Author: mayerjm@comcast.net

Think TechCentre

I have seen 2 versions of Think TechCentre, and they are almost exactly the same, except the I believe the second version lost some live data capability.  Otherwise the differences are just aesthetic.

First, connect the VIM to the car and to the computer that will be running TechCentre and turn the key on.  Order is not important.  (A few years ago Hondas were very finicky about what got plugged in first.)

Only after everything is connected and the car is on (can be key-on or ready-on), then start the Think TechCentre software. You will see a splash screen and then the home screen, but it may take a good 30 seconds or a minute to load/start-up. Continue reading Think TechCentre

EVSE Fuse Retrofit — IMPORTANT CORRECTION

Long story short, I previously advocated in this post that fuses in the PCU should be replaced by higher rated fuses and the correctly rated fuses should be installed in the wire harness where they are easily accessible.  I am amending that recommendation to say that the fuses inside the PCU should be removed and replaced with a simple jumper wire– no fuse at all inside the PCU, only one in the wire harness.

Why the change of heart?  Continue reading EVSE Fuse Retrofit — IMPORTANT CORRECTION

Fresnel lens

Unless you are extremely height-challenged, you could probably benefit from having a little Fresnel lens on your windshield.  (I learned from watching Hell Baby (which is about as good of a movie as you might expect with that title) that Kegen-Michael Key’s character’s name is pronounced something like fre-NELL– the s is silent.)

This handy invention helps you to see stoplights and other important aids to driving that are visually impeded by the top of your windshield. Without it you may find yourself craning far forward and down or resting your chin on the steering wheel as you wait for a red light to turn green.

I think I tried ordering one once from this website, but there was some technical difficulty at the time:

lightinsight.com

I have seen Think owners with the same lens without the brand name, but I’m not sure where one might buy them.

Not your average brake squeal

Sometimes I take pictures of automotive curiosities and by the time I get around to looking at them again I’ve forgotten what’s curious about them. It took me a minute to notice what was wrong with these disc brakes. I’ll give you a hint: My co-worker Hans who was working on this Jeep Grand Cherokee was told by the customer that the brakes were squealing.

GrandCherokeeBrakeShim

It’s not entirely clear from the photo exactly what’s going on, but the bottom end of the shim between the brake pad and the caliper has rotated toward the hub and started to wear a groove in the “hat” part of the rotor.  If that groove had managed to cut all the way through, the caliper would have grabbed hold of the rotor and stopped it, but the wheel would have kept on turning.

 

Case Study: Prius I, P3001 and P3009

A customer, a used car sales company actually, came to us with a problem Prius. Another shop had installed a replacement Dorman hybrid vehicle battery. (Dorman is an aftermarket car parts manufacturer that bought out Re-Involt in North Carolina. We have installed many of their batteries; I have one in my car, in fact. We’ve had to replace a maybe two under their three-year warranty, but we’ve generally had positive experience with them.) The first battery they installed indicated cells out of balance, so they requested a warranty battery from Dorman and installed that one.

And that’s when the car came to us. It initially had many hybrid battery trouble codes along with an inverter/converter trouble code. After clearing the codes the only ones that reset were P3001 which indicates a bad battery ECU (electronic control unit), and P3009 which indicates a high voltage leak, i.e. a fault in the insulation. If I cleared the codes while the car was running only P3009 set again. But if I turned the car off and then back on P3001 would set again, too. Continue reading Case Study: Prius I, P3001 and P3009

Fog lights

Some 2004-2009 Prii (Generation II) are equipped with fog lights. (I believe that all of these also have HID (high intensity discharge) headlights.  The one that I did notice that had fog lights and the more common and less expensive halogen headlights turned out to have a salvage title, so I assume it had headlight assemblies from a different car.)

Now, I’m not a huge fan of fog lights. I don’t quite understand what they’re for; I figure they must be kind of elitist if they are unnecessary but some people choose to have them.

But if they’re there, they may as well work. And I see sooo many Prii with cracked fog light lenses. Some are cracked so as to have a hole in the lens, and that doesn’t leave much chance for a bulb inside to survive for very long. Continue reading Fog lights

Cabin Air Filter

Most cars manufactured since around 2000 have an air filter for the HVAC system, the cabin air filter. It is pretty standard to locate these on the right side of the car inside the dash, accessible by removing the glove box or lowering it beyond its normal travel. I work mostly on Toyota and Honda small passenger vehicles and I believe they all follow this pattern. A few exceptions that I can think of are the Ford Escape, VW Jetta and Think, all of which have cabin filters accessed from under the hood (still on the right side of the car).

It’s usually a quick and easy check to do, so I always include it unless the customer is in a real hurry. But it seems that the word has not gotten out to all of the service shops and technicians. For some cars visiting Hawthorne Auto Clinic for the first time I may find a relatively new, clean air filter. But the other times… Continue reading Cabin Air Filter