clutch cables

a clutch as one very link the operating mechanism.
either hydraulic or cable both methods are under a lot of stress.
hydraulic will give you a warning cables simply fail and drop you right in the do do

lunar auto diagnostics

Full range of engine fault diagnostic services Contact us for help

125,east bawtry road
Rotherham
south Yorkshire
s60 4lq

The knock sensor

Knock sensors can be seen hee in the centre of this picture attached to  the block
They are literally microphones listening for  the tell tale sound of an engine pinging,which if detected   retards  the ignition.
An easy waty  to test these are operatimg properly is to hook up the oscilloscope and watch for a signal.

lunar auto diagnostics

Full range of engine fault diagnostic services Contact us for help

125,east bawtry road
Rotherham
south Yorkshire
s60 4lq

the fuel pump at the heart of all matters

The fuel pump on an injection system performs a vital role.
If it fails or gives troubles it will land you in the proverbials and big time.
Usually they are very  reliable and give no problems,its the electrical supply that usually speaks up and gives you troubles not the pump itself.
Two parameters effect  pumps rate and pressure.
Rate  can be checked by simply measuring how fuel is delivered over a certain time and pressure with a gauge,however the various fittings make life very interesting

A little on injector spray patters

Here is a  nice  image giving you some insight on the state of an injectors spray patter when   deposits have built up on  or rather  in the injector body.
We donr recommend the use of in tank cleaners,other than to keep the deposits building up to anything other than light levels.
Every 30k all the injectors need removing and cleaning ultrasonically.After cleaning flow rates leakage test need carrying out  and ensuring flow rates are  very close to each other on all injectors either 4 or 12 it doesn't matter

Do you feel the car belongs in a scrap yard

How do you feel about your   car?
Do you feel it belongs in the nearest   scrap yard.
Buying second hand is a game fraught with risk.Take the trouble to learn about the cars history.How many owners?
Owner numbers is always is a good pointer.People get rid of cars  for a reason and the no1 reson is problems.
Thrashed cars are the biggest concern.Always let somebody other than yourself drive a  car for you so they are giving you an objective view or whether or not it drives like a dog,don't let your heart rule your head

Teaching basic car maintenance

We believe in teaching  any car owner the basics of maintenance,so if your  not scared of getting your hands mucky and   like it hands on  give us  a  call

Secondary ignition waveform analysis

We have touched on this before,however it needs  running over again the  secondary ignition waveform
This is little understood by the  majority of mechanics,sad because it a  massive diagnostic  information
Like any thing worthwhile it needs input from the user,it doesnt simply fall in your lap.
Here is a  shot from a typical use of the waveform for diagnostics

The clutch in your car

A cars clutch wears simply because it uses  friction like your brakes  in fact  a clutch is a brake in reverse.
Sticking the clutch pedal down  releases the fraction plate and bingo no drive enabling you to change gear.
AS you lift the clutch pedal up the friction plate  is squashed again by the  pressure plate with roughly ten  tons of force
Clutch wear is caused   or rather speeded up by clutch slipping,either the clutch fully down  or fully up is the motto.
Clutch problems can be mistaking  for engine running faults especially clutch slip or the pressure plate not being driven properly due to either oil or

lunar auto diagnostics

Full range of engine fault diagnostic services Contact us for help

125,east bawtry road
Rotherham
sRegion">south Yorkshire
s60 4lq

Is your engine reaching full temperature

Your engines temperature is  a vital factor in  how  well it runs
Its a fairly simple device that  from start stops the flow of water through your engines radiator.
Only when it starts to open at say  89c does water  heated by the engine begin to flow through your rad.
In fact thermostat  can open way to early   allowing your engine to run far to cool

an old picture but still with lots of information

Here is a view of our hameg 407 taken some time ago now being used to  check sensors on a volvo  850
Beside it is laptop that can  be used to run the oscilloscope remotely giving even more flexibility.
Of a course  a DSO unit can be attached to the laptop  using the computer processing power   to capture very fast events  involved in secondary ignition waveform analysis

Learn how to drive?

Sounds daft but yes learn how to drive.
Over revving an engine when cold,or just trying to take an engine to its  rev limit all conspire to  cause your engine stress and  wear.
From a  cold start  keep your revs low and dont   push  things  in a high  gear.
Oil only circulates round you engine properly when  it as reached its full operating temperature

Tel:07891903013

Current pull and voltage

Checking the current draw of any component is a  very useful diagnostic tool.
Usually measuring current means  tapping into the wire which is to say the least a pain in the butt.
Instead  a current clamp is employed that  encloses the cable using the magnetic field to check the units  current pull.
This can be very useful in the case of fuel injectors checking for poor wiring

fuel trims and their diagnostics power

Fuel trims?
Not that complicated really the engine in an ideal world needs no  fuel  trim corrections to  keep things centred around the 14:1 ratio.
As things change in the engine and its state so the engines ecu  needs to either  add or subtract fuel ie air leaks cause  +values or fuel added to allow for  the excess air drawn into the engine

lunar auto diagnostics

Full range of engine fault diagnostic services Contact us for help

125,east bawtry road
Rotherham
south Yorkshire
s60 4lq

The internals of a fuel injector

Here is a neat little animation  giving you the low  down on the operation of a fuel injector
Tue most accurate piece of engineering on your car

