Automotive electronics - What you need to know!

Symptoms of a Bad or Failing Axle CV Shaft Assembly - You Must Know Constant velocity (CV) axles are a drivetrain component commonly found on many modern road-going vehicles. They serve the purpose of transferring power from the vehicle’s transmission and differential to the wheels to drive the vehicle forward. They have a greased flexible joint that allows the axle to flex according to road conditions, with minimal effect on power delivery. The joint is lubricated with grease and covered by a rubber boot that protects it from dirt and debris. Because the CV axles are the direct link that transfers the power of the engine to the wheels, they are subject to high levels of stress over time and will eventually wear out and require replacement for proper functionality to return. When they do wear out, the CV axles will usually show symptoms to let the driver know they require attention. 1. Loud clicking noises when turning or accelerating One of the most common and noticeable...

Top 5 Symptoms of a Bad CV Joint You will find CV joints in all-wheel drive and front-wheel drive vehicles. As for rear-wheel drive vehicles that have separate rear suspensions, the half-shafts’ ends of the rear axle will have CV joints in them. There is a rubber boot which protects the CV joints called a “CV gaiter”, as well as an outer and an inner joint. Top 5 Symptoms of a Bad CV Joint There are certain warning signs to look out for when it comes to CV joint failure. Below are the 5 most common symptoms of a bad CV joint: #1 – Tire Edge Grease When you spot grease along the edge of your tire, particular from a tear or tiny crack, it could be a sign you could have a bad CV joint. A significantly damaged CV joint means darker colored grease might be visible on the rim and wheel’s interior. #2 – Turning Causes Loud Noises When you turn the steering wheel and hear noises such as a clicking sound or popping sound, it’s very likely you have a broken or worn CV joint. You ca...

How to Test an Inner CV Joint - Best Mechanic All front-drive and all-wheel-drive vehicles use half-shaft axles to connect the transmission to the front and sometimes rear wheel hubs. The joints at either end of the axle that allow it to articulate with suspension movement are called constant velocity (CV) joints because they allow the axle to bend while continuing to spin. Constant velocity joints typically last around 100,000 to 150,000 miles. Bad CV joints typically exhibit very telling symptoms, but diagnosing inner versus outer CV joint failure can be a bit tricky. Step 1 Shift the vehicle into drive with your foot on the brake and listen. A bad CV joint will exhibit a clunking noise as the transmission engages. A clunking sound, during this phase of testing, can indicate either an inner or outer CV joint failure; if you listen closely, you may be able to tell which side it's coming from. Step 2 Accelerate the car to 10 MPH and maintain speed. Quickly depress the ac...

" USUALLY, THAT NOISE GETS LOUDER WHEN YOU ACCELERATE WHILE MAKING A TURN. IN WORST CASES, A BADLY-WORN OUTER CV JOINT CAN EVEN FALL APART WHILE DRIVING. THIS WILL MAKE YOUR CAR UNDRIVABLE AND CAN LEAD TO A SERIOUS ROAD ACCIDENT!" CV joints are basically intricate ball and socket joints. Their main functionality primarily depends on doing few important tasks. Mainly your CV joints connect the axles to the front wheels. All front-wheel drive cars have Constant Velocity joints or CV joints on both ends of the drive shafts (half shafts). Inner CV joints connect the driving shafts to the transmission while the outer CV joints connect the drive shafts to the car’s wheels. A majority of rear-wheel drive and four-wheel drive cars, as well as trucks, also have CV joints. The CV joints are essential for transferring the torque from the transmission to the drive wheels at a stable speed. All while employing the up-and-down motion of the suspension. In front-wheel drive cars, CV ...

Constant velocity (CV) axles are a drivetrain component commonly found on many modern road going vehicles. They serve the purpose of transferring power from the vehicle’s transmission and differential to the wheels to drive the vehicle forward. They have a greased flexible joint that allows the axle to flex according to road conditions, with minimal effect on power delivery. The joint is lubricated with grease and covered by a rubber boot that protects it from dirt and debris. Because the CV axles are the direct link that transfers the power of the engine to the wheels, they are subject to high levels of stress over time and will eventually wear out and require replacement for proper functionality to return. When they do wear out, the CV axles usually will produce a few symptoms that can alert the driver that they require attention. 1. Loud clicking noises when turning One of the most common and most noticeable symptoms of a bad or failing CV axle shaft assembly is an audibl...

What exactly is bleeding your brakes? Over time, small amounts of air become trapped within the brake line. This can lead to spongy brakes or a brake pedal that goes almost to the floor before engaging. This can create a dangerous condition and should be addressed as soon as it becomes apparent. If the braking system ends up with large amounts of air in it, a complete braking failure is possible. How does the air get into the system? Severely worn brake pads can let air into the system, as can poor servicing of the brake pads. It is also possible for a leak in the brake line to let air sneak into the brake system. Poor driving such as constantly slamming on the brakes can also lead to air in brake line. Regardless of how air made its way into the system, purging it is necessary to ensure the vehicle is safe to drive. Basically, bleeding the brakes means removing the air from the brake line. This ensures that the brakes are in excellent condition and will work properly every time ...

