AUTOMOTIVE MOTORCYCLE

At present, most cars sold in the markets use CAN BUS Diagnosis as the diagnostic system. But what is CAN? Why is it so important?

CAN is short for Controller Area Network, which is a ISO international standardized serial communication protocol. In current auto industry, for the sake of safety, comfort, convenience, low pollution and low-cost, a variety of electronic control systems have been developed. The types of dates used in the communication between these systems and the reliability requirements are different. Various ones are made up of more than one bus. As a result, the number of wiring harness increases.

To meet the requirement of reducing the number of wiring harness and carrying on a large number of high-speed data communication through multiple LAN, Bosch, a German dealer, developed the CAN communication protocol for automobiles in 1986. Since then, CAN have been standardized by ISO11898 and ISO11519. Now in Europe, CAN is the standard protocol for automotive networks.

Nowadays, CAN has been approved to have high performance and reliability and widely applied in industrial automation, marine, medical equipment, industrial equipment and so on.

CAN communicate with the diagnostic system of the latest Volkswagen, Audi, SEAT and Skoda vehicles in a new way. Compare with the previously K line used diagnostic communication system ISO 9141, the new CAN bus system is quicker. You must have new hardware and software for CAN diagnosis. Gradually, K line has been replaced by CAN bus, so CAN bus diagnostic tools is your only choice.

Car models with CAN bus diagnosis:

Before 2005, all the car models of VW, Audi Skoda, and Seat series

Car models must have a CAN bus diagnostic system
After 2003 Audi A8, A8L (D3 platform, 4E chassis)
After 2003 the Volkswagen Tourna (1T chassis)
After 2004 Audi A3 (8P chassis)
After 2004 Golf (1K chassis)
After 2004 VW Caddy (2K chassis)
After 2004 Skoda Octavia (1Z chassis)
After 2004 Seat Althea (5P chassis)
After 2005 Crafter 2005 Audi A4 (“B7″ platform) (some control modules)
After 2005 Pass at (B6 Platform, 3C chassis)
After 2005 Golf Plus (5M chassis)
After 2005 Seat Toledo (5P chassis)
After 2005 Seat Leon (1P chassis)
5 years after 2005 Jetty (1K chassis)
All Golf 5 (A5 platform)

For VW/AUDI, there is a kind of memo scanner could scan the CAN protocol named U281 can memo scanner, which is especially designed for car owners or DIY to read and erase trouble code in vehicles.

Most of us dread putting in our cars, vans or motorcycles in for an MOT test (often called a Vehicle Inspection or similar outside the UK). Not knowing whether it will easily pass, or require hundreds of pounds of work can make budgeting difficult.

To help reduce the costs of an MOT, there are some simple steps that any driver should be able to take. By checking these items first, you can repair some yourself (far cheaper than paying a mechanic at 70 to 120 pounds per hour at a main dealer), or have time to shop around to get the best deal.

Here are some of the things you can easily check:

• Ensure that all the lights are working. Check the headlights (dipped and main beam), rear lights, rear registration plate light, rear fog lamps, brake lights and indicator lights (front fog lamps do not have to work). A helper is handy to look round the car while you test the lights. Replacing the bulbs with standard or upgraded options is generally a simple job and is detailed in the vehicle handbook. Vehicles with HID bulbs fitted as standard often suggest returning to a main dealer for replacement due to the high voltages used, but as long as you ensure the lights are off (and leave them a few minutes for the capacitors to discharge) they are very similar to replacing any other car bulb.
• Check the windscreen wipers all work – do they clear the screen effectively over the entire wiper area? Look at the wiper blades themselves – do they feel hard and brittle, or are there bits missing? If there are, you will need to replace either the rubber blade or the whole wiper. Replacing the whole wiper is simpler, especially as most cars now use quick clip systems. One thing to note is for the modern flat beam wiper blades, such as the Bosch Aero twin or Viper Vision that you may need to bend the blade by hand so that it correctly matches the curve of your screen. Only the front wiper blades are checked for the MOT, but you may want to check rear wiper blades and headlight blades at the same time.

AC problems in vehicle are one of the major issues. This problem may occur due to several reasons. Refrigerant leak is the foremost reason of this problem. If refrigerant is leaking from any components located at different areas, it can cause severe problems.

It is not an easy task to replace Cars AC, because its components are not present as one unified unit like home window AC. But, some considerations are there which can help owners like:

• Finding actual signs of leaks

As mentioned above that refrigerant is an important component of an AC. So, first step is to find out the sign of refrigerant leak. In some systems, this component is present as UV dye which is neon yellowish green in color. It can be seen easily with the help of naked eye. All components, service fittings and hoses are needed to check thoroughly. By following the lines of fittings, it is easier to find out the exact location of leakage.

The condenser is an important part of car. It is usually located at the front side of the radiator. One needs to check the sign of any leakage nearby condenser. Most of the times, condenser may be found leak without getting any hit. Thus, if leaks are found at right time, it can save effort and huge amount of money as well.

• Use of Leak Detectors

After, the reason of leak has been detected; another step should be its proper treatment. Refrigerant leak detector can help in this regard. There is a Freon leak detector which can help one to detect a small leak as well. Some components are not easy to detect with naked eye, so with the help of electronic leak detector, such leaks can be find out at ease. But, one thing should be kept in mind that water may not enter into the leak detector otherwise it may get damaged.