The Automotive Blog

Diesel Key the revolutionary mis fuelling device for diesel vehicles has received and ultimate accreditation of a Thatcham approval.

What does this mean?

Diesel Key is the ONLY mis fuelling device to have under taken such a test, rigorous and complex the testing has proved that the Diesel Key meets all quality and motor industry standards. Anyone purchasing the Diesel Key will have the peace of mind of quality and safety!

Thatcham was established in 1969 by British Insurers. The Centre is independently operated with a Board of Directors drawn from more than 30 insurer members.

Thatcham is a not-for-profit organisation. There main aim is to carry out research targeted at containing or reducing the cost of motor insurance claims, whilst maintaining safety and quality standards. Thatcham also work closely with vehicle manufacturers to influence the design of new vehicles. With an aim to improve safety and security, research helps produce designs which limit damage, whilst improving the ease of repair following an accident.

Insurers have seen a dramatic increase in claims for mis fuelling in the last few years and now are looking to solve the problem and reduce claims. With this insurers and Thatcham reviewed and tested the Diesel Key to offer a solution to customers who drive diesel cars.

If you have ever wrong fuelled a vehcile you need to think about Diesel Key today.

Go to mis-fuelling.co.uk to purchase Diesel Key now.

Travis Perkins, one of the UK’s leading Builders’ Merchants, with more than 600 outlets across the country, was looking for an effective solution to the growing problem of fuel theft.

As the company runs one of the largest vehicle fleets in the country, preventing fuel theft and keeping costs to a minimum was a top priority and it investigated an anti fuel theft device.

Requiring no drilling or gluing, it is simple to fit in several minutes and it can also cope with fast-filling of fuel tanks at speeds of up to120 ltrs/min without spilling or splash backs.

Travis Perkins Group Transport Manager Graham Bellman said: “Fuel theft is a problem, and it impacts directly upon our bottom line.

“You cannot stop the most determined of fuel thieves, but this anti fuel theft device provides a valuable defense, and a positive deterrent against fuel skimming.

“Coupled with our other security measures, and very careful fuel use monitoring, a good anti-siphon device offers very definite protection against a problem that is getting more, rather than less, pronounced.

”It is a very simple, but extremely worthwhile product that, for a very modest outlay, can save a lot of money.”

aide automotive offer anti fuel theft devices for all commercial vehicles.

aide automotive are always trying to offer the best equipment on the market. Battery Boosters are offered from many suppliers, but will they do the job?

The SOS Battery Booster is a high performance booster that will start engines when cold and dead flat.

In the winter conditions batteries are push to their limits, extra draw from lights and heaters means that batteries could easily drop below the necessary voltage to start the vehicle, resulting breakdowns, late deliveries and expensive call outs.

aide automotive offer 12 & 24 volt battery boosters with a range of amps specifications.

Click on battery boosters for more info.

Many UK motorist put petrol in diesel engines every day.

aide automotive ltd offer a product to help stop the putting of petrol in diesel cars.

Diesel Key is an innovative product that only allows diesel nozzles to enter the fuel tank, any petrol nozzle attempted to enter the fuel filler neck will be stopped by the Diesel Key.

Click on petrol in diesel to read more about Diesel Key.

The ABS Sensor Master from aide automotive is the ideal commercial workshop tool to cure a high percentage of ABS or EBS truck or trailer faults.

Matthew Burke aide automotive Sales Manager stated ” this product is ideal test tool to cure an abs fault on a truck or trailer, we see repairers and workshops  purchase this prodyuct every week, they see a simple to use direct answering tool makes repairing ABS faults easy and fast.”

Ryder Truck Rental recently purchased a EBS/ABS Sensor Master for the Warrington Depot.

Click EBS/ABS Sensor Master for More Info.

Engineering company Weir Services Ltd operate from 9 centres throughout the UK and use a fleet of approximately 300 vehicles.

With the first corporate manslaughter prosacution underway it has never been more important for companies to look at every avenue of risk. Road risk is a major factor in this and many companies send employees out to drive on UK roads.

aide automotive have introduced RouteSafe, an in vehicle Road Risk warning system to help protect against any road incidents.

Weir Engineering completed an installation of RouteSafe recently, promoting to driving staff a safe route is always the best.

Read More By Clicking Here.

aide automotive take please in posting the user guide for the ISOCheck.

When using the ISOCheck on a tractor and trailer, please make sure all health & Safety procedures are in place.

The ISOCheck is not a diagnostic tool, the test lead will quickly identify where the fault is .i.e. on a tractor unit, a trailer or the existing Susie lead.

Testing a Tractor Unit

Firstly make sure the ignition is off in the tractor unit, remove the existing Susie lead that is fitted into the ISO socket.

Apply the ISOCheck test lead to the ISO socket on the tractor unit, fit the end with the clear perspex and writing that says GREEN OK & RED Fault to the ISO Socket,, for future reference this is called “the Indicator”.

Turn on the ignition, with all voltages and earths correct and also the ABS warning light circuit the Perspex end will light up GREEN. If any of the voltages, earths or warning light circuit is incorrect then the Perspex end will light up RED, this indicates a fault with the tractor unit.

Testing the Susie Lead

We are not going to test the existing Susie lead as such, just eliminate the lead.

Turn the ignition off; remove the Perspex end from the ISO socket.

Now plug the opposite end of the ISOCheck lead into the truck ISO socket.

Turn the ignition on in the truck, the ISOCheck Perspex / free end should light up, if GREEN all is OK, if RED then there is a fault.

If the lead showed GREEN in the ISO Socket and now RED then the ISOCheck lead has a fault.

