Motor Vehicle Condition Monitoring - Coursework Example

Running Headers: CONDITIONING MONITORING Conditioning Monitoring Name & ID Course Name and Code Instructor’s Name April 9, 2010 Motor vehicle condition monitoring Introduction Preventive is better than curative. There have been a lot of motor vehicle accidents all over the world due to poor monitoring. There are some motorists who normally turn blind eyes when come to the maintenance, and as a result, many of them have ended into hot water. It’s necessary for a motor vehicles to undergo regularly monitoring or inspection in order to maintain its working efficiency. Also, by monitoring the vehicle, you will be able to enhance the plant operation and rapidly identify defectively performing equipment. Vehicle needs to be monitored through advance and human condition monitoring. There are many operational plants in a motor vehicle which have to be condition monitored; some of them which this paper will talk about are electrical power plant, air conditioning, fuel and exhaust system management, mechanical power plant, safety monitors (air bags for example), hydraulics, pneumatics, electronic system (like GPS) and music center. The human method includes fatigue, wear, vibration, operation, and many more (William, 2006). The electrical power plant The driving mechanism or the engine of the modern car (electrical car) is made up of batteries series which are connected to an on and off switch that is connected to an electrical operated motor. Afterward, the electric motor drives the wheels, thus propelling the vehicle into motion. Generally, the electrical power plant has more complicated system of controlling the amount of electricity which enters into the motor and the gear structure to assist driving the wheels in a competent way. There are some electrics vehicles which have solar collectors that change the solar energy to electricity in order to slowly recharge the batteries. Below is a wiring diagram of a car's electrical circuit: Safety There are enormous efforts which have been taken to sustain the mass of an electric car as lower as possible for the aim of improving the endurance and EV’s range. But regardless of these efforts, the weight and high density of the electric batteries normally concludes to an EV which is heavier than gasoline car; this can led to small interior space, extensive braking distances, and bad handling characteristics. The batteries of the vehicle have to be regularly changed as the more they stay the more they lose energy, and they can result to dangerous risk. As we can observe from the wiring diagram of a car, the electrical power plant assists almost every components of a vehicle, and this is why it has to be regularly maintained. In case of the electrical power plant problem, you may have a sign of bulbs and music switching off and problems with starting a vehicle (Mintz, and Schwartz, 2003). Fuel and exhaust system management In a fuel tank, there’s a pipe known as fuel pipe that is disposed directly into fuel tank, and in the middle part of the pipe, there’s an outlet whereby the pipe is divided into the first and second sections. There are two steel balls which are disposed respectively in the two sections (that’s first and second). The last parts of the first and second sections are normally formed with both a first together with a second passage. The fuel pipe has an initial inlet betwixt the primary passage and the primary receiving section and a subsequent inlet betwixt the second channel and the second segment. The steel ball has a heavy weight, hence blocking the primary passage, and in the second section, the steel ball falls into the second receiving segment, therefore, allowing the fuel to pass through the second fjord and release from the fuel outlet. Below is a diagram of a fuel structure: Risk and sign of fuel system Fuel system has to be regularly monitored in order to avoid contamination of various bugs which are called hydrocarbon utilizing micro-organisms. Cars at risk are those poorly monitored; the fuel tanks can easily contaminate with water. These bugs which enter into fuel system through vents can block the fuel system or produce acid which can cause risk to components (Marcella Althaus-Reid, 2006). The obvious sign of a damaged fuel system is filter blockage and persistent fuel line. Other signs may include the corrosion of fuel system parts and dilapidation of rubber fuel system parts. The treatment of the fuel system may include draining and steam clean-up of the tank. You may also add a biocide in order to prevent regrowth. However, biocide should not be used alone as it can result to fuel system blockage through dead cell material. Mostly, fuel distributors and oil companies can help to brand the best biocides which are more efficiently. Maintenance Fuel filter should be changed after every 20,000 miles or one year. After every 20,000 miles, you should clean idle passage. Throttle blades should also be cleaned in every 20,000 miles. After every 20,000 miles, the back of fuel distributor plate has to be cleaned. Their air temperature sensor should be checked at 10,000 miles. The throttle bolt torque may be checked after 20,000 miles (if applicable). The fuel lines should be checked for signs of worsening and cracking after 20,000 miles or two years. Oxygen sensor should be changed in every 30,000 miles. The fuel injectors have to be cleaned after every 30,000 miles. The gas cap should also be changed