery was that, in this case, it would have been smarter to begin with a refurbished module from the Ford dealer.          

A ’96 Jeep Grand Cherokee

This Jeep wasn’t a discovery and judgment case, but it bears mention. It came to us with a non-functional A/C system and no compressor operation. This was The Neutronics identifier showed us nothing but air in the system, and so we ran a 15-minute vacuum, didn’t see appreciable vacuum decay, and went on to shove the requisite amount of cold stuff into the piping. The A/C worked at this point, but we knew there was a leak somewhere, else it wouldn’t have been empty to start with.
 

Now that we knew the compressor and the electrical part of the A/C were operable, we pulled the cold stuff back out and used 150 psi of dry nitrogen to see if we could find a leak that way. We didn’t. So we did another vacuum, injected some dye, and recharged the system. We let it run for a bit and then shut it down to black light it for leaks, but we didn’t find any under the hood. It was time to look deeper.

This considerable dye drip led us to the leaky evaporator, and while we were there, at the customer’s request we replaced the heater core as well. The orifice tube was in dreadful shape; it took the whole pipe to get this one, but I wanted eyes on the original – it was a good call for sure.

Starting the engine, we put the A/C on again and waited a bit until the evaporator started dripping, and that’s when we saw dye — a LOT of it — in the evaporator drain. Apparently, it would hold vacuum but not pressure. The customer opted for a new heater core and evaporator and we swapped both in-dash heat exchangers out, along with the liquid line, which has the orifice built in. I cut the orifice out of the old line and found that replacing it was a good move. This was the first one of these Tim had done, but he made it happen, and the Jeep has good cold air.

A 2008 Charger

This black Charger turned out to be another electronics adventure and an exercise in discovery and judgment. The complaint was that you had to attempt to start it about 100 times before it’d finally wake up and fire up; that’s the way the owner described it and that’s how I wrote it up and he somehow got it started and brought it the next morning.

Since the scan tool wouldn’t talk and the CAN bus was dead, we poked around in the schematics and determined that the Totally Integrated Power Module (TIPM) might be at fault – interestingly, the owner came up with a used one he got from somewhere and we popped it on there to no avail. Nothing changed at all.

ALLDATA Tech Assist suggested that the Wireless Ignition Node (WIN) might be at fault and said we should check power and ground at that funky little box — this is what most people might call the ignition switch, but it’s a CAN module and apparently wakes up the bus and the other modules, which it was refusing to do. It had power and ground, so we found a rebuilder in San Antonio who would refurbish it for $149 if we’d send the WIN and both fobs, so we did. When the node came back, the Dodge fired right up, but there were other issues — the door locks wouldn’t work unless the WIN (the key) was turned on. With the key on, the lock buttons and the fobs worked fine. Also, the accessory delay problem wasn’t working right – the windows and the radio always kept working even after the door was opened. Oh, and the courtesy lights wouldn’t work unless the key was on. Could the WIN be causing this? For some reason it had no idea the doors were open, and the cluster seems to be the module receiving those inputs.

What surprised us was that fuse 14 was missing, and although fuse 17 also feeds battery power to the cluster, 14 feeds an important part of the cluster as well – and the absence of that feed caused all manner of confusion. Somebody removed that fuse before we ever even saw the car. And that didn’t help either.

As a hail Mary pass, we ran through a check of all the fuses and found fuse 14 missing from the rear PDC (by the battery in the trunk). At that moment we didn’t know it, but when we researched, we found that Fuses 14 and 17 both feed the cluster, and when we installed the requisite 10-amp fuse in position 14 the Dodge was good to go – locks, retained accessory power, courtesy lights, everything. Somebody had planted this bug before we ever saw the car.

A 2008 Nissan Quest

This was another inoperative A/C – we had shoved some juice into this one for the first time in its life about four years ago and it had worked well until about halfway through this past summer. I threw the job at one of my folks who needed to get some A/C troubleshooting worksheets done, and I got involved after she did her preliminary diagnosis.

The Quest owner didn’t report engine overheating, only A/C system failure, and that’s how this one started out.

The Neutronics box had sniffed the juice and given a green light — 100 percent 134a, and when we connected the refrigerant recycler we found we had nearly 100 psi of static pressure, but when we fired up the engine and turned the A/C on, the pressures started climbing and kept going up. The high side went above 400 pounds within 2 minutes and inside, the cooling went away. We noticed that one of the two condenser/radiator fans was running slow and the other one wasn’t running at all, so we shut everything down and did a quick fan electrical test.

This is a fan test I’ve mentioned before, and there are two solid benefits.  First, if the fan fails this test, it’s bad every time. Second, this test can find an extremely intermittent fan problem, and often does, if just one or two of the commutator strips is bad. I devised this method when I was at the Ford dealer and we were having a lot of hard-to-duplicate intermittent fan failures.

There are several ways engineers have wired two-speed fans, and this one seems to be unique to Nissan. These Nissan fans have proprietary relays with two sets of contacts and each fan has four terminals, two of them grounds, and two of them powers for controlling cooling fan speeds and so in order to do our test-light continuity test, we disconnected the condenser/cooling fan that wasn’t running and connected a jumper to one of the two ground terminals in the fan connector (NOT the harness). The other jumper was connected in series with a test light to any positive battery terminal on the motor, and as we turned the fan by hand, the light was winking off more than it was on. That’s a go-no-go fan test that’s always reliable. That one got a replacement fan and a draw-down and recharge with the right refrigerant charge and was once again a comfy ride.