TEl:07891903013

lunar auto diagnostics

Full range of engine fault diagnostic services Contact us for help

125,east bawtry road
Rotherham
south Yorkshire
s60 4lq

ECUs strapped to engine blocks

Vauxhaul really did have a case of the heebies when it decided to strap ECUS to engines
Loads of temperature changes,loads of vibration all acting to mess up electronics within
If you have any vauxhaul fro 2000 say up to  2003 then you wil have this little  no  no lurking under your bonnet waiting to rear its head.
Fault codes coming and going strange behaviour all point to the ECU.Considering a new one is £400 its all to easy for the car to end up in the scrappers
zafiras,omegas,astras all fall into this  position

Tel:07891903013

lunar auto diagnostics

Full range of engine fault diagnostic services Contact us for help

125,east bawtry road
Rotherham
south Yorkshire
s60 4lq

You are the best diagnostics tool

Your car your issue.
Driving a car is a question of  wearing it,it becomes an extension of all your senses.
How many times have you sat next to somebody driving a car and had them say can you hear that or listen there is that tick.
Your car becomes  a friend a lover even

lunar auto diagnostics

Full range of engine fault diagnostic services Contact us for help

125,east bawtry road
Rotherham
south Yorkshire
s60 4lq

Dont forget your exhaust

Exhausts rust and fall off.
Its a simple fact,if you use your car for stop start then this process is  hastened remember  every gallon of fuel burnt produces 2 pints of water,this water destroys your exhaust system  from the inside out.
So to avoid the exhaust system landing on the motorway at 70mph get it changed  before it lets you down

Tel:07891903013

cleaning fuel injectors

Fuel injectors need  cleaning  in an ultrasonic bath  every 30k.
The  drive cycle of hot cooling down  bakes  on  deposits from the fuel,giving  poor atomisation power drops  and poor mpg.
Worst case  the injector will leak fuel overnight into the cylinder diluting  the engine oil.
We  provide a service  for ultrasonic cleaning  of your fuel fuel injectors  along with a full report.
Dirty fuel injectors  can easily knock 5 mpg off your fuel economy figures


Tel:07891903013

lunar auto diagnostics

Full range of engine fault diagnostic services Contact us for help

125,east bawtry road
Rotherham
south Yorkshire
s60 4lq

fuel injectors and solenoids

Most fuel injectors in use today use a small coil or winding to pull the pintle of its seat and allow fuel into  the engine.
In other words a fuel  injector is nothing more than a solenoid.power on  its open power off its closed.
This  operation can be seen on the oscilloscope,by  interpreting the wave form its quick and easy to see whether or not the injector is behaving itself.
Is the ECU providing enough  current,is the injector worn,what is its  opening time or duration  all aspects of a fuel injector are available from  its  graphed  voltage ,couple this with its current pull and  it will yield  more  light through the window

tel:07891903013

Lean conditions

Your engine running  lean can  cause real problems in your engine
No1 being  overheating and destruction of pistons,well your  ecu can compensate to a degree

Cooling systems

Your car s engine cooling system is  vital  one wrong component and bang it wil do just one thing overheat.
Once your engine as overheated  its very likely that your cylinder head will have warped blowing your head gasket maybe not straight away but sooner  or  later.
A cooling system needs maintenance  check your coolant level twice a week and make sure  all your hoses are checked for perishing or splitting each year
In fact all your cooling systems hoses should be replaced   after 3 years,otherwise they can fail under pressure when you are on the motorway just when you don't need it.

Tel:07891903013

Testing a coil on plug

Ignition leads on most cars  have now  been replaced by coil on plug eliminating rotor arms distributor caps and  all the  associated problems  damp weather ignition lead deterioration etc
So have all the  problems gone and we live in an ideal world...........   big no.
COP  as its own set of problems  that even up to date OBD2  doesn't always report correctly if it all in  most cases.
The usual way to  scope or use an oscilloscope on this arrangement is  in the image that tends to be very hit and miss

Tel:07891903013

 Our approach is to use an adapter between  the COP and plug allowing full ignition wave form analysis
as below

lunar auto diagnostics

A lovely capture

Here is a text book waveform from A MAF sensor.
A MAF uses the hot wire technique to measure airflow into your engine we wont go into how this works exactly at the moment  other than to say it is now the most common method of airflow measurement.
It is many advantages accuracy sped of response everything a conventional vane unit does have.
MAF units can gather dirt  and   paper fibres from air cleaner elements,so a regular check of their   function is  need to  ensure  correct function.Normally just a visual check.
MAF units can be cleaned but this needs great care otherwise you will wreck them

Tel:078791903013

l