DENSO Manufacturing Tennessee Ramps Up Production for Stop/Start Starters
DENSO is ramping-up for the production of stop/start starters at its DENSO Manufacturing Tennessee (DMTN) plant in Maryville, TN. The new starters, due to hit U.S. roads later this year, will help improve fuel efficiency by cutting the engine when the vehicle is at a stop or in other idle traffic situations. The new production line will result in approximately 75 positions over the next two years, DENSO says.
Tech Feature: Diagnosing Push Button Keyless Start Systems
Push button keyless start systems began appearing on several import cars about six years ago, and are now being offered on more and more new vehicles, both import and domestic. Motorists say they like the push button keyless start systems because they are convenient to use. There’s no ignition key or switch to fumble with, and you don’t have to do anything other than have the smart fob in your pocket or purse when you get in the car.
Tech Feature: Winter Starting and Charging System Maintenance
Mid-winter is usually the coldest time of the year and, although modern vehicle technology has reduced many of the cold-weather starting problems that we faced just a short decade ago, it’s still important to keep your customers’ import vehicles in top shape for winter starting.
New Wells Training Video Covers the Operation, Diagnosis and Replacement of Starter Solenoids
The new video provides detailed information regarding the operation of modern starter solenoids commonly used in domestic and foreign-nameplate applications, then leads viewers through a variety of proven solenoid troubleshooting procedures. The program also includes information regarding intermittent and continuous duty solenoids used in non-automotive applications.
Tech Tip: Cranky Honda Civic Starter is a Grind
A Honda Civic owner may complain that the starter motor intermittently grinds while cranking the engine. The cause may be that the female terminal at the starter solenoid may have spread apart, causing a loss of current to the solenoid.
Electrical System Testing Tools and Equipment
One day we are fat, dumb and happy using a piece of wire with a 12-volt bulb on the end of it to test things with. Now we are faced with deciding between using the 10 meg-ohm computer safe test light, the power injector or a logic probe complete with polarity protection, audible alarm, light and 20-foot memory cord. Geeesh! How did things get so confusing so fast? Progress my boy! That is the root of our problem here! As the cars and systems have gotten more and more complicated, so have the tools and equipment needed to work on those cars ….
Electrical System Tools and Equipment
Neutrons, Electrons, Klingons? As today’s cars and systems have gotten more and more complicated, so have the tools and equipment needed to work on those cars. The professional technician is expected to be able to understand electrical theory, electronics, physics, as well as understand and interpret readings from complex electrical test equipment.
Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems: The Ins and Outs of Indirect and Direct TPMS
This is the year of the TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitor System). It’s been coming for some time. In response to a rash of highly publicized rollover accidents caused by tire failures on SUVs, Congress passed a law called the TREAD Act in 2000 which required all vehicle manufacturers to have TPMS on all their cars
Tech Feature: Gaining Access to Perimeter Anti-Theft Systems
It could use the same acronym, but is perimeter anti-theft the same as PATS? No, PATS, which stands for passive anti-theft systems, is a system that is designed to identify the key, and was discussed in the July 2007 issue of Underhood Service. Perimeter anti-theft is a system designed to identify unauthorized vehicle entry. There
Tech Tip: Are You Unnecessarily Replacing Starters and Alternators?
How many starters and alternators are replaced unnecessarily every year because of misdiagnosis? Nobody knows for sure, but suppliers of both new and remanufactured rotating electrical parts tell us more than half of their warranty returns have "no fault found" when the parts are examined. Many of these returns are from DIYers who lack diagnostic know-how, but some are from professional technicians who apparently lack the ….