The high side pressure was alarmingly high before the fans were replaced – on a different Nissan, a pickup – we found a bad belt-driven fan clutch causing a similar problem, but it would slip the A/C belt after a few minutes of A/C operation.

The SRXs

This family has two Caddy SRX rides, a 2005 and a 2008. The 2005 came awhile back needing front shocks (the front would bounce up and down for about seven seconds on a sudden stop) and with transmission concerns — erratic shifting, and when we checked the transmission oil it looked like brake fluid, dark and strange — so we did a full fluid exchange, then followed up by yanking the pan, replacing the filter, and adding the necessary quarts for that, and those shifting problems were gone. We also popped a set of front struts on there to handle that bouncing issue.

This was the leaky lower radiator hose we discovered while investigating the high-pressure cutout switch on the Cadillac. I’ve seen more of these clamps breaking this way over the past couple of years than in the previous twenty combined.

The 2008 SRX belongs to the parents of the lady who drives the 2005 model, and she showed me a nasty clunking noise under the front end while driving around the parking lot and over small bumps as well as an inoperative A/C concern.

This steering rack leak and the pricey high-pressure cutout switch, when added together, drove the estimate high enough that the owners decided it was time to trade the Cadillac in and let somebody else deal with the problems.

We didn’t see anything that was loose or needed replacing on the front end, but we did apply some heavy torque to the control arm bolts (we got a full turn on each bolt) and the clunking was gone.

As for the A/C problem, the registers were almost always hot, but sometimes they’d be nice and cool. There was plenty of good clean juice in the pipes, but no compressor operation, and our testing (scan tools and schematics) led us to the high-pressure transducer, which is very pricey and mounted just inboard of the driver’s front wheel well.

Well, while we were there, we also noticed a leaking lower radiator hose due to a rusty and cracked spring clamp (this one lives up north with the salt) and we also discovered a nasty power steering leak at the driver’s end of the steering rack.  When I priced out all the repairs, rather than giving the go-ahead, this lady called her husband and they agreed together that this vehicle needed to belong to somebody else; she decided her folks needed to trade it in without making any repairs, but we did replace that broken spring clamp with a nice stainless-steel Gates screw clamp. All in all, it was a good day, I guess. 

Article Details

Tue, 01/01/2019 (All day)

Richard McCuistian

<p>We usually do our best and most efficient work on vehicles with which we&rsquo;re familiar, but there are times when even the ones we know the best can smack us around &ndash; particularly if we make the wrong choices.</p>

<p>auto repair, diagnostics, Motor Age, Richard McCuistian</p>

At the turn of the 20^th century the idea that automobiles, a new technology at the time, had to be powered by gasoline wasn’t a given. Inventors of these vehicles experimented with various ways in which cars could be powered including electricity, fossil fuels, steam and/or combinations of these power sources. In 1898 Jacob Lohner, a coach builder, teamed up with Ferdinand Porsche who had recently invented the electric wheel-hub motor. The motor fit inside the wheel’s hub and was powered by lead-acid batteries. Using one of Lohner’s coaches, at the time a more common term than “car,” Porsche fitted two wheel-hub motors and a battery to create an all-electric vehicle —  the Elektromobil.

(Photo courtesy of Porsche Museum) The Lohner-Porsche "Mixte" touring car from 1903. Ferdinand Porsche is at the wheel. The wheel hub motors can be seen mounted to the front wheels

It suffered from the same problem that electric cars face today — limited range due to battery technology. Porsche added a gasoline-fueled, internal combustion engine that ran a generator to charge the battery making the Elektromobil the first vehicle to combine these power sources and thus the first hybrid. With the batteries fully charged it could reach the blistering speed of 38 miles per hour. This early hybrid was shown to the public at the 1900 Exposition Universelle, held in Paris, which showcased innovations like the Ferris wheel, diesel engines, talking films and escalators.

Within a few decades other hybrid vehicles came into existence—one traveled on land and the other underwater. Invented in the 1930s, diesel/electric locomotives used a diesel engine to drive a generator that provided power for an electric motor connected to the locomotive’s wheels. This technology led to an early from of regenerative braking, called rheostatic braking where the electric motors reversed their function and became generators driven by the weight of the train slowing down. The electricity produced was connected to on-board resistors (braking grid) that dissipated the braking energy as heat. This process is similar to regenerative braking used on modern hybrid cars to charge the battery.

Hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius offer drivers the choice of using gasoline or electricity as a power source. Future hybrid technology will offer increases in efficiency for electric motors, batteries and gas- or diesel-powered engines.

Another early hybrid vehicle was the diesel/electric submarine that came about in 1929. A diesel engine was used to propel the submarine and to charge large batteries. The sub used battery power when submerged and switched back to diesel propulsion when on the surface. Today a nuclear powered submarine can be considered a hybrid in that it uses a nuclear reactor, steam turbine, generator and electric motors to provide propulsion. Today we refer to a car or light truck that uses more than one power source as a hybrid. Typically these vehicles combine gas, or a diesel-fueled internal combustion engine, with a battery-driven electric motor.

Since 1900 a few hybrid cars were created but it wasn’t until 1997 when the Toyota Prius was introduced in Japan that the technology took off. Toyota sold the Prius in the U.S. starting in 2001 and by 2007 they had sold a million worldwide. Currently, many OEMs offer hybrid cars, SUVs, vans and even hybrid trucks. As the U.S. moves toward independence from foreign oil sources (and the climate heats up) the motivation for selling hybrid vehicles is ever increasing. OEMs are spending millions of dollars for research and development of all-electric and hybrid technologies. For at least the next decade hybrids will bridge the gap between fuel-only and all electric vehicles.

