the smoker machine

air leaks can be and are pesky little critters to find make no mistake even small air leaks will send your engine into a state of rough running and lack of power.
lack of  power means  revving  to find power in a  certain gear instead of  having a nice  well of power to call on for pulling that higher gear,so instead of reaching say 2000 rpm you are howling to 4000 rpm  before changing up a gear costing you money  or killing your mpg
Air leaks dont always succumb to using carb cleaner sprayed around,the one way to do it is using a smoke machine to pump in smoke even the most difficult leak will show up in this test

lunar auto diagnostics

Full range of engine fault diagnostic services Contact us for help

125,east bawtry road
Rotherham
south Yorkshire
s60 4lq

vacuum

vacuum or depression is a method used to check the engines   load so it makes sense to use a sensor  that reacts to it  changing its resistence in response to this

lunar auto diagnostics

Full range of engine fault diagnostic services Contact us for help

125,east bawtry road
Rotherham
south Yorkshire
s60 4lq

map sensors

map  sensors detect manifold vacuum unlike maf which detect air flow.
These are used  in a lot of French cars and  can offer a lot more in terms of fuel economy etc
Yes they go wrong and may not throw a fault code the only way to test them is off the car with a 5 volt supply and applying a vacuum  this way wiring or other issues are ruled neat and simple

lunar auto diagnostics

Full range of engine fault diagnostic services Contact us for help

125,east bawtry road
Rotherham
south Yorkshire
s60 4lq

air filters

one of the most  underchanged items in your car.
We would advise changing these every  6 months but it all depends on  your area,check it or get it checked if looks noticeably gruuby then  put a new one in.
We recoomend WIX filters  dont go for the cheaper  crap  they strangle the e ngine

lunar auto diagnostics

Full range of engine fault diagnostic services Contact us for help

125,east bawtry road
Rotherham
south Yorkshire
s60 4lq

rain and your engine is running badly

Its a good bet if rain is causing your engine to badly then water is find its way into  a harnes or an ecy
One of our customers  cars had just this water in the footwell  and  so was the ecu  ouch new ecu time

lunar auto diagnostics

Full range of engine fault diagnostic services Contact us for help

125,east bawtry road
Rotherham
south Yorkshire
s60 4lq

Again the vacuum gauge

The vacuum gauge something we have touched on before.
No it isnt something that belongs in the ark its still as relevanyt  today  as  a scanner,in fact in the right hands  it puts one in the bin but its  language takes a lot of learning.

lunar auto diagnostics

Full range of engine fault diagnostic services Contact us for help

125,east bawtry road
Rotherham
south Yorkshire
s60 4lq

loads of spanners

so you have bought  tools how to procede.
Start simple  oil changes then  if you think you are ready  then  increase the job complexity never dive stright at the brakes  or suspension

lunar auto diagnostics

Full range of engine fault diagnostic services Contact us for help

125,east bawtry road
Rotherham
south Yorkshire
s60 4lq

egr valves agh

egr valves   can and do mess up  sitting in the exhaust  stream
so  inevitably they will  start to  give you stress at some point.But dont be tempted tp just replace them willy nilly it doesnt work and costs you money

lunar auto diagnostics

Full range of engine fault diagnostic services Contact us for help

125,east bawtry road
Rotherham
south Yorkshire
s60 4lq

Doesnt work that way

Its a  widely held misconception that plugging in a machine or whatever will   instantly give thre answer to an enginer running problem
A code is merely a starting point for an investigation if  you  start  second guessing and  say  fit new  plug leads etc then you will fail.
No the answer comes through hard won information  that can then be used to start  an investigation leading to a theory  not plug and  up comes the answer

lunar auto diagnostics

Full range of engine fault diagnostic services Contact us for help

125,east bawtry road
Rotherham
south Yorkshire
s60 4lq

Burnt out valves

Even the best maintained   cars etc  can and do suffer from  burnt out valves.
Just this week  3  cars have come our way with a misfire  and  zero   compression on one cylinder.
Cheaper lower quality  petrol might be a factor  in this   or  just  bad driving habits etc

lunar auto diagnostics

Full range of engine fault diagnostic services Contact us for help

125,east bawtry road
Rotherham
south Yorkshire
s60 4lq