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Airbag Systems
Car Airbag Systems explained An airbag is a vehicle safety device. It is an occupant restraint system consisting of a flexible fabric envelope or cushion designed to inflate rapidly during an automobile collision. Its purpose is to cushion occupants during a crash and provide protection to their bo ...
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Alternator
Car Alternator How it works The alternator produces electricity used to maintain battery storage charge and to help run all the electrical accessories, including the ignition and the engine control systems. It is belt-driven by the engine and produces an alternating current (AC), which is converted ...
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Automatic vehicle location
Automatic vehicle location Automatic vehicle location (AVL or locating; telelocating in EU) is a means for automatically determining the geographic location of a vehicle and transmitting the information to a requester. Most commonly, the location is determined using GPS, and the transmission mechan ...
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Battery
Car Battery The battery is a storage device, currently 12 volts, used to start the engine and help operate the electrical accessories installed on your car. The battery consists of six cells of stacked positive and negative lead plates, separated by insulators and immersed in electrolyte, which is ...
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Contact breaker
Car Contact breaker explained A contact breaker (or "points") is a type of electrical switch, and the term typically refers to the switching device found in the distributor of the ignition systems of spark-ignition internal combustion engines. Purpose The purpose of the contact breaker is to interr ...
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coolant temperature Sensor
Car coolant temperature sensor explained The coolant temperature sensor is used to measure the temperature of the engine coolant of an internal combustion engine. The readings from this sensor are then fed back to the Engine control unit (ECU). This data from the sensor is then used to adjust the f ...
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Electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD)
Electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD) Electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD or EBFD), Electronic brakeforce limitation (EBL) is an automobile brake technology that automatically varies the amount of force applied to each of a vehicle's brakes, based on road conditions, speed, loading, etc. Alw ...
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Headlamps explained
Car Headlamps explained A headlamp is a lamp attached to the front of a vehicle to light the road ahead. Headlamp performance has steadily improved throughout the automobile age, spurred by the great disparity between daytime and nighttime traffic fatalities: the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safet ...
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High tension (HT) leads
High tension (HT) leads High tension leads or high tension cables or spark plug wires or spark plug cables are the wires that connect a distributor, ignition coil, or magneto to each of the spark plugs in some types of internal combustion engine. "High tension lead" or "cable" is also used for any ...
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Idiot (Tell-tale) Light
Idiot Tell-tale Lights Explained A tell-tale (or idiot light, especially in North America) is an indicator of the status or malfunction of a system within a motor vehicle. A tell-tales consists of a light bulb or an LED which lights up a symbol or text legend. The "idiot light" terminology arises f ...
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OBD-II PIDs Codes
OBD-II PIDs Codes Explained OBD-II PIDs (On-board diagnostics Parameter IDs) are codes used to request data from a vehicle, used as a diagnostic tool. SAE standard J/1979 defines many PIDs, but manufacturers also define many more PIDs specific to their vehicles. All light duty vehicles (i.e. less t ...
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parking lights Explained
Parking lights Explained Front position lamps (parking lamps, standing lamps) Nighttime standing-vehicle conspicuity to the front is provided by "front position lamps",known as "parking lamps" or "parking lights" in the US and Canada,and "front sidelights" in British English. They were designed to ...
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Smart key
Smart key Explained A smart key is an electronic access and authorization system which is available as an option or standard in several cars. It was first developed by Siemens in the mid-1990s and introduced by Mercedes-Benz under the name "Keyless Go" in 1998 on the W220 S-Class following its desi ...
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Spark plug explained
How a spark plug works Car Spark Plug Split Diagram The main feature of a spark plug is a cerarmic Insulator inside a threaded metal shank Through the middle of the cerarmic body runs a conductor which links the outer terminal of the plug (on to which the plug lead and cap are Clipped) and the cent ...
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Spark plug History
Spark plug History A spark plug (sometimes in British English a sparking plug, colloquially a plug) is a device for delivering electric current from an ignition system to the combustion chamber of a spark-ignition engine to ignite the compressed fuel/air mixture by an electric spark, while containi ...
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Spark Wasted
Wasted spark explained The wasted spark system is an ignition system used with some four-stroke cycle internal combustion engines. In a wasted spark system, the spark plugs fire in pairs even though one is on its compression stroke and one is on its exhaust stroke. The extra spark on the exhaust st ...
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