Future of hybrid powertrains

Powertrain configurations that will be used for hybrid cars of the future could take many forms. Because the reason for hybrids existing in the first place is energy efficiency it makes sense that the internal combustion engines (gasoline or diesel fueled) and electric motors used for hybrids be as efficient as possible. All internal combustion engines (ICE) are the most efficient when they are operated under a constant load. An ICE running at full power will extract the most heat energy from the fuel it consumed. Vehicles that use only an ICE cannot operate constantly at full power because the engine’s power output must be regulated for slower or faster driving conditions. This throttling of the engine causes it to be less efficient. Conversely, an electric motor is highly efficient under variable loads because maximum torque is available at all speeds. In addition, they can be used to recover lost energy through regenerative braking (see sidebar). A hybrid vehicle combines the advantages of both types of power sources — gasoline (or diesel) and electricity.

Just how much power does it take? More is needed to get a car moving than is needed to keep a car moving.

The graphs shown illustrate what amount of horse power is required for constant speed driving and acceleration. The upper graph shows how much horse power is required for acceleration of a 3050 lb. car with a frontal area of 22 square feet (Toyota Prius numbers). To go from 0-to-60 in 10 seconds requires 140 horse power. 0-to-40 mph in 10 seconds takes about 85 H.P. The faster the car is accelerated from a stop the more power is required. For example, 0-to-60 in 4 seconds takes 330 horse power (Tesla model S numbers). The lower graph shows that the same vehicle only needs a fraction of the power used for acceleration to maintain constant speeds. In this example just 12 horse power can maintain a steady speed of 60 mph.

Because ICE engines and electric motors have very different power-to-energy characteristics each will be used where it is most efficient. The engine will provide constant power source for charging batteries and/or providing power to an electric motor. The electric motor will provide short bursts of power for vehicle acceleration and climbing hills. As shown by the graphs the hybrid of the future will not be required to have a high-horsepower ICE engine. About 50 horsepower would be sufficient for a standard car. The small output ICE engine will be complemented by a 100+ horsepower electric motor, and battery with enough capacity for high energy driving requirements. 

Series hybrid

Two basic types of hybrid configurations are series and parallel. A series hybrid configuration is like a series electrical circuit, i.e., battery positive, light bulb one, light bulb two and battery ground. In a series hybrid layout energy flows from the fuel tank, to the engine, that drives a generator. From the generator power is directed to either the electric motor, battery or both.

A series hybrid configuration shows how the engine is used to generate power for the electric motor and charging the battery. Because the engine is connected to the generator it can be operated at full throttle providing the best fuel efficiency. Under many driving conditions it would be shut off and only started when needed to run the generator.

The end of the hybrid series circuit are the drive wheels of the vehicle. The power bus controller is a computer that determines where power is needed depending on driving conditions. During steady-state driving the engine could be turned off to conserve fuel and only the battery used to power the motor. When acceleration is required, and the battery’s energy is used at a high rate, the engine would be started to recharge the battery and power the electric motor. When the brakes are applied the motor would act like a generator and recharge the battery through regenerative braking. For maximum efficiency, energy for the vehicle will be constantly switched between the battery and on-board fuel. When the vehicle is not in use both energy sources are replenished. The battery charged from a stationary power source and the fuel tank filled.

Parallel hybrid

Like the series hybrid configuration a parallel layout uses two power sources in separate paths to the vehicle’s drive wheels. The battery powers an electric motor connected to the vehicle’s transmission. The other path of power is the ICE engine, also connected to the transmission. One advantage over series hybrid systems is that no generator required. The electric motor can still act as a generator to charge the battery during braking. The ICE engine could be made smaller as it is directly connected to the transmission. Because the electric motor would have two times, or more the power of the ICE, it could drive the rear wheels during max power requirements while the ICE could drive the front wheels for low-speed driving. With a low-power ICE, the transmission would be less expensive to manufacturer and could be smaller than a standard transmission.

In the parallel hybrid configuration there is no need for a generator. The battery is charged form an external power source or through regenerative braking. The vehicle’s computer will switch between using the electric motor and engine to power the vehicle.

Additional benefits

Owning a hybrid of the future will offer several benefits. A hybrid with a large, powerful electric motor will be more fun to drive than a car equipped with only a small fueled engine. All-electrical power accelerates the Tesla Model S from 0-to-60 mph in 3.2 seconds and only a few ICE powered cars can match that acceleration. This is a long way from the image of the “not-a-thrill-to-drive” Toyota Prius with a 0-to-60 time of around 10 seconds. While many future hybrid cars will not reach the acceleration performance of the Tesla S, future hybrids that offer owners a high-performance driving experience will be more common. Consumers will buy efficient vehicles, not to only help the environment, but because they will be fun to drive, and less expensive to own and operate.

An additional benefit of future hybrid car designs is a moderately sized battery, probably around 5 kWh, which will be able to be charged overnight from a standard household plug. In addition, the widespread use of hybrids will have a dramatic effect on consumer fuel purchases in the future. If gasoline prices start to increase, owners of hybrids can instantly start using more electricity and less gas reducing the demand for oil and lowering fuel prices overall. It will take a high percentage of hybrid vehicles to affect fuel prices but consider that through 2016, about 11 million hybrid cars have been sold worldwide with 36 percent of that total sold in the U.S. As the cost of hybrid vehicles comes down, and performance and efficiency goes up, sales will increase affecting fuel prices.