in every 30,000 miles. Exhaust system The exhaust gases are normally emitted from the engine of a vehicle, and they are very noxious. The work of the exhaust tail pipe is making sure that every gases that come out from the engine, exit without getting trapped under the car whereby they might leak into the passenger cubicle, therefore causing harm to the passenger. The exhaust system of a vehicle should be regularly inspected for any damage which can cause restraint of the exhaust, thereby causing a power loss. It is also necessary to monitor the exhaust system for any leak which can cause harmful to the occupants of the car. Another important of the tailpipe is to tune the high sound which comes from the exhaust system into appropriate sound, but a sport car which has a higher performance have a distinct sound from a luxury sedan (Mintz, and Schwartz, 2003). The tail pipe also portrays the styling of a vehicle. For example, many tail pipes are chromed and shaped to portray car image; some of the tail pipe are invisible and others been designed into different shapes (William, 2006). Actually, there are four different types of exhaust system; that are: the single side exhaust, dual side exhaust, dual rear exist exhaust, and opposite dual exhaust system. Below are different diagrams of exhaust system: Single exhaust system Dual side exhaust Opposite dual exhaust system Exhaust system tips and warnings In case of a black soot or a small traces of carbon building up at a particular section of a tail pipe, then that indicate a sign of a leak in that region. You should regularly check all flanges, welds and clamps since they may leak exhaust and result to a health hazards or excessive noise. You should check all rubber grommets and hangers as they can break and cause risk to unsupported exhaust parts, hence resulting to the premature crash. An excellent exhaust can help your passengers and you to be safe from the dangerous exhaust gases. It is also very important to wear an eye protection when monitoring your exhaust parts as flakes of rust can fall and turn lodged in an eye, which is very dangerous. The tail pipe should not be touched while hot as it can easily burn you. You should not craw under the car if it’s not well supported, it might cause serious injuries or death. By monitoring you exhaust system; it will keep you safe from police harassment. Oxygen censors Sensor is a component of the emission control system, where it transmits information to the engine management computer. The major task of the sensor is to assist the engine running efficiently and at the same time, producing less emission. A gasoline engine usually burns gasoline in the presence of oxygen. The ratio of gasoline and air normally defers as it depends on the amount of carbon and hydrogen in fuel, but the perfect ratio is 14.7:1. In case of less air in the combustion, then there will be remaining fuel after combustion, which is known as rich mixture. Unburned fuel or rich mixtures are very awful as they create pollution. On other hand, if there’s excess oxygen (this is called lean mixture), then there will be more nitrogen-oxide pollutants, and it may also damage the engine or cause ineffective performance. The oxygen sensor is placed in the exhaust pipe and it’s capable of detecting both lean and rich mixtures. The mechanism of sensor has a chemical reaction that produce a voltage; the voltage determine if the mixture is lean or rich, and the driver can observe it through engine’s computer, hence adjusting the fuel amount that enters in the engine. The main reason why the engine requires the oxygen sensor is because the oxygen amount that enters into engine depends on the temperature of the air, altitude, the temperature of the engine, the load on the engine, the barometric pressure, etc. If the oxygen sensor fails, computer will be unable to sense the fuel/air ratio, and as result, the car will perform poorly and will use excess fuel. Below is a diagram of oxygen sensors: Diagnosis, replacement and symptoms Oxygen sensors are surrounded by dirty environment, which include dirt, oil and water. Within times, this contaminants stick to the sensor making it to slug. Any oxygen sensor in tip-top shape has to be replaced. A dead oxygen sensor may cause a catalytic converter to fail or not work at all. Consequently, this will affect the car when the catalytic converter turns too hot, the car will get inferior gas mileage and it will start stopping. Oxygen sensors don’t last forever; therefore they should be replaced in every 100,000 miles. The symptoms of a dead sensor can be observed when the car begins drinking more gas, emissions testing fails, car is surging or hesitating, damaged or dead catalytic converter, and check engine light keeps on. Music center The music of a car may be an audio or a video (car AV), which is 12-voltage. In the modern cars, the main control device for an audio plant is mainly known as the head unit, and it’s installed at dash panel center betwixt the passenger and the driver. Below is diagram showing the music center in the dash panel. The speakers of a car normally uses space-saving deigns like using non- circular cone forms or raising a tweeter straightly mounted over a woofer. Music center maintenance The car music has to be regularly maintained in order to ensure a long life of the components. If your car has a cassette receiver in the head unit, then you need to carry head-cleaning cassette which will help to