February 2017 Archives - Brake & Front End
Hybrids And Electrics: The Future Of Your Shop

Vehicles are having a very noisy rebirth. The type of work you are going to be seeing is changing as the vehicle mix begins to evolve toward more electric and hybrid vehicles, as well as cars with small, turbocharged engines.

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Ford TPMS Relearn And Training Procedures

Ford embraced tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) as early as the 2002 model year on the Explorer and Windstar. These systems can be either direct or indirect.

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Auto Care From A Male Perspective

Shops, and the industry as a whole, need to be more savvy about marketing and PR. Most shops have a heart of gold and perform miracles on their customers’ vehicles. The media needs to know about it.

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Preventing ABS Sensor Failure In Pigtail-Style Hub Assemblies

ABS system failures that happen shortly after hub unit installation can cause concern for technicians and dissatisfaction for customers. Several items should be checked during replacement to prevent comebacks.

Telematics Awareness: It’s Time To Pay Attention

By 2020, virtually every new car sold will be equipped with this technology. Regardless of your stance at the moment, telematics should be taken seriously, and here’s why.

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Dual Clutch Transmission Diagnostics

The dual-clutch transmission produces a drivetrain that has the efficiency of a manual transmission, but the ease of use of an automatic. Compared to automatic transmissions, one manufacturer claims a 5–10 percent reduction in fuel consumption from just this one feature.

dual clutch transmission diagnostics
Kia Soul Alignment Specifications

The Kia Soul is one of the best-selling cars of the past few years. While the usual Kia/Hyundai bits are under the Soul’s trendy exterior, it does have four different strut and spring options that can make ordering the right parts a nightmare.

How Can Water Corrode the Integrity of Wheel Bearings?

If wheel bearing seals are functioning properly, water and other contaminants only have the power to damage the exterior of the bearings. However, if water is able to seep past seals, it can corrode the integrity of bearings by changing the viscosity of lubrication.

GM Tech Tip: Heat Shield Buzz During Operation

Some customers may comment on a pinging/popping/snapping noise from underneath the vehicle at idle or immediately after the vehicle is shut off. A pinging/popping/snapping noise from the exhaust system during cooldown is a normal condition.

BRAKELIGHT: Charlotte Southern, Woman Driver (1940)

For more than 20 years, readers were treated to the adventures of “Charlotte Southern (Woman Driver).” While not politically correct today, the cartoons did draw a lot of attention.

Loaded Sway Bars

It is possible to get all the angles right during an alignment and still get wear on the outside and inside tire edges after a few thousand miles. What could have gone wrong in the interim? The answer could be the sway bar or the links.

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Investing In TPMS Tools

Most vehicles require some type of “stationary” relearn procedure to reset the system. This requires some type of TPMS tool to activate each of the tire pressure sensors in a specified sequence so the TPMS control module can relearn their new locations.

TPMS tools