(Image courtesy of NetGain Motors, Inc.) The combination of a super-efficient gas or diesel engine, plus the power of a large electric motor will offer drivers of hybrids the best characteristics of both power sources.

Because power for acceleration will be provided by an electric motor, the engines used in hybrids will have small displacements and be more fuel efficient. On average, an ICE wastes around 50 to 70 percent of the heat energy stored in gasoline or diesel. Instead of providing power to turn the wheels, wasted heat energy is used by the radiator/cooling system, engine components like pistons, cylinder blocks and heads, and the exhaust system. Engines used in hybrids can run at steady speeds and will have higher thermal efficiencies that could reach 50 percent or more.

Small displacement engines that use turbocharging and Atkinson cycle designs will power the hybrids of the future. Diesel engines could be revisited for automotive applications because emissions can be more easily controlled during constant power output. A diesel hybrid could use all electric power for city driving and diesel power for rural areas where pollution is less of an issue. Atkinson cycle types of engines provide good fuel efficiency as a tradeoff for lower power-per-displacement, when compared to traditional four-stroke engines. Variants of this engine design were used in 1997 in the Toyota Prius. Currently there are over 40 OEMs that use Atkinson-cycle engine designs like variable valve timing. The combination of the Atkinson-cycle engine with a large electric motor provides the most efficient means of producing power for hybrid vehicles.

This drawing shows how hydraulic assist braking could be used in a hybrid car. During braking the hydraulic pump sends high pressure fluid to the accumulator. When accelerating the accumulator sends the high-pressure fluid to the hydraulic motor to drive the rear wheels. A computer would control hydraulic valves to operate the system (not shown).

Conclusion

Internal combustion engines operate best when under a constant load. Engines operating at their most efficient configuration will have increased longevity, be less complex, cost less to manufacturer and emit lower emissions. Hybrid drivetrains will combine the ICE and electric motor to take advantage of the best characteristics of both. The hybrids of the future will circumvent the trade-off between power and efficiency that current internal combustion engine powered cars are subject to. Hybrids have been sold in the U.S. for over 20 years and there is opportunity for many future refinements. Hybrid vehicles will bridge the gap between fuel-powered only to all-electric power. The hybrid of the future will be less expensive to own and operate, plus provide consumers with a fun, environmentally friendly driving experience.

Article Details

Tue, 01/01/2019 (All day)

Tracy Martin

<p>The electric vehicle was first on the automotive scene but was overrun by the affordability of its gasoline-powered nephew. Is that trend changing today?</p>

<p>hybrid vehicles, future, parallel, hydraulic assist braking,</p>

I think that most technicians are comfortable using their scan tools when attempting to diagnose a customer's drivability concern. It's a tool we use on a daily basis to access stored DTCs (Diagnostic Trouble Codes), look at Freeze Frame and history data and, of course, look at current data - all to gather the information we need to fix the problem.

But when you look at data PIDs (Parameter Identifiers), do you look at a list of PIDs as the bounce around with each refresh of the scan tool's screen or do you look for the anomaly by graphing the data and comparing multiple PIDs to each other at one time?

I'm betting you've learned to graph the data, maybe even have learned to perform a drivability test drive that will allow you to record critical information in a repeatable process that speeds up your diagnostic time even further.

And that, my friends, is what it's all about. Using our time efficiently. After all, that's what we truly sell to our customers and the more efficiently we use that time, the more money we can make.

Getting more with less

A modern DSO is just another way to graph information over time. In this case, the scope graphs voltage over time but with the variety of scope accessories available, nearly any drivability parameter can be converted to a voltage input that can be read by the scope; voltage, current, pressure, vacuum, even vibration.

And using a scope is not overly complicated. Operation of the tool, I think, is less involved than learning the operation of a scan tool. It's understanding what the tool is sharing with you that is the challenge to mastering both!

So let's start with a little Scope 101. As I stated, a scope is a tool that graphs voltage over time. The scope screen is separated into equal sections on both the X-axis (horizontal line) and the Y-axis (vertical line). These are referred to as "divisions". Typically, scopes are divided into 10 divisions in both directions but there are some exceptions to the rule.

Time is plotted on the X-axis and the scope settings may require the user to specify the time range wanted by division or by the total time displayed on the screen. This is referred to as "sweep." Voltage is plotted on the Y-axis and can also be set by division or by the total voltage "range" displayed on the screen. To capture most automotive signals, you can use the "20/20" rule as your starting point. This means you should set your scope to read a total voltage range of 20 volts and your time per division to 20 milliseconds (that's the same as a 200 millisecond "sweep.")

You'll also need to set some kind of "trigger." A trigger is a combination of settings that tells the scope when to start its trace on the screen. You'll need to select the type of trigger (None, Normal, Auto or Single are common selections), the voltage level of the trigger, and whether the scope should wait for the selected voltage level to be exceeded (called a "rising slope") or dropped below (called a "falling slope").  You can also set the location of the trigger on the screen, relative to the X-axis.

With these basic settings made and your scope connected to the signal you want to see, you should have something visible on the screen. To fine tune it and make it usable as a diagnostic aide, you can alter the voltage and time settings to "zoom in" on the pattern.

Practical tests with a pocket scope

One of the least expensive scopes on the market today is the AESWave "uScope." The full Master Kit can be yours for under $500 and includes accessories that add a lot of functionality to the base scope. But even if you only own the basic kit, there is still a lot you can do with it.

