Instrumentation
Steering Wheel
Ignition
Accelerator
Brakes
Gearshift
Clutch
Horn
Mirrors
Lights
Turn Signals
Hazard Lights
Windshield Wipers
Instrumentation
In order to be able to operate your vehicle safely, you must know the functions and locations of all the interior mechanisms of your car.
The instrument panel contains gauges which include the following:
Speedometer, which indicates speed in both miles and
kilometers per hour
Tachometer, which indicates rotations in the engine in revolutions per minute (RPMs)
Odometer, which indicates the total number of miles your car has been driven since it was manufactured
Fuel gauge, which shows the fuel level in your car's fuel tank
Oil gauge, which shows oil level
Warning lights are provided on your car's instrument panel. They light up in case of a serious
problem. There are three kinds of warning lights:
Oil Pressure Warning Light
Temperature Warning Light
Battery Low Warning Light
Temperature Warning Light/Gauge:
this light goes on when the engine temperature or the radiator's coolant is too hot. In some vehicles, a gauge is used that would show the needle in the warning zone of HOT. If this warning light comes on while driving, STOP as soon as you can at a safe place and shut the engine off. Never remove the radiator cap to check the coolant level when the engine is hot. The coolant is at boiling temperature and under pressure. If the cap is released, the hot coolant will release with
pressure and can cause severe burns if you are standing too close.
Oil Pressure Warning Light: this light goes on when the engine oil is not circulating at the required pressure. Some vehicles have an oil pressure gauge that reads LOW when the engine's oil pressure is too low. If you see an oil pressure warning while driving, STOP
immediately at a safe place and turn off the engine.
Battery Low Warning Light: when this light goes on or the battery gauge reads LOW, this means that the battery power is running out.
Steering Wheel
The steering wheel is located
directly in front of the driver‘s seat.
Turning the steering wheel transmits force, which turns the wheels to determine the direction of travel.
Most vehicles today have power steering, which makes turning the wheel relatively easy. If you have power steering and find it
necessary to exert a lot of physical force to turn your wheel, you
should probably take your car to a mechanic.
Ignition
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The ignition is located either on the side of the steering column or on the dashboard. It is a multifunction switch, into which you insert your key, in order to energize the
electrical circuits and activate your starter motor.
Ignitions usually have three positions which serve different purposes. You turn your key
clockwise to go to a higher position and counter-clockwise to
deactivate it. The first position is the off position when your car is in park. The second position causes
the dashboard instruments to activate. The final position causes your engine to start.
Accelerator
The accelerator is also known as gas pedal. It is the pedal located on the floor on the far-right. This pedal controls the amount of gas being fed into the engine and thereby controls the speed of the vehicle. You push the accelerator with your right foot with your heel resting on the ground. Do not be jerky with the accelerator. Rather, push it gradually while your car speeds up.
Brakes
The brake pedal is located on the floor to the left of the accelerator.
When pressed, it applies the
brakes, causing the vehicle to slow down and/or stop. You must use your right foot (with your heel on ground) to exert force on the pedal to cause the brakes to engage. If your vehicle has standard brakes, the pedal will move a little bit before it resists. If you have power brakes, you do not need to exert as much pressure on the pedal to use the brakes.
The parking brake can be either a pedal operated by your left foot, a lever under the dashboard, or a lever to the right on the floor. It applies brakes to keep the car from moving when parked or to slow the car down if the regular brakes fail.
Gearshift
If your car has an automatic transmission, the gearshift is located either on the steering column or on the console between the front seats. The gearshift is used to move a vehicle forward, in reverse, or remain in neutral.
On cars with a manual
transmission, the gearshift is actually a stick shift. You must learn to synchronize your gear shifting with pushing the clutch pedal.
Clutch
The clutch pedal is found only in cars with manual transmission. The clutch pedal is located on the floor to the left of the brake pedal.
When pressed, it disengages the clutch which eliminates the transmission of power from the engine to the transmission. When released, it smoothly applies power through to the transmission. The clutch must be operated with your left foot, again, with your heel resting on the ground.