Testing the Trailer

Turn the truck ignition off.

Plug the ISOCheck Perspex end into the trailer, turn on the ignition.

The trailer warning light should come on on the truck dash board and the ISOCheck will light up RED.

The warning light should go out after 2 seconds and the ISOCheck will go GREEN, this means the trailers braking system is working at standstill.

If the warning light stays on, then drive the tractor and trailer above 10KPH, the warning light should go out and the ISOCheck will go GREEN. This proves the braking system is working correctly.

If all is working correctly and there is still an ABS fault light, this would mean the existing Susie lead is probably faulty.

If the tester stays RED after a drive, stop the unit and trailer and remove he ISOCheck from the trailer. If the tester stays RED there is a power supply fault from the tractor unit or warning light fault, if the ISOCheck goes GREEN then there is a fault in the trailer system.

To read & clear ABS Codes from a trailer, use the TrailerCheck II & Code Reader

To quickly identify ABS Sensor faults use the EBS/ABS Sensor Tester

Read More at our WebSite

www.aideautomotive.com

North Staffs Pipe Service Ltd recently purchased an anti siphon device for a transit van.

Transport Manager stated “this van had been hit a few times with fuel theft, we had heard about trucks being hit but now it seems vans are a target as well. The device fitted and works a treat.”

Van Fuel Theft products can be seen at aide automotive ltd’s website

The brake testing of quarry or off-road plant has been carried out for many years in the UK, other countries have also adopted the practice.

Before electronic instruments became available, the usual method was to set a post standard and test by stopping distance. Over the years this was seen to be inaccurate if the set speed at braking was incorrect, as many mobile plant machines do not have a speedometter, then a guess would be made by the driver.

With electronic brake testers such as the BrakeCheck 4 Quarries from aide automotive ltd, the inaccuracy is taken away and the user will receive an accurate brake report every time.

Many quarry companies use the BrakeCheck 4 Quarries to great effect, Hanson UK, Aggregate Industries, Tarmac & Roadstone Dublin, Roadstone who are owned by CRH in the USA have made the use of BrakeCheck 4 Quarries a must for all operations in Europe.

BrakeCheck 4 Quarries also incorporates a Hand Brake Test, this test is unique to our tester and enables the operator to report on a passed or failed hand brake.

Off road plant or quarry vehicles are recommended to meet brake performance figures, these are for dump trucks a bare minimum of 19% and for front end loaders a minimum of 28%, dump trucks should be loaded and loaders not.

The Quarries and Mines Inspectorate recommend the use of electronic brake testers as can be seen in there publication Hard Target (email info@aideautomotive.com for a copy)

BrakeCheck 4 Quarries can be supplied with a PC downloading kit or portable printer kit, with a 99 test memory on the service brake and hand brake.

BrakeCheck can also be used for all on road vehicles, approved by VOSA for MOT stations and commercial vehicle inspections.

Here are some quotes from people in the tyre industry and media:

* “Underinflated tyres can cause excessive heat build up and result in a multitude of problems.”  Firestone Tire Co., Consumer Tire Recall Bulletin, November 2000

* “A properly inflated tyre, on average, will have a savings of about five percent on fuel over a tire that is improperly inflated.”  Harvey Brodsky; Managing Director, Tire Retread Information Bureau (TRIB), as quoted in Fleet Maintenance, March 2006

* “Of the 3 top retreaders in the U.S., Bandag; Goodyear & Oliver Retreading Systems; all agree that proper tyre maintenance is the key to a good retread.”  David Cullen; Sr. Editor, Fleet Owner Magazine

* “Pressure maintenance is still the foremost thing that a fleet can do to get the most out of its tyres. Pressure maintenance is a very labor intensive process and very expensive.”  Guy Walenga ; Commercial Products Engineering. Mgr., Bridgstone/Firestone

* “Nothing beats good maintenance”  Ray Labuda; V.P. of Tyre Technology, Hankook Tire of America

* “Several maintenance practices are critical, especially tyre inflation.”  Jerry Strigle; Goodyear Tyre & Rubber

* “Most fleets that have significant problems with tires don’t have a program to insure tyres are run at the correct pressures.”  Bill Forsch; Yokohama Tyre Corp

* “Underinflation especially effects the success rate for retreading. It damages casings. Retreading can wind up being expensive for fleets that don’t monitor air pressure.”  Bill Forsch; Yokohama Tire Corp.

* “Incorrect inflation can lead to heat damage of the casing; fatigue in the belts, sidewalls and beads; irregular tread wear; premature tread loss; reduced braking efficiency, and even lower fuel economy due to increased rolling resistance.”  Guy Walenga ; Commercial Products Engineering. Mgr., Bridgstone/Firestone

* “A tyre will rotate 500-plus times every mile, and with each rotation, every point in the tyre is flexing. When a tyre is underinflated, this flexing is more pronounced. That hastens tyre fatigue by generating more heat than if the proper pressure level were maintained.”  Guy Walenga ; Bridgstone/Firestone

* “Tyre Inflation tops everyone’s list of critical tyre-maintenance elements.”  David Cullen; Sr. Editor, Fleet Owner Magazine

* “Proper inflation is a must. The most critical factor in tyre maintenance is proper inflation. Running a tyre underinflated can have serious consequences. Over-inflation can also cause serious damage to a tyre.”  TMC, The Maintenance Council; Guide to Tyre-wear Conditions an Causes.

aide automotive are the UK distributors for PressurePro, the live TPMS for all vehicles.

Tyre Pressure Monitoring