Figure 1

One test I encourage every technician to perform on every car that comes in is a basic battery/charging system test.  The uScope is a single-channel (that means it can only trace on input at a time as opposed to multi-channel scopes capable of tracing two, four or even eight inputs at a time) and is designed for quick, point-of-need use. To perform this test with the uScope, adjust your scope settings slightly by adding to the time range. Set the scope to 5 volts per division (or a 40-volt range) and the time to 500 milliseconds per division (or a 5 second sweep). 

For the trigger settings, I find the "Single" option very helpful when working alone. A Single trigger will start the trace once the trigger level and slope parameters have been met and the scope will stop once the trace has completed its way across the screen, eliminating the need to stop the scope manually or having to look at multiple screens on those scopes that record their data for later review. In this case, I set the trigger to 12.4 volts on a falling slope so the pattern would start as soon as I turned the key on. You can see the resulting capture in Figure 1.

With the capture on the screen, I adjusted the voltage to 2 volts per division to zoom in a bit on the pattern. Take a look at Figure 2.

Figure 2

The point labeled "A" is called the "in rush" voltage and is comparable to the loaded voltage you're used to when performing a battery test. The difference is in the speed at which the scope acquires its data. Scopes are so fast, they are able to capture the millisecond moment when current first started flowing into the starter motor. It takes quite a bit to get that motor moving, especially when it's tied to the mass of the engine, so you'll see test results here lower than the 9.6 volt loaded maximum used when testing conventionally. In this test, any battery that stays above 8.6 volts is considered a "pass".

The area labeled as "B" is showing a lot going on. The first section shows a series of spikes that represent the change in voltage caused by the changes in current demand as the starter motor starts moving individual pistons up and down in the cylinders. Shortly thereafter, the spikes get closer and closer as engine speed increases until, finally, the engine starts. There, you see the gradual rise in voltage as the charging system replenishes the spent battery, ending at a steady charging voltage level you can compare to traditional specifications.

Want to take a closer look at that alternator? AC ripple is a great way to see if the diodes have failed and as a tool for checking for excessive AC bleedover into the electrical system. ECUs do not like to be confused and when too much AC voltage is riding around on top of the DC, it can confuse the heck out of them!

Figure 3

With the scope, checking for the presence of excess AC ripple is simple enough. By adjusting the time and voltage, and adding an AC filter (or selecting the "AC Coupling" option on our scope), we can zoom right in on it. Figure 3 is a great example of what AC ripple looks like.

Checking the engine's relative health

You've read several references in our magazine to the next test I want to share - relative compression testing. Typically, technicians use a high amp current probe to perform this test but if you're a tech on a budget, you can perform this test without one.

As we saw in the battery/charging test, every time a piston moves up on TDC of its compression stroke, it adds resistance to the starter motor. Increased resistance to turning also increases the current demand on the starter - and that extra current demand means more voltage drop on the battery. And that's exactly what you're seeing in those first few spikes on the battery test!

Figure 4

So, by disabling the engine's ability to start, we can perform the same test and see what happens to the spikes once the rpm has stabilized. That's what you're looking at in Figure 4. Each "drop" in the pattern is the voltage drop at the battery caused by the individual cylinders coming up on TDC. If one or more isn’t sealing, the drop will be less and that justifies performing a more detailed test. With the complexity in some engine designs, wouldn't you'd like to know that there is a definite indication of a weak cylinder prior to spending a few hours on a conventional compression test?

Figure 5

The last example is Figure 5. All I did here was "invert" the image to make it look more like the current-based relative compression tests you may be used to. Either way, this one pocket-sized scope has delivered a lot of information with just one connection at the battery!

Of course, adding additional horsepower to your diagnostic arsenal by investing in a good multi-channel scope will open up even more diagnostic possibilities to you. Possibilities that will improve your efficiency - and your paycheck!

Article Details

Thu, 01/03/2019 (All day)

Pete Meier

<p>More and more techs are realizing the value of the digital storage oscilloscopes. If you haven&#39;t jumped on board yet, maybe these time-saving tests will convince you!</p>

<p>DSO, digital storage oscilloscopes, auto repair, diagnostics, technician, Pete Meier</p>

This article was contributed by Mark Lavelle

Did you know that according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 22% of car crashes are brake-related? The truth is that many of these accidents are preventable, but most people don’t know there is a serious problem lurking in their own car: the quality of their most recent brake replacement.

Original equipment brakes, the ones that come with your car at the time of purchase, have strict safety standards per the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, which empowered the federal government to set safety standards for vehicles and road safety. There is a high amount of regulation around the quality and performance of an OE brake, along with all parts of a new vehicle. Rightly so; vehicles are often driven hundreds of thousands of miles over many years, in a variety of weather conditions, carrying precious cargo. But brake pad replacement—or aftermarket brakes—have zero state or federal standards to live up to.

There are some very good reasons to specify quality brake parts: ones that are not made of black steel. They may cost more, but they are worth it in reduced liability, improved road safety, and greater customer satisfaction. Offshore manufacturers, many of whom have no automotive knowledge or experience, are making cheaper brake pads by the millions using black steel. Due to industry self-regulation and in effort to increase profit margins, domestic automotive service retailers are compromising vehicle safety with unregulated brake pads imported from overseas low-cost countries.

Watch the YouTube video HERE

As a result, consumers are purchasing these poor-quality parts, which are painted to look identical to other brake pads at retail and do not meet the same FMVSS standards as OEM brake pads. The result is an identical-looking painted variety of brake pads to choose from, where the consumer has no way to distinguish one from another, other than price. The consumer or their mechanic often picks the cheapest one, without realizing the considerable danger of black steel brake pads. Who can blame them? They are unaware of the dangers of black steel aftermarket brakes – by virtue of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) neglecting to cover to brake pad replacements.

