The Automotive Blog

Fuel theft is a costly problem for many organisations. Thieves who recently siphoned fuel from an Andover coach company , left the firm with broken down buses.

Four buses had their fuel stolen at the Hampshire depot after thieves struck in an overnight raid. Transport bosses at Stagecoach in Andover only realised when the vehicles broke down the following morning. Each vehicle parked in the depot, including a school bus, had been topped up with fuel on Monday evening. So the company just assumed they had enough fuel for the day.

The fuel theft cost them as about 100 gallons of fuel was siphoned off, valued at about £600.  Also the company incurred breakdown costs as well. One bus service had to be cancelled completely losing the company that mornings bus fares.

Fuel theft is a common problem that can be rectified with a simple device such as TP Anti-Syph. This simple device fits in the fuel tank neck and prevents thieves from siphoning fuel from the vehicle. aide automotive stocks a range of Anti-fuel theft devices for various vehicles including bus, coaches and cars.

aide automotive stocks a range of automotive products

TP Anti-Syph, Fuel Theft Device

From January2012 it is now within the  MOT test to test any car with a 13 pin tow bar socket.

aide automotive are stocking a 13-pin Towbar Tester to check the 13-pin electrical towing sockets fitted to vehicles with tow-bars. If the sockets are faulty, then trailer or caravan lights may not work. This device checks the output from each pin on the socket and determines if it’s working or not

MOT garages need to review this product if booking any car in for an MOT with a TowBar electrical socket.

Contact aide automotive for further information.

Battery testing should be part of every vehicles regular maintenance programme. Your vehicle’s battery is often only thought about when it fails, but a small amount of care and maintenance will ensure it doesn’t let you down when you need it most.

Lack of battery care and maintenance combined with cold weather has a way of bringing out the borderline batteries that were fine in the summer, but don’t have the power for a cold weather start. Battery maintenance is often only considered when it’s failed in the bad weather but maintaining it all year round, rain or shine, is essential to catch a bad battery before it lets you down.

Testing and maintaining a battery is fairly simple and only requires a few basic tools. For a car battery, a good quality Midtronics tester does the job. Midtronics tester of the latest up to date technology for testing car batteries or truck 24 volt batteries.

aide automotive stocks a range of automotive products

Midtronics battery tester

Misfueling petrol cars with diesel is such a common occurance that it’s become the subject of a recent advertising campaign. Many drivers make the common mistake of putting diesel in a petrol car. Especially those drivers that switch between both types of engine for work and pleasure. Fleet managers can save fortunes by investing in a simple device such as Diesel Key which prevents misfuelling a petrol tank with diesel.

Check out this recent advert for Passat!

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D0GuBdvA7Qus%26feature%3Dshare&h=f43f2

Towbar Testing will be an essential part of the MOT tests from next year, VOSA regulations will come into force on 1st January 2012 and all towbars will need to be tested. aide automotive are stocking a 13-pin Towbar Tester to check the 13-pin electrical towing sockets fitted to vehicles with tow-bars. If the sockets are faulty, then trailer or caravan lights may not work. This device checks the output from each pin on the socket and determines if it’s working or not

The device enables the owner to test if all the lights are working and specifically if they;re not to determine which socket isn’t working so you can determine if it’s the fog lights, indicators, brake lights,

So if you have a caravan or trailer with a 13-pin, you’ll need one of these devices before the end of the year so you can ensure the lights are working correctly before you take your vehicle in for a MOT test otherwise it may fail!

Contact aide automotive for more details

aide automotive ltd have introduced an ideal workshop tool for liquid transfer from tanks or barrells. Mis fuelling a diesel tank can be costly and expensive, with the Eco Pump you can quickly transfer the fuel or other comidity to a container.

Designed for transferring fuel oil and similar structural properties of fluid. The product is easy and safe to use by battery power. The Eco Pump has transfer capacity of 30 litres per minute, with a 12 or 24 volt supply required.

Eco Pump is small and simple, just drop the Eco Pump into a fuel tank and a usually messy or dangerous job can be done quickly and cleanly.

Priced at £44.00 + vat, Eco Pump is an easily affordable workshop tool.

                                       Eco Pump Pointers

1-     Use maximum 5 metres of hose to pump fitted tightly by a hose clamp.

2-     Place the pump into liquid.

3-     Fit battery clamps to + and – poles.

4-     After working for 30 minutes, rest for 20 minutes.

5-     Do not approach with naked lights during transfer process.

6-     After transfer process, be sure liquid completely empty from the pump.

Please Note

Not for the use of transferring combustible and flammable liquids like gasoline, thinners, acid and gas.

Contact aide automotive ltd to order.

Testing a caravans electrics is of major importance for road safety.

Following the winter holiday break caravans should be serviced and checked before starting out for the Easter holidays.

With the CET Caravan Electrical Tester you can check your electrics prior t starting out on the road.

Make sure your caravan is legal and road worthy.

Contact aide automotive for pricing and supply.

Misfuelling a petrol car with diesel is a common problem, so much so Coronation Street used it as a storyline recenty.  Many drivers put petrol in a diesel car, so Coronation Street used it as a story line for taxi business owner Steve Mcdonald.  He was so distracted by other things going on in his life that he put petrol in the tank of his diesel vehicle. This cost him money in terms of repairing the car and the vehicle downtime!

Many drivers make this costly mistake, especially ones that switch between petrol and diesel vehicles for work and personal use. A cost effective device such as Diesel Key is the answer.  The device fits on the neck of your petrol tank and will not allow a petrol nozzle to be inserted.

aide automotive offers a range of automotive products

Misfuelling Device

aide automotive are to introduce a new Trailer Light Tester for the agricultrial and trailer market.

This tester is integrated with a 12 V power pack and air compressor.

With a cable long enough to move to the back of the trailer, a rotary switch will switch between each lighting circuit for a visible check. A self resetting trip if a short is found on a circuit this tester is a ideal cost effective tester for all 12 volt trailers.

Contact aide automotive for futher information.

Following many calls to protect cars from fuel theft, we can offer a solution as described below:

The Conical Spring has been used to great effect within the light commercial sector for many years, this device is the only reasonable solution we can offer the car market.

This email will in best describe the product  / system so that you can make your own judgemental view if the spring will suit your car or requirements. aide automotive do not offer any refund or returns policy if this product does not work for your particular vehicle.

We firstly advise you to review  with your local garage or manufacturer if the Conical spring can be fitted to the fuel neck  / entry to the fuel tank. The Spring is supplied 360 mm in length, this can be cut down to a required length.

As it’s a conical spring the end diameter is 55mm. See attached document for a picture.

The idea is that the spring is sent into the filler neck and lodges when the diameter is larger than the internal diameter of the filler neck, the spring will sit tight tin the neck making very hard to be removed. As it’s a curled spring fuel will be able to flow into the tank while re fuelling.

Once you have decided the correct amount of spring to be used any excess is cut off with a practical saw.

Examples of use –

Ford Transit – The whole spring is pushed into the neck until full compression, a small amount is cut off and the spring is lodged behind the entry.

Iveco Daily – A small amount of the spring was used to be situated at the entry to the fuel tank in the plastic pipe.

Landrover  Defender – Roughly half the spring was used and pushed into the entry, compressing and holding in place.

Once you have discussed this with a car garage or your manufacturer and if you wish to purchase we can take payment via credit  or debit cards.

We hope this helps and please if you do proceed offer feedback on fitting or use.

Contact aide automotive to discuss further.