There are 3 designs in the hybrid market.MildA battery and electric motor assist the combustion engine. FullThe electric motor and combustion engine work together or it can run on either alone. Braking may be used to help charge the battery.Plug-in The combustion engine is a backup to the electric motor.The 3 are a state of flux and it is yet to be determined which will be the front runner I think it will be the total electric to be successful it has to not have a conventional engine.Total Electric The total electric is a rechargeable that you plug in to recharge. Most of the charging will be done at night so the idea that we will need more power to charge them is not true as we have excess at night. You do have to have a plug installed in your house but they will run 100 miles on a charge and will recharge to 80% in 15 minutes. As more become available the charging station will also be easier to find. Battery life and price are the largest drawbacks to their future success.FYI In 1902 Ferdinand Porshe developed a hybrid, in 1997 the Toyota Prius came on the market
All posts by John
Lithium Manafacturing
I knew very little about lithium and the source was a surprise, it is found in Chili, among other places, in a hot dry desert area they pump it out of a depth of about 130 feet, let it dry for about a year in plastic lined ponds, and you have lithium after some drying and purifying it sells for as high as $12K a ton. The supply is almost endless, but at one time oil was considered endless. China has recently found a way to decrease the cost of their lithium production and is expected to be a major player in the market.Exxon was working on a battery design in the 70’s but could not eliminate the risk of fire. At the same time the military also required lithium for H bomb production. They extracted it from spodumene in North Carolina which was an expensive and labor intensive process. The smallest flaw in manufacturing can cause the battery to overheat and at times explode. These safety concerns and a longer life span are the major hurdles in production at present. I doubt if I would buy a car with a battery manufactured in China as they try to cut too many corners, watch for some strict safety regulations in the near future.The lithium battery will not help dependencies on overseas manufactures as over 90% of the materials come from overseas. The energy department has devoted $50 million to auto battery research with most of it going to lithium. We presently use nickel metal hydride and they are improving every day, they presently have a life span of about 10 years but this depends on charging rates. They can be recharged to 80% in 15 minutes if you require a trip of more than 100 miles, but this shortens the life of the battery if used often. Heat is a batteries worst enemy. At present many who live in places such as New York, where it is expensive to own and park a vehicle, many will rent a vehicle for a day when required I can see this also for trips longer then a 100 miles for electric car owners.The major problem with this car is the cost it has to come down for it to sell. They sell for the same price as a well equipped luxury vehicle and I don’t think the motoring public is going to pay this kind of price without the luxury and prestige of a luxury car.
Cars Of The Future
Cars we will be driving in 10 years list a number of surprises. Bugatti and Porsche among them, there advancement in carbon fiber technology makes them a leader in lightweight bodies. BMW and Audi are also among the front runners the only USA manufacture is GM, but I think they are behind in the battery technology. The GM Granite looks like a good concept but it is not a high mileage vehicle and is Fuel engine powered. Another manufacturer not mentioned was Toyota and they plan to come out with 8 hybrids in the next few years. China is expected to double their car sales by 2015, I still think of the Tata and all the problems they have had whenever I think of a cheap foreign car.
Oil Choices
Once again I return to the subject of oil. As it is the most important of all the fluids in a vehicle, some will say brake fluid is. I don’t think we can learn about it or discuss it too much. As I have said before every tech has their own preference as to brand or type.For a time I have been against using synthetic oil, just could not leave my oil alone, now I am having my oil changed and I am using synthetic in all but my convertible. I put on two few miles to justify the expense and it is never driven in cold weather. I have purchased a truck recently and a car for my wife last fall and they both used synthetic oil so I am going to stick with it. Synthetic oil major advantage is that it lessens wear on startup which is the leading cause of engine wear more so on cold starts. The jury is still out on how long I plan on going between changes some sites recommend as high as 100K I know I won’t go that long. One of my vehicles has an oil life indicator I will probably run that 2 cycles and change or about 12K or 6 months and my pickup I will probably change at around 6 months also. Pennzoil has a new synthetic they callPlatinum Plus which sounds OK but they are claiming a complete cleaning of the engine after 2 changes so I would be careful on a high mileage engine. I think I will stick with Mobil one I like the Amzoil but as it is hard to find I am not going to use it.
Using Cheap Fuel
Just read an article that stated that you can use a cheaper brand of gas with no problems and then it went on to suggest you use a fuel additive, such as a cleaner. This makes no sense to me why not spend a few more cents for fuel and avoid using an additive, which will probably not work anyway, and you will end up having problems. I use the mid grade of gas in all of my vehicles, no additives, and have never had any problems. I used to own an Amoco station and we never seen any fuel problems and then I bought a shop near a cut rate gas outlet and we seen all kinds of fuel problems. Coincidence maybe but I doubt it. I used Amoco Silver, which is no longer available, my wife’s Rivera has over 200K and her sister still drives it with no fuel problems. A good grade of fuel is becoming harder to find almost all the Major oil companies have pulled out of our town. I am presently using Cenex and so far so good. I don’t use ethanol blended fuels, not for any reason except I just am old school and like my gas plain. I will run a tank or two of it in the winter to remove some moisture, I know many say it does not remove moisture but I do it anyway. I don’t see how a fuel system could freeze up with the fuel pressures we are running in today’s cars but I have seen a throttle body injector freeze up. All of mine are MPFI so this is not a problem. If you do use a fuel additive be sure it contains Techron, Chevron is a good one and is the one I use, not in the tank, when cleaning a fuel system through the throttle body. I know fuel is expensive and we would all like to save money at the pump but don’t shoot yourself in the foot by saving a few cents as it will come back to haunt you with expensive repairs later.