As the FMVSS apply to new vehicles only, offshore manufacturers are selling brake pads made of black steel—steel that hasn’t been treated from all of the surface impurities such as rust and scaling through acid washing known as “pickling and oiling.” These impurities are a cancer imbedded into your brake pads that can cause the friction to break away instead of evenly wearing down. Further, black steel brake pads are significantly more prone to rust and failure when exposed to bad weather conditions and salt. According to Environment Canada, up to nine million tons of salt are distributed every winter across Canadian roads. This causes increased stopping distance and the inability to stop in time or at all. Rusty brake pads are a safety hazard, a very dangerous risk to take to save a few dollars.

Consumers need to understand what they are buying. This is a challenge; with no standards in the industry, aftermarket suppliers can say and do whatever they want. It is imperative—and truthfully a matter of life and death—to educate consumers on what to request for brake replacement: galvanized steel brake pads. Made from steel that has been “pickled and oiled” and galvanized or zinc, galvanized steel brake pads protect steel from rust, secure the friction material, and support an effective overall braking system.

In a retail setting, paint covers up imperfections in a brake pad. Without the paint, you can see the quality of the steel, but once the brake pads are painted, paint covers up the imperfections, and all brake pads look identical at retail.

While brakes were once lasting around the 50,000-mile mark, aftermarket pads being put in today typically last a mere 10,000 to 20,000 miles, according to the Global Brake Safety Council (GBSC). Consumers are spending more than ever before on unnecessary brake jobs and worse, driving in a car on unsafe brakes likely to fail. The GBSC estimates that the U.S. consumer spends $9.9 billion a year on unnecessary brake jobs—not to mention the immense safety risks of driving on rusty brakes, potentially leading to deaths caused by brake failure.It’s not just passenger vehicles: earlier this year, nearly 1,600 commercial motor vehicles in the US and Canada—approximately 13.8 percent of vehicles examined—were removed from roadways on an unannounced Brake Safety Day for brake violations.

Anybody that’s questioning the integrity of brake pads can go to their local garage and ask to see used brake pads. You will see used brake pads typically covered with rust, with broken friction material, meaning a severely reduced ability to stop. Do you feel safe knowing these are very likely the brake pads protecting you and your family? Take the brake pads off your own car and see for yourself. All you have to do is look.

Brake pads made from American galvanized steel on the other hand maintain their integrity. For a few extra dollars, galvanized steel brake pads can mean the difference between brake failure and success.

As a critical safety item, aftermarket brakes need immediate attention. Our government needs to implement regulation and manufacturing standards to improve consumer safety and ultimately save lives. In the meantime, consumers should request galvanized steel brake pads to increase road safety for all.

Article Details

Wed, 01/02/2019 (All day)

Global Brake Safety Council

<p>Many brake-related accidents are preventable, but most people don&rsquo;t know there is a serious problem lurking in their own car: the quality of their most recent brake replacement.</p>

<p>brake pads, Global Brake Safety Council</p>

MACS exhibit space for the 2019 Training Event and Trade Show, A/Ccess is sold out. The MACS 2019 Training Event and Trade Show will take place February 21-23 at the Anaheim Marriott in Anaheim, Calif.

MACS Trade Show day is Friday, February 22 from 10am to 4:00pm and will feature 72 exhibitors and 84 booths.
 
“MACS is pleased to have so many robust mobile A/C centric exhibitors from around the globe bring their product expertise to our trade show for attendees to discover,” said Elvis L. Hoffpauir, MACS president and chief operating officer.
 
MACS exhibitors include:
AirSept Inc. #304
Airworks Cooling Systems #418
*NEW AISIN World Corp. of America #432
AP Air Inc. #219
ASE #308
ATCO Products/Alma Products #117
ATech Training Inc. #303
Automotive Service Association (ASA) #404
*NEW Automotive Training Group (ATG) #229
AutoParts Components #233
Autoshop Solutions #406
Bergstrom Inc. #327
BMP USA Inc. #231
BVA Inc. #214
*NEW  C & S Bearings, Inc. #216
*NEW  California Auto Refrigeration #416
Cary Products #422
Coordinating Committee for Automotive
Repair (CCAR) #305
Coyote International #302
CPS Automotive #111
CSF Inc. #322
DCM Manufacturing Inc. #310
*NEW  Eberspaecher Climate Control Systems #331
Errecom USA LLC #228
Flo-Dynamics #414
Gates Corporation #402
*NEW  Genera Corporation #307
Global Air Inc. #207
Global Parts Distributor/Omega Environmental Technologies/Santech #227
Globus Sistemas Eletrônicos #332
Honeywell International #314
INFICON #319
ITW Sexton #204
Johnica Auto Co. Ltd. #206
Liland Global #202
Longson International Corp.#205
MACS #407
MAHLE Service Solutions #209
Mastercool Inc. #133
Microcare Corporation #320
Mobile Climate Control #203
Motor Age Training #208
NETMOTOR (MFG) Ltd #333
Neutronics Inc. #210
Ningbo Anchor Auto Parts #428
Pacific Best Inc. #410
Performance Radiator LLC #131
Ranshu Inc. #222
Rebuilders Automotive Supply #329
Red Angel AC Stop Leaks #218
Ritchie Engineering #103
Robinair #221
Sanden International #127
*NEW  Sanz Clima USA #317
Schrader-Pacific #220
SHIFTmobility Inc. #408
SMP-Four Seasons #121
SPAL USA #318
Spectra Premium Industries #215
Sunair Products #315
T/CCI Manufacturing #321
Thermotion LLC #217
Tracer Products #328
Trans/Air Manufacturing #226
TSI Supercool #107
Tubes n’ Hoses #232
Universal Air Conditioner #115
Valeo Compressors #306
Vintage Air #311
Zhejiang Chuangli Automotive
Air Conditioner Co. Ltd. #330
 
Attendees are reminded to make their MACS Training Event hotel reservations at the Anaheim Marriott by visiting the MACS website under attendee information or call
877-622-3056 before the room rate cut-off of Monday, January 21, 2019.
 