clean the pick-up head, therefore staying away from the excess oxide development on the pick-up head or any other components. You should also play the head-cleaning cassette in every fifteen hours of playback. When you are using a CD player component, you should clean the pick-up lens regularly and the CD, and should play the disc regularly in every week. Operating conditions The driver and the environment may determine the impact and durability of the car. The driver should not be fatigued, because fatigue is usually associated to numerous accidents. The driver should not drive for long hours and they are supposed to have enough sleep. Moreover, the driver car seat should be comfortable and should prevent the driver from dosing. The devices that aid the driver such as side mirrors and speedometer should function efficiently. Generally, it means that the driver should be well versed with driving skills, have enough rest, and ensuring they conform to traffic rules and regulations (Wang, 2003). Below is a picture of fatigue driver: Another operational condition is the nature of environment and terrain. Some cars are built for both urban roads (tarmac), and rough roads, while others are special built for tarmac roads. Driving the tarmac base cars on rough terrain may spoil the car. However, precision should be taken into consideration when driving on rough terrain. This means that rough terrain requires specially constructed cars for the scenario (Wang, 2003). Wear In the case of wear, an example that can affect a car is the brake pads. Usually, the break pads wear and results in them failing to stop the car. To prevent such issues, it is important to introduce measures that can be used to detect, and solve the issue. In the case of break pad, the problem can be detected by break lining thickness detection and regular inspection of the break pads (Rao 1996). Through inspection, the problem is released, the pads can be replaced. Another example is the car tyre; these tyres play a major role in enabling the car to fulfill its requirements. Wear is a common issue that can be observed through inspection of the tyre. Due to wear, the threads of the tyre can start wearing out (fading) away, resulting in a flat surface or the edges of the tyres may start wearing, and this can be associated with wheel alignment. Thus, when the tyre wears, they can be retread or replaced while when the edges shows sign of wear, the wheel can be realigned (Yardley, 2002). Below is a picture of worn tyre: Also, a car wheel bearing usually wears but at different rates. The wear may be associated with shock load, bearing load, dust penetration, lubrication and quality of manufacturing. Analysis or inspection of wheel bearings may require disassembly and re-assembly and usually it is expensive. This means that if some parts wear, it grows progressively both in depth and area resulting in creation of vibration and harmonics that driver of the car can easily become aware (Rao, 1996). The awareness can be known through the whining noise, and hence the driver could be forced to replace. Moreover, some of these joints (bearing and bolts) require frequent greasing and oiling, which means that absence of this may result in these joints and bearings wearing contributing to expenses that was not initially planned. (worn out bearing) Conclusion The condition monitoring of vehicles have to be done in all components of a vehicle. This will ensures that the user of the vehicles stays in a safe side from hazards. The condition monitoring of the vehicle components will sustain the efficiency of those components and stays for a long life. These components extensively affect the way in which a car can be utilized, managed, operated, inspected, and corrective measures instituted. Through condition monitoring, you will be able to identify any symptoms of calamitous component, hence decreasing the chances of accident as every day, there are a lot of accident that occurs due to luck of condition monitoring; some of the motorist are ignorant as they don’t follow the manual of their vehicle. We can safe many lives if we regularly monitor our vehicles (Mintz, and Schwartz, 2003). In my own opinion, it is better to prevent these risks by condition monitoring of vehicles as it’s not costly to do so. The condition monitoring has to be done in both methods; that’s human and advance method. In human method, the driver must read from the same script with the vehicle; this means that his/her mind should focused only on the vehicle while driving, but if he/she engaged in any other activities, then he/she will get into hot water. In advance method, the components have to be regularly checked and maintained in order to sustain system efficiency, and avoid accidents. References: ArticleSnatch.com, Car Maintenance, Retrieved From < http://www.articlesnatch.com/topic/Car+Maintenance> (Accessed April 9, 2010) Marcella Althaus-Reid (2006), Operation and Maintenance, Washington: Longhorn Publishers. Mintz, B. and Schwartz M. (2003), Power Structure of a Car, London: Oxford Press. Rao, B. (1996), Handbook of condition monitoring. London: Elsevier Advanced Technology. Yardley, David. (2002), Condition monitoring: engineering the practice. New York: Professional Engineering, Wang, Kesheng. (2003), Intelligent condition monitoring and diagnosis systems: a computational intelligence approach. New York: IOS Press. William, B. (2006), Condition Monitoring, New York: Sage Press. Read More