Horn
The horn is usually located in the center of your steering wheel.
Make sure your horn is fully
functioning and can be heard at a distance of 100-200 ft. Do not use your horn excessively. Only use it to communicate with other drivers when necessary or as a warning to others.
Mirrors
Your car is equipped with both rearview and side mirrors. Make sure that your mirrors are properly adjusted before you begin driving.
The rearview mirror is located at the top center of your windshield.
It is shaped like a rectangle and allows you to see what is
happening behind you.
The side mirrors are located on the exterior side of your vehicle and allow you to view periphery traffic.
Lights
Lights are significant because they allow you to see your
surroundings, give others a way to see you, and give other drivers indications of your future actions.
Cars are required to have certain lighting fixtures, and these
generally have luminosity
regulations. Make sure that your
vehicle has these fixtures in place and that they are fully functioning.
Vehicles must be equipped with low-beam as well as high-beam headlights. Low-beams must be turned on when it gets dark or in any moment of low visibility due to bad weather. Most states (e.g., Alaska, Michigan, Nevada, Texas, and Utah) require that lights must be turned on from one-half hour after sunset until one-half hour before sunrise. Other states, (e.g., Arizona, Virginia) require that lights are turned on from sunset to sunrise. Consult your state's
Drivers Handbook for details.
Some states (e.g., California,
Connecticut, and Delaware) require
by law that if you turn on your wipers you must also turn on your lights.
High-beams are also located at the front of your vehicle and have a higher luminosity that covers greater distance. High-beams are to be used in times of very low visibility. However, you are not to use high-beams in fog, for they will only reflect the dampened air and blind other drivers.
High-beams are to be turned off when another vehicle is in front of you or approaching on the opposite
side of the road. Most of the states require that you switch to low-beams 500 ft. or more from oncoming vehicles. Consult your state's Drivers Handbook for details. The switch for headlights varies between vehicles. Consult your car's owner manual to make sure you know exactly how to turn your headlights on.
Each vehicle must also have
taillights and brake lights. Most of the states require that the taillights be visible from 500 ft. Taillights are red and are located on the back of your vehicle. Brake lights light up when you hit brakes to signal the drivers behind you to stop.
Parking lights are located at the front and back of your vehicles;
they are white or amber in the front and red on the back. All of them must be visible for 500 ft. It is never legal to drive with your parking lights on; they are only to be used during parking.
Turn Signals
Your car is equipped with turn signal lights on its four corners. On the inside of your car, these turn signals usually appear as green arrows facing the direction of the intended turn.
On most cars, the turn signal lever is located to the left of the steering wheel. Shifting the lever up
indicates a right turn and shifting it down indicates a left turn. Your turn signal should turn off after a turn or a lane change, but if it does not, you should turn it off
manually, as soon as possible.
Hazard Lights
Your hazard lights warn other drivers of an emergency situation you may be encountering. All four turn signal lights come on when you activate your hazard lights.
Again, consult your car owner's manual for the exact location of the hazard lights switch/button in your vehicle.
Windshield Wipers
On most vehicles, the windshield wipers can be activated by a lever located to the right of the steering wheel. Usually, you can adjust the speed of your wipers to optimize performance for specific driving conditions.
see and identify prominent objects around the vehicle. Visibility is primarily determined by weather conditions and by a vehicle's design. The parts of a vehicle that influence visibility include the windshield, the dashboard and the pillars. Good driver visibility is essential to safe road traffic.
Wiring
A car's wiring has to distribute power from the battery to devices located all over the car. It also has to transmit data on a data bus, as well as a variety of digital and analog signals from switches and sensors.
This means that there are many different types of wires in your car. Some wires that transmit signals from switches or sensors carry almost no current. Those that provide power to large electric motors carry lots of current.
Length - Each type of wire has a certain amount of resistance per foot -- the longer the wire, the larger the resistance. If the resistance is too high, a lot of the power that flows down the wire will be wasted; the energy lost as heat builds up in the wire. Ultimately, heat build-up limits the current-carrying capacity of the wire, as the temperature must not get hot enough to melt the insulation.