MACS attendees can save money by pre-registering by Friday, February 8, 2019 through the MACS website or by phone at 215-631-7020 x 0. Training Event registration feeswill be higher onsite at the show.
 
Since 1981, the Mobile Air Conditioning Society (MACS) Worldwide has been the advocate for service and repair owners, distributors, manufacturers and educators making their living in the total vehicle climate and thermal management industry.
MACS Worldwide empowers members to grow their businesses and delivers tangible member benefits through industry advocacy with government regulators and by providing accurate, unbiased training information, training products, training curriculum and money-saving affinity member services. MACS has assisted more than 1-million technicians to comply with the 1990 Clean Air Act requirements for certification in refrigerant recovery and recycling to protect the environment.
 
To learn more about MACS Worldwide visit our website at www.macsw.org. The MACS 2019 Training Event and Trade Show, A/Ccess will take place February 21-23 at the Anaheim Marriott in Anaheim, CA. A current calendar of all regional training can be found on the training page of MACS website.

Article Details

Thu, 01/10/2019 (All day)

MOTOR AGE Wire Reports

<p>MACS exhibit space for the 2019 Training Event and Trade Show, A/Ccess is sold out. The MACS 2019 Training Event and Trade Show will take place February 21-23 at the Anaheim Marriott in Anaheim, Calif.</p>

<p>MACS, Training Event, Anaheim, auto repair, A/C service, February</p>

Red Line Synthetic Oil, a leading supplier of high-performance synthetic lubricants and additives, is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2019. Evolving from its roots in racing, the company now offers enthusiast and professional product lines, all while remaining true to its customers and maintaining its best of the best mentality, “no compromises.”
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify; font: 11.0px Helvetica} span.s1 {font-kerning: none} Throughout 2019, Red Line will celebrate its anniversary by sponsoring more events and drivers than ever before. These upcoming events include: the SEMA Show, HyperFest, Sturgis Rally, the AIMExpo and the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) show. The company will also host unique social and onsite activations designed to reward the loyal customers who have supported Red Line over the past 40 years.
 
Dynamic Duo
Founded in 1979 by Peter Filice and Tim Kerrigan, Red Line began in a small garage in Novato, California where they created two-stroke racing oils. Unlike their competitors at the time, Filice and Kerrigan’s product included rust and corrosion protection. Four years into the business, they expanded to fuel additives. Their Diesel Fuel Additive eventually became an OEM-authorized solution to Mercedes-Benz mechanics who were dealing with a number of injector problems in certain models. In 1986, Roy Howell, Red Line’s Chief Chemist, was brought on board as the company went on to release innovative products like the coolant additive, WaterWetter®, which was used extensively by NASCAR teams to reduce temperatures and gain an advantage on the track.
 
Today, the logo, complete with the checkered flag, is representative of the brand’s racing heritage. Red Line earned its place as a quality product by providing performance and protection at the highest levels. By word of mouth, the brand entered the racing world, bringing the innovative lubricants and additives to some of the world’s best drivers. Red Line has sponsored everything from NASCAR to drifting, including notable names like Jeff Gordon and Michael Essa.
 
Founded to provide racers with the highest quality lubricants available, Red Line began to bring this quality to enthusiasts and everyday drivers. The company’s High-Performance Motor Oils are made from the highest-grade base oils and additives available on the market today to ensure that they are providing their customers with the best products available. The High-Performance Motor Oil is a fully synthetic formula recommended for enthusiasts who demand the highest quality and best performance on the street, track or dirt.
 
“I have been using and winning with Red Line products for the last 30 years, including my first days racing as a kid in motocross.  Since then, I have continued to use Red Line Oil products by choice in everything from Jet Skis to Go-Karts and in the cars I’ve raced with a number of pro teams,” said professional racing driver Memo Gidley. “I think the reason Red Line has such a fantastic line of products is because the company was founded and run by people who have a passion for racing with the ultimate goal…winning!  To win you have to work hard and Red Line’s dedication shows in the quality of their products. This is why I’ve been a Red Line user for so many years.”
 
“I’ve been in the auto racing industry for over 20 years, as a crew chief, mechanic, engine builder and professional driver. During that time I’ve tried a number of different oils and Red Line’s products are consistently at the top of my list,” said Formula Drift Pro Driver Michael Essa. “I’m excited to continue working with Red Line throughout the 2019 season and beyond!”
 
Red Line has been innovative in expanding its product line while maintaining the highest quality lubricants and additives. The brand’s Professional-Series, for example, is a line of motor oils designed for professional installers and customers concerned with preserving their vehicle’s factory warranty. What makes this line unique is that its fully OEM/API factory warranty approved and designed to offer advanced wear protection while combating low speed pre-ignition.
 
