Summer season is here
With the weather getting warmer we are starting to see more cars with A/C issues. Here is a Peugeot RCZ […]
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We all been hearing about electric cars for a while now, but what is an electric car
car?
Electric Cars – It’s basically a car that is propelled by electric engines instead of the usual internal combustion ones. Although you may think this is a new invention, it is not. Since the late 19th Century that electric cars exist, but only now we see this major need for them and the increase of search to buy them as well. The reasons vary a lot. It can be from environmental concerns, the uprising of prices of gasoline and several others.
Nonetheless, what matters is that the creation of electric cars is increasing and Jaguar does not intend to be left behind on the subject. They expect to have an all- electric car by 2018 – the I-Pace. It will be Jaguar’s second SUV in all its history and it will be electric. The car maker is promising that the quality of performance and looks
won’t change a bit from what the customer expects from a Jaguar. Wolfgang Ziebart, the technical development leader said “the I-PACE concept fully exploits the potential EVs can offer in space utilisation, driving pleasure, and performance.”
The Jaguar I-Pace is expected to have two electric motors that will pump 516 pound-feet of torque, with a combined 400 horsepower. Charging it won’t be difficult as well, since its 90 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack only needs 2 hours on a 50kW fast-charging DC station what will allow the SUV to deliver a range of 500 miles. The carmaker is also saying that for those who only drive around 30 miles a day, the car will only need to be charged once a week.
The Director of Design, Ian Callum said that “the interior of the I-PACE Concept is finished with beautiful, premium materials and an unwavering attention to detail” wish lets the clients feel more secure about this new concept.What we really can expect is that the future will be full of electric cars and we should start to adapt ourselves and our cities to them.
Electric Cars – Keep checking in on our car electrics blogs for more updates on Electric cars
Came from another garage with heaterblower trouble.
It was quickly found that the motor itself was open circuit. Most garages would then just fit a motor and send customer on there way. But here we have specialist tools and training to check the whole system in case of other faults.
To check the signals from the control panel you need an osiliscope that can detect wave patterns as the signals are on Canbus nowadays and would be undetectable using a multimeter.
Through experience we know that when the motors go on these they can overload the control module causing that to fail prematurely. Again something we can check, saving the customer the inconvenience of future work and time off the road.
Ford Aims for building Cars that have no Steering Wheel or Pedals by 2021
No steering wheel or pedals by 2021 – We all know the world is change. Everyday new things are discovered, new scientific and technological improvement is made. Vehicles are not apart from this. They too are suffering or gaining, depending on the views, with these new findings that surprise us daily. One of these new developments is what normally called smart mobility. Less and less, drivers are needed to guide a car. They are starting to be able to do it themselves.
Ford is one of several companies that is working in the industry to achieve these vehicles. Since this summer we are hearing from Ford CEO Mark Fields that they hope to have a car with no steering wheel or any brakes by 2021. They believe that this will be a benefit to those who can’t buy a car, since that usually ends to be expensive,
and, for other way, a method to help the environment as well.
These vehicles that need no driver are imagined to be used for ride-sharing, like for example, with Uber (that would be a company interested in these kind of development). Actually, Ford is working with Baidu that also works with Uber. Nevertheless, other companies are being involved in the process, like for example companies that can help create new sensors for these no drivers’ cars.
Obviously this isn’t a great solution to everyone. Some people that in reality like to drive themselves, may come to a time where that isn’t possible. The passion of driving may be at an end. Nowadays we have cars that don’t need gear, so if a car as no pedals or no steering wheel, we are faced with no need to actually drive. Whatever we may feel about this new solution that Ford, like other car companies, are investigating, the truth is that this can be very beneficial to the world and our society.
Maybe one day this can even be implemented into the public transportation, for example, during the night. But for now we still have to wait a few more years, at least with Ford, to know what is going to happen and if these goals will be achieved.
Came in as a non runner. A quick check of fuses found a blown one.
Car would start but has a misfire. Tests to find the source of the misfire includes compression test, pulse to injectors and current draw of injectors.
Tests found 1 injector not being switched. Trace wiring from injector to controlling ecu found water ingress in ecu
Luckily for the customer we were able to repair this for him as a new one is over £800
With modern vehicles with stop/start technology, something as simple as a battery change can’t be done without the proper equipment.
If the new battery isn’t programmed in it can cause the battery to fail prematurely as it won’t be charged properly. As the stop/start technology relies on a battery monitor device to allow it to function this can switch off also because the smart charge system will continue to charge the new battery like the old one.
With it coded in the stop/start technology will work fine.
2010 Hyundai i30 1.6crd power steering and traction control fault.
Fault codes show no comms with power steering module and steering angle sensor fault in the ABS system. Gaining access to power steering unit which on this car is part of the steering column
To confirm module fault we check the wiring to the module, there is a main feed and negative, an ignition feed and Canbus signal wires which have to be scoped as seen below
With all the wiring confirmed ok another unit was sourced and fitted.
Only with the correct information and equipment can you be 100 percent in your diagnosis.
This vehicle came in for heater blower issues and the customer complaining of hearing water swilling around at corners.
We gained access to the motor and control module and found both had suffered water damage
Now we could of just fitted new parts and give it back to the customer. But we perform more checks to confirm the switching side of the circuit is OK. For this we have to use a scope to read the signals from the switches on the control panel. Below you can see a video of the signals as they change as the switch for the different speeds is moved
Also we wanted to find the source of the water to stop it happening again. On stripping out the wipermotor to gain access to the bulkhead there is a big gully behind which when emptied had a considerable amount of water in it. The drain holes were cleaned out to prevent any further problems.
This came from another garage which couldn’t sort it. Vehicle had no central locking and heated rear screen was on all the time, electric windows worked even with ignition off.
Firstly we found broken shorted wiring
With the wiring repaired heated rear screen worked fine but other problems remained.
With us finding shorted wiring there is always a chance that control modules could be damaged. With correct wiring diagrams and module locations we traced a fault back to the central locking control module, a quick examination of the module revealed extensive damage
A lot of heater blower issues in this time of year. This vehicles blower was open circuit. Also the speed Control module was burnt along with the plug. Access to all these parts is difficult,the easiest way is to remove the dashboard completely
With the dashboard removed the wiring could be repaired correctly and motor and module fitted securely.
The passenger door had issues with the window and central locking inoperative. We had no communication with the door module. We stripped the door down and gained access to the module, checked all grounds and feeds all OK. We also scoped the communication connections and found these to be good. The module was removed and checked
The module had signs of water ingress.
A new unit was sourced and then had to be coded in
