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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The airbag light was illuminated, a quick serial scan showed passenger occupancy sensor fault a common issue on these cars. A quick test of the wiring confirmed all OK up to seat.
A lot of people then fit a module that kids the car into thinking someone is sat in the seat and so turns the light off, a cheap but dangerous repair. The purpose of this sensor is not just to see if the seat is occupied but also the weight of the person so if a small child was sat in the seat in the avent of a crash through airbag would not deploy as it can do more harm than good. With this module you lose that function.
Luckily this customer understood the dangers and went with a correct fix. The customer sourced there own sensor which we tested first as fitting is quite fiddly as it sits in the seat underneath the cushioning
With the seat refitted and all codes cleared car was fixed
Recovered to us this Mini was a non runner. The recovery guy said it was a fault with the key. The steering lock would not engage and the ignition wouldn’t switch on.
There were faults in various modules alot relating to traction control.
Knowing these systems we accessed the module and read live data
As you can see on this data the 2nd to last reading says the vehicle is moving. This is the reason the steering lock won’t engage.
The information from the traction control unit goes to the CAS unit behind the dash. Reading live data the 4 wheel sensors were ok. So knowing this system we know an open circuit can cause a false reading like this. With accurate wiring diagrams we were able to trace the correct wires and find a damaged wire in the loom.
You can see green residue on the grey wirer where the copper core has oxidised and broke. A simple fix and the car is up and running again.
Only if your experts in the complex electronic systems on vehicles can you work out a fault like this.
This porsche boxster came in with a battery drain, something that can be very tricky to find but with our new thermal camera the drain was found quickly.
As seen here the radio/satnav unit was found to be faulty although to the naked eye it looked OK
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.
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