You car's brakes are dependent on pressure and friction -- that's what makes the wheels come to a stop. When you step on the brake pedal, that pressure has to move quickly to the four corners of the car, carried around by fluid-filled brake hoses and brake lines. Generally, the metal brake lines get more attention; they're even available in dressed up and high-performance variations. But the simple rubber brake hoses are just as important to your car's safety. Though brake hoses should last about six years, they're under a lot of stress. It's important to inspect them on a regular basis, so you can catch potential problems before the entire system fails. If there's a leak or crack in a brake hose, the loss of fluid will cause a drop in pressure (in other words, the brakes won't be there when you need them). Another danger of leaky hoses is that brake fluid is corrosive, so drips can cause damage elsewhere on your car. Finding one faulty hose is usual...

Since model year 1998, all new cars sold in the United States have been required to have airbags on both driver and passenger sides. (Light trucks came under the rule in 1999.) To date, statistics show that airbags reduce the risk of dying in a direct frontal crash by about 30 percent. Then came seat-mounted and door-mounted side airbags. Today, some cars go far beyond having dual airbags to having six or even eight airbags. Having evoked some of the same controversy that surrounded seat-belt use in its early years, airbags are the subject of serious government and industry research and tests. In this article, you'll learn about the science behind the airbag, how the device works, what its problems are and where the technology goes from here. Laws of Motion Before looking at specifics, let's review our knowledge of the laws of motion. First, we know that moving objects have momentum (the product of the mass and the velocity of an object). Unless an outside force act...

How Seatbelts Work Crashing Concepts The basic idea of a seatbelt is very simple: It keeps you from flying through the windshield or hurdling toward the dashboard when your car comes to an abrupt stop. But why would this happen in the first place? In short, because of inertia. Inertia is an object's tendency to keep moving until something else works against this motion. To put it another way, inertia is every object's resistance to changing its speed and direction of travel. Things naturally want to keep going. If a car is speeding along at 50 miles per hour, inertia wants to keep it going 50 mph in one direction. Air resistance and friction with the road are constantly slowing it down, but the engine's power compensates for this energy loss. Anything that is in the car, including the driver and passengers, has its own inertia, which is separate from the car's inertia. The car accelerates riders to its speed. Imagine that you're coasting at a s...

There's no doubt that airbags are one of the great achievements in automotive safety technology. But could they actually end up hurting or killing the people they're supposed to protect?  The whole premise of an airbag just sounds good, doesn't it? Instead of colliding with your car's steering wheel, dashboard or door, you get cushioned by a pillow of air. While airbags aren't exactly as cuddly-soft as a bear in a toilet paper commercial, making contact with one sure beats making contact with a steel panel. Since 1998, front driver and passenger airbags have been required equipment in all cars and trucks sold in the United States. Between 1987 and 2008, it's estimated that frontal airbags saved more than 25,000 lives in the U.S., making them one of the great achievements in automotive safety technology history. Now there are cars with 10 airbags, and some car companies have even incorporated airbag technology into their seatbelts . But could airbags actually...

Before find out the answer for the question “ How does a manual transmission work? “, you should understand about what  manual transmission  is.   Manual transmission  or a stick-shift or manual gearbox or a standard transmission is a type of transmission which the driver uses a stick to change gears literally. In the past, manual cars often had a dash-mounted shifter or a steering column but nowadays, in modern vehicles, the gear stick is mounted vertically in the center console and linked to the transmission through a linkage. Changing gears requires the clutch disc (which is located between the transmission and the engine) to be released through a 3rd pedal situated on the left of the brake. Then releasing the clutch, selecting the chosen gear and engaging the clutch again. From a standstill, the disc will be wear out early if the driver engage the clutch too slow. And if the driver engage the clutch too quick, it will make the engine to stall. Studying ho...

Traditional automatic transmissions can also beat manual fuel economy. Today's automatics tend to have more forward gears (those are gears that move the car forward, not in reverse) than manual transmissions do. Those extra gears help the engine deliver the same power to the wheels while working at a lower engine speed, which saves gas. Car makers have also gotten really good at working with the new technology in automatic transmissions to make them more efficient. Part of that is due to simple economics: Most cars sold in the United States are sold with automatic transmissions, and car companies are finding that they can pass the costs of developing new transmission tech on to their consumers, who will happily take it in exchange for vehicles promising better fuel economy. It helps as well that car companies are also having to meet stricter government-mandated fuel economy standards. That also helped drive (heck yeah, that pun is intended) the development of more fuel-efficient au...