TECH TIP FOR APRIL, 1999

THE FIRST THING THAT I WANT TO TELL EVERYONE IS THAT BECAUSE OF THE SUCCESS OF SUMMER HOURS LAST YEAR, I AM GOING TO HAVE THEM AGAIN THIS YEAR. STARTING ON MAY 1 AND ENDING ON  OCTOBER 30, THE SHOP WILL NOT BE OPEN ON SATURDAY. OUR WEEKDAY HOURS WILL REMAIN THE SAME. AS ALWAYS, IF I AM IN THE SHOP, I WILL ANSWER THE PHONE BUT ON SATURDAY, DURING THE SUMMER, I MAKE NO GUARANTEE TO BE HERE.

ONE OF MY SUPPLIERS HAS INTRODUCED A NEW PRODUCT THAT I THINK IS REALLY INTERESTING AND COULD BE OF BENEFIT TO SOME OF MY CUSTOMERS. THE PRODUCT IS CALLED " can PULSE" AND ITS JOB IS PREVENT SULPHATE FROM BUILDING UP IN THE BATTERY. SULPHATE IS THE MAJOR CAUSE OF BATTERY FAILURE AND IF IT COULD BE PREVENTED, THEN THE WHOLE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM WOULD BENEFIT. THE THEORY BEHIND THE DEVISE IS THAT ALL MATERIAL VIBRATES AT ITS OWN FREQUENCY, AND SOLID SULPHATE IN A BATTERY HAS SLOWED OR STOPPED. THE "canªPULSE" GENERATES A FREQUENCY INTO THE BATTERY WHICH CAUSES THE SOLID SULPHATE TO BREAK UP AND REMIX WITH THE FLUIDS TO BECOME ACID AGAIN. THIS IS, OF COURSE, MY INTERPRETATION OF WHAT I HAVE READ, BUT I THINK THAT, WHILE SIMPLISTIC, IT IS RELATIVELY ACCURATE.

SINCE MANY ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS CAN AND ARE DAMAGED BY LOW VOLTAGE AND HIGH AMPERAGE, INCLUDING THE STARTER AND ALTERNATOR, THE SYSTEM DESERVES LOOKING INTO. THE HOOK©UP IS SIMPLE AND THE DEVISE TURNS ITSELF ON WHEN THE BATTERY IS BEING CHARGED AND OFF WHEN THE VOLTAGE DROP BELOW THAT, IT COULDN'T BE SIMPLER TO USE.

IF YOU THINK YOU MIGHT HAVE A NEED OR WOULD JUST LIKE MORE INFORMATION, CALL AND I WILL GET YOU A BROCHURE.

OVER THE YEARS I HAVE RAVED ON & ON ABOUT GROUNDS AND SOMETIMES I THINK NO ONE IS LISTENING. A CUSTOMER CAME IN ASKING FOR A CHRYSLER ELECTRONIC REGULATOR, HE WANTED A "GOOD" ONE. AFTER HE LEFT, I HAD TO GO OUT FOR ABOUT A HOUR AND WHEN I GOT BACK, HE WAS THERE AND NOT VERY HAPPY. SEEMS THAT WHILE I WAS OUT HE HAD RETURNED THREE TIMES, FOR A NEW REGULATOR, BECAUSE THE ONES WE HAD SOLD HIM WOULDN'T WORK.

NOW, HAVING A DEFECTIVE REGULATOR CAN HAPPEN, BUT THREE? NOT VERY LIKELY. I PUT ALL FOUR REGULATOR ON THE TESTER AND THEY WORKED PROPERLY. TO SATISFY HIM I PUT AN ALTERNATOR ON THE BENCH AND HOOKED UP THE REGULATOR, AND IT WORKED. HE SWORE THAT HE HAD CHECKED ALL THE WIRES, AND THEN I FOUND OUT THAT HE HAD STARTED BY GETTING A REGULATOR FROM ONE OF THE JOBBERS, AND HAD COME TO ME WHEN THREE OF THEIRS WOULDN'T WORK. BEFORE I INVITED HIM TO GET OUT OF MY SHOP I EXPLAINED THE SIMPLE CHRYSLER CIRCUITRY TO HIM AND SENT HIM ON HIM WAY. ABOUT A HOUR LATER HE CALLED AND THE THING STILL WOULDN'T CHARGE.

I PROMISED THAT ON MY WAY HOME I WOULD STOP AND CHECK HIS CAR. IT WAS A VERY SHORT TIME UNTIL I FOUND A BAD GROUND TO THE REGULATOR. SEEMS HE HAD FORGOTTEN TO HOOK UP THE BRAIDED CABLE FROM THE BLOCK TO THE REGULATOR, WHEN HE HAD FIRST MISDIAGNOSED THE CHARGING SYSTEM. THIS MAN SPENT AT LEAST 3 HOURS STRUGGLING WITH A PROBLEM THAT HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DIAGNOSE IN 1 MINUTE IF HE HAD CHECKED THE GROUND INSTEAD OF ASSUMING THAT BECAUSE THE REGULATOR WAS FASTENED TO THE FIREWALL IT WAS GROUNDED.

ON THE SAME SUBJECT OF GROUNDS, ANOTHER OF MY CUSTOMERS REPORTS HAVING A 1985 NISSAN SENTRA, WHICH HAD A STARTER INSTALLED IN A DIFFERENT CITY, THAT WAS HAVING TROUBLE STARTING. THE STARTER WOULD TURN SLOWLY AND IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT TO GET THE ENGINE TO START. FINALLY IT WOULDN'T START AT ALL, BUT WHEN THEY TRIED TO TOW IT TO THE GARAGE, THE CAR WOLD NOT SHIFT OUT OF PARK. THE GROUND PATH FOR THE SENTRA IS FROM THE BATTERY TO THE FRAME WITH A JUMPER TO ONE OF THE STARTER MOUNTING BOLTS. WHEN THE REPLACEMENT STARTER WAS FIRST INSTALLED THE TECH HAD LEFT THIS GROUND OFF AND THE STARTER WAS GOING TO GROUND THROUGH THE SHIFTER CABLE.

WHEN THE CABLE WAS SUFFICIENTLY DAMAGED THE STARTER LOST ITS GROUND AND THE CABLE WAS BURNED THROUGH. 

FROM THE iATN A TECH REPORTS HAVING A STARTING PROBLEM WITH A 1997 DODGE DAKOTA W/2.5i, THE STARTER SOUNDED AS IF IT WERE RAPIDLY ENGAGING AND DISENGAGING. BYPASSING THE CLUTCH SWITCH MADE NO DIFFERENCE, BUT IF YOU BYPASSED THE STARTER RELAY, ASD RELAY, OR THE PCM THE VEHICLE STARTED FINE.

THE PROBLEM WAS THAT THE GROUND FOR THE STARTER RELAY WINDING WAS LOOSE. THIS GROUND IS LOCATED AT THE REAR OF THE CYLINDER HEAD NEXT TO THE FIRE WALL.