Summer Frequent Failures

Which are the most frequent failures in the summer?

In the summer, due to high temperatures, the mostcommon failure is the excess temperature in the engine cooling system. These failures affect the operating of the engine and other safety systems of the truck, such as the retarder. 

Which elements may be affected?

Engine: when it reaches a temperature higher than normal, a red warning indicator switches on in the temperature gauge of the instrument cluster, indicating that there is a high risk of serious failure due to engine overheating.

New engine management systems are able to limit the engine power. These systems control the engine temperature through temperature sensors of water, oil, air, etc. If, during the operation of the vehicle, these temperatures reach the safety threshold allowed, the engine control unit commands a power reduction in order to control the temperature.

The fan is the component which might present more problems due to excess temperatures. Current vehicles are manufactured with fans, mounting electronic devices to constantly inform the engine management unit about the revolutions, which are quickly activated and deactivated.

The retarder, which is a part of the engine cooling system, a really important system for the vehicle safety, may also be affected. When the engine temperature rises, it may lose its efficacy and even stop braking, an important risk for the safety of the truck and its occupants.

How would we repair this failure?

We must know the operation of the cooling system, its components, etc. Jaltest is a tool which helps us to repair these failures, reducing the repair times and costs. With Jaltest diagnostics device, we can check the estate and operation of the electronic and mechanical components of the system and see which values indicated by the temperature sensors are correct.

How can we prevent this failure?

To prevent this kind of failures it is advisable to perform a preventive maintenance:

• Check the engine coolant
• Check the estate of the sleeves of the pipes from the cooling circuit and the belts.
• Clean the water radiator of the cooling system.
• Check the thermostat controlling the temperature of the cooling system.
• Check the estate and the operation of the temperature sensors of water, oil and air.

Jaltest diagnostics device allows to perform a reliable testing of the components without disassembling them from the vehicle, to check whether the values are correct. Moreover, most manufacturers of commercial vehicles allow to check the fan with the engine at standstill. Jaltest can do this kind of checking with the fan assembled in the vehicle to see if it works correctly.

Damián Muñoz

Technical Assistance Manager