Composition - Automotive wire is usually composed of fine copper strands. Generally, the finer the strands, the lower the resistance and the more current the wire can carry. The type of copper used has an effect on the resistance of the wire, too.
Wire gauge - The wire gauge, or size of the wire, also determines how much resistance the wire has. The larger the wire, the less resistance. The smaller the gauge, the larger the wire -- so a 16-gauge wire is bigger than a 24-gauge wire. Wire gauges go all the way down to zero, which is also called 1/0 (one aught). Even bigger than 1/0 is 00 (2/0, or two aught), and so on. The diameter of a 4/0 (four aught) wire is almost half an inch (1.27 cm).
Bundling - The way a wire is bundled affects how well it can dissipate heat. If the wire is in a bundle with 50 other wires, it can carry a lot less current than if it were the only wire in the bundle.
Fuses
The main job of the fuse is to protect the wiring. Fuses should be sized and located to protect the wire they are connected to. If a device like your car radio suddenly draws enough current to blow the fuse, the radio is probably already toast. The fuse is there to protect the wire, which would be much harder to replace than the radio.
Most cars have two fuse panels. The one in the engine compartment holds the fuses for devices like the cooling fans, the anti-lock brake pump and the engine control unit -- all of which are located in the engine compartment. Another fuse panel, usually located in the dashboard near the driver's knees, holds fuses for the devices and switches located in the passenger compartment.
Interior fuse panel
We saw in the last section how the heat build-up in the wire depends on the resistance and the amount of current flowing through the wire. Fuses are really just a special type of wire in a self-contained connector. Most automotive fuses today have two blade connectors and a plastic housing that contains the conductor. There are also some fuses that are in the wiring of the car, called fusible links.
An assortment of automotive fuses
The conductor inside the fuse is made of a metal similar to solder. It has a lower melting point than the wire itself. The size of the conductor is calibrated very carefully so that when the rated current is reached, enough heat is generated to melt the conductor and so break the circuit.
When a fuse is blown, it must be replaced before the circuit will work. A blown fuse must be replaced with a fuse of the same amperage.
Checking Fuses
The most foolproof way to check a fuse is to pull it out of its receptacle and hook up a
continuity tester to both blades of the fuse. But if you do this while the fuse is plugged in, you could get continuity through a path other than the fuse (for instance, both sides of the wire may be grounded when you check the fuse). You can usually tell if a fuse is blown by a visual inspection:
Connectors
In the past, unreliable connectors have been the source of many electrical problems.
Connectors have to be waterproof (modern connectors have several seals to keep out moisture), corrosion proof and provide good electrical contact for the life of the vehicle.
The connector pictured below is an eight-terminal connector -- it connects eight wires to each other.
The parts of a typical automotive connector: Everything on the left connects to everything on the right.
To make this connection, there are a total of 23 separate parts. The main parts are:
The shell
The pins and sockets
The pin retainer
The seals The Shell
The shell is an intricate piece that has a complicated shape. There is a locking clip on the outside that holds the two halves of the connector together. There are holes for the pins, and there are special barbs that lock the pins in place once they are inserted. There are numerous grooves to hold seals and make sure things fit together tightly. All of these features are
molded into the piece when it is made.
The Pins and Sockets
The pins and sockets are responsible for conducting electricity from one half of the connector to the other. These are made very precisely so that the pins and sockets fit together with just enough force to ensure a good connection, but not enough force to make connecting and disconnecting too difficult.
A socket (left) and a pin (right)
The Pin/Socket Retainer
The pin/socket retainer is a piece of plastic that slides into the connector from the front. It wedges against all of the plastic locking barbs so they can't release. This piece makes it nearly impossible for the pins and sockets to work their way loose.
The retainer keeps the pins and sockets in place.
The Seals
The seals prevent water from entering the connection once the connectors are locked together. Each connector has a rubber seal through which all of the wires are fed. This seal fits firmly into the back of the connector. One side of each connector has a round seal that keeps water from entering the space between the connectors once they are locked together.