Magazine for the auto service professional
Issue link: http://asp.epubxp.com/i/780462
8 | ASP February 2017 Technical Tech tips From front camber issues to wheel centering FRONT CAMBER ISSUES? Ever run into a wheel alignment issue where you have negative camber on one side and positive camber on the opposite side and there's no "factory" adjustment provided? Try loosening the front crossmember and try to "slide" it toward the side that has positive camber. ere may be enough slop in the bolt holes to allow you to even-out the difference, enabling you to obtain a fairly equal camber angle on each side. Of course, this will depend on the suspension design. If that fails, consider installing eccentric lower control arm bushings that will provide a bit of camber adjustment, SUPER DUTY PULLEYS On Ford F-Super Duty trucks (or any engine that features a serpentine drive belt, for that matter), pay close attention to the condition of all pulleys, especially the idler and tensioner pulleys. On a Ford F-Super Duty equipped with a 7.3L turbo diesel, for example, if a tensioner puller bearing fails, the belt will fly off, leaving the driver with no water pump operation (quickly overheating the engine), and no power steering and no power brakes (since a belt-driven vacuum pump provides booster operation). If an idler pulley or tensioner pulley has excess play or feels rough when turning, replace them now instead of waiting for a failure. ese trucks are extremely hard to stop and turn if the belt fails, creating a real driving hazard. Aside from tight access between the pulleys and the radiator shroud, replacing either of these pulleys is a fairly simple job. BRAKE PLUMBING OOPS If a vehicle's master cylinder and/or brake lines have been previously serviced by the owner or another shop, before you start bleeding the system, pay attention to hard- line plumbing to the dual master cylinder. If the lines to the master cylinder have been installed backwards (larger reservoir for the front brakes feeding the rear brakes or visa- versa), the rear brakes will begin to activate before the front brakes, potentially causing an oversteer issue during braking. A mis-plumbed line issue will also frustrate you during bleeding, as the wrong reservoir fluid level will drop when you think you're bleeding the opposite circuit. It happens. A NOD TO THE NOID When diagnosing a potential fuel injector issue, where you suspect that one or more injectors are not receiving a pulse signal, disconnect the injector connector and plug a noid test light into the harness connector. Crank the engine. If the noid light does not flash, you have an electrical signal issue (possibly due to a bad connector or a wire harness issues). If the light does flash during cranking, you know the injector is receiving a signal, and you can move on with further diagnosis. Noid test lights are inexpensive and are handy test items. Buy a kit that includes noid Example of a Noid test light kit.