Blown Head Gasket Tips
Blown head gasket are 2 of the most dreaded words a car owner can hear, well next to blown engine, but if you catch it earlier you may cut the cost of repair some. With the advent of 2 different medals used for the head and for the block the different expansion and contracting of the metals cause gasket problems. There really is no maintenance except for coolant service that can prevent head gasket problems. Keep your coolant full and repair any leaks no matter how small ASAP. If you have Dexcool in your system any amount of air in the system can be fatal. A black lite used with a leak detecting additive is useful in finding small leaks. You may not notice antifreeze on your floor as it may burn off a hot engine. Be careful if using pressure not to exceed the pressure of the cap. Indications of a head gasket problem – Loosing coolant with no obvious leaks- A hissing or bubbling in the overflow tank- Oil in the coolant – Coolant in the oil but this may also be a manifold gasket or cooler problem- Bubbling in the radiator or lack of flow- Rubber hoses feeling very hard to the touch and possibly blowing out – No heat If you do have heat your cooling system is probably OK- White smoke out the tailpipe, worse when cold Keeping your cooling system clean and full is the best prevention.
Diagnostics Made Easy
Diagnostics is not as difficult as most techs make out it is. Being on commission tends to have them looking at the most expensive options first. Many times I have repaired a problem with a visual inspection of the item in question. That is why I always say “start with the basics” it can save a lot of headaches. Sure with the computer controlled systems of today there are many times when only an experienced tech can find the problem. But before going that route do a visual inspection, looking for such things as a disconnected wire or hose corrosion or excessive grease or dirt where it would not normally be. Just use some common sense it can go a long way. I cannot stress enough checking the battery, both positive and negative, also where the negative attaches to the body for corrosion. If it accessible check the ground for the item in question they can be hidden and I think the manufacture does this on purpose. I suggest removing the battery terminals and they should be shiny without a hint of corrosion. The same with the ground connections I always clean them no matter how clean they look.It also is a good idea to check for correct voltage as it is critical to the operation of many systems as the required voltage drops some as low as .5 volts. Ford and all magnetic starters require battery voltage to perform correctly be sure to check this at the starter as well as the battery wires and battery cables can have internal corrosion that is hard to see and can cause many problems. Engine will not crankIf you hear a click- Corrosion- Battery voltage and condition- Voltage at the battery and starterNo click- Ignition switch engaging the starter- Neutral safety switchLoud thunk- Locked up engine or stuck starterNo start- Spark (you have to have spark to have fuel pressure)- Fuel, pressure and quantity- Timing, valve and ignitionThis is brief chart
Pick 2
Many times I have used the adage that you can have your vehicle repaired.- Cheaply- Quickly- CorrectlyYou may pick two IE you can have it repaired cheaply and quickly but not correctly, or you can have it cheaply and correctly done but not quickly. I think this applies more so in todays repair shops than ever before. There is too much emphasis on selling and not enough on doing the repair correctly. As auto repair becomes more and more complicated and techs are paid on a commission basis and they are forced into selling to make a decent living. This has become more prevalent as dealerships struggle to survive and look to the service and parts departments to pay more of their cost of doing business. Car sales continue to fall and dealerships are forced to offer more money for trade-ins. You can buy gap insurance to pay off you loan if you car is totaled and you owe more than it is worth. Sounds like a scam waiting to happen as I am sure someone would find this as a way to get out of a bad car loan. Three service stations have closed on the main street by where I live in the last several years and repair shops that I trust are becoming harder to find. One I liked overfilled my oil on every oil change and you would think with the price of synthetic they would be more careful. I have been going to the dealership quick lube and have been very satisfied so far and maybe will give then a try for my next repair. Oil changes are cheaper then many shops. Never thought I would go that route but I done see any alternative.
Lab Scopes
A lab scope is not as complicated as it sounds; it shows an electrical occurrence digitally. The cathode ray tube was the first scope in the early years and it made the mechanics, they did not call them techs then, job a lot easier. It would show a defective spark plug or wire among other things. After some time and experience there were many problems you would discover when using the scope. They came with some accessories that were also helpful a vacuum pump among them. I used to have an early 50 Sun scope and I wish I had kept it but you have to draw the line somewhere I already have too much junk and this machine was huge compared to today’s.The next generation digitally converted the trace and made it easier to read. This can create some problems as it tended to miss some of the small glitches, there are ways to capture glitches but I still prefer the live trace. They also had many add ons like vacuum transducers and O2 sensor modulators. I have an old tube type scope only in my garage I use on occasion; starting a new tech out with this makes an excellent teaching tool. The lab scope is the one in general use today it is tiny by yesterdays standards and can do almost anything as it has many add ons. Also there are several lab scopes built into scanners and test modules made by Snap-On and Mac among others. Modis is among them and it performs exceptionally well but it is almost too easy to use and techs start to depend on and lose sight of diagnostic procedures. They have to remember to check the basics first as this will solve many problems. I have gathered the info necessary to call a help line and on many occasions have solved the problem. Remember KISS and I don’t mean Gene Simmons, keep it simple stupid.
Burn Time
Burn time seems to be a term that many do not understand. I used it in my Vacuum gauge topic and it has brought up a lot of discussion. It is simply the length of time that the fuel in the cylinder burns as measured by a scope or engine analyzer. The longer the burn the less efficient the cylinder is performing, usually caused by low compression. With today’s cramped engine compartments it helps to narrow down a problem cylinder rather than do a compression test on all cylinders. I think more techs are using a leak down test on problem cylinders as this provides more information than a compression test. If I had my vehicle in a shop and they wanted to do an outdated wet and dry compression test I would consider going elsewhere, sure it works but there are tests that will provide more accurate info. Many shops are at $100 an hour so any time saving tool they use is saving money. I do think that many of these new tools and test equipment that are necessary to work on the modern vehicle is slowly moving the DIY out and forcing them to go to a shop. More on this later.