“We are extremely proud to have provided the automotive and powersports communities with the best quality lubricants for four decades,” said Michael Andrew, Director of Red Line Synthetic Oil. “Over the years we’ve expanded our product lines to provide more racers, enthusiasts and everyday drivers with the highest quality products available. We’re looking forward to celebrating our anniversary throughout the year and we’d like to thank our loyal the customers who have supported us over the years.”

Article Details

Thu, 01/17/2019 (All day)

MOTOR AGE Wire Reports

<p>Red Line Synthetic Oil, a leading supplier of high-performance synthetic lubricants and additives, is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2019.</p>

<p>Red Line Synthetic Oil</p>

We’ve been discussing the tidal wave of technology being installed on new vehicles with the goal of providing awareness of what is happening in our industry; this is so you can prepare your team to be service ready when they arrive at your door. In this edition, we’ll discuss how to go about preparing for the near future when your team will be servicing and repairing highly complex vehicles in your bays. But first I must warn you that some of what I’m going to suggest is not going to be easy. It is going to be hard, and it is going to require significant change in the way you do business. It is going to mean you need to pay for the talent and skill required to solve problems with complex machines and systems. It also means you’re going to have to invest in the right equipment and information, not the least expensive or the one-size-fits-all solution. You’re going to need to not just raise your labor rate, but modify totally how you price and communicate value to your customers. In essence, we are moving from being mechanics to acting more as the technologists we are becoming.

We first need to accept the fact that we as an industry are woefully unprepared to be working on the vehicles in our bays today, let alone what we see on the showroom floor at the dealer down the street. Sure, we’ve attempted to stay abreast by changing the way we change oil and beginning to discuss ADAS technologies. However, I fear we don’t have enough skilled people who truly understand the foundations of electricity and physics of the technology in a way needed to provide confidence in the owner of the vehicle. This takes time to acquire and deploy, which is why we haven’t yet achieved the competence needed. So, let’s look at three groups who we need to support in this effort: your technicians, your sales team and your business model.

I’ve mentioned this many times over the last several years: the lack of foundation in electrical/electronic skills today is astonishing. Most of the vehicles in your bays today are equipped with a data network that requires a technician with a solid electronics foundation to understand and repair. So, the first step in becoming prepared for future technologies is to ensure anyone working on these technologies has a deep understanding of foundation electrical/electronics and is fluent in data network analysis and diagnosis. These skills include the ability to effectively use a factory wiring diagram and a digital storage oscilloscope; it means being able to read with full comprehension the service information provided for the system being serviced. It also means that not only can the technician understand and apply what they read, but that they have the ability to teach these skills to others. Proof of skill is a critical step in moving toward our goal of being competent in serving our customers.

How do you put this process in place to create competent electronics experts? First, you need to identify those who have some or most of these attributes and those who do not. Work with your training provider to schedule foundation electrical classes with hands-on sessions in your market so that you can enroll your entire team. Yes, require all skill levels to attend the foundations courses; your goal is to create competent electricians. Inexperienced techs need to be exposed to the foundation skills, and your experienced techs need to refresh their foundation skills. Your advanced techs will mentor your less experienced techs during class and especially during hands on exercises. After a few sessions, talk to your training provider about allowing your advanced techs the ability to teach portions of the class. By engaging the advanced tech in the preparation of teaching your less experienced techs, you’ll see their growth in action. I’ve seen this in person, and the results are amazing. Keep in mind it is not easy to ask a journeyman technician to attend a foundation electronics class; ask them to attend to assist in mentoring your younger techs, and the context in their mind changes. What you’ll find is an experienced tech who becomes much more engaged in not only the education of a less experienced tech, but in themselves. It also binds them together as mentor/mentee in a way that you may not be able to do by simply demanding they do so. The end result is tremendous growth by both the mentor and the mentee. But don’t stop there; find advanced courses for the mentor where they can grow their skills in the discipline where they can become the mentee. It is the process of actively investing in your own education that you need to foster and support in order to grow the skills needed to service the technologies of today, let alone the technologies of tomorrow.

For your service sales team, the challenge is massive because we have such a gap in understanding of technology that allows easy explanation of the service or analysis process to the customer. To close this gap, you need to require your sales team to attend technical classes. The goal is not to make diagnostic technicians out of them, but to immerse them in the terminology, diagnostic process, tests required and complexity involved so they can begin to create the word tracks they will use to help motorists understand not only how the technology works, but how it must be serviced, why it takes time to do so, the significant skill needed to service it correctly, and most importantly, the risk involved in cutting corners, skipping steps or not doing the service at all. By including your sales team in the technical classes, your mentors will have the ability to influence their understanding and ability to communicate effectively.

Finally, your business model must be updated to provide for the margins needed to pay for talent in a way that attracts young people to our industry, retains existing talent and provides a great return on investment. This means you need to charge enough and pay enough. It also means you need to change the way you acquire customers and retain customers. It means you need to think about where the customer drops the vehicle off and where they pick it up. It means considering where you actually do the work. The owners of these technology-laden vehicles don’t communicate like our older customers. They expect you to provide exceptional service that makes them go “Wow!” It means you need to be different, but most importantly it means you have to be perfect in your ability to service their technologies right the first time. Because you are only going to get one chance before they decide you aren’t the right choice.

Article Details

Mon, 01/28/2019 (All day)

Chris Chesney

<p>The first step in becoming prepared for future technologies is to ensure anyone working on these technologies has a deep understanding of foundation electrical/electronics and is fluent in data network analysis and diagnosis.</p>

<p>Chris Chesney, auto repair, ADAS, technology, electrical, diagnosis, Motor Age</p>