About this item
This unique handbook assumes no starting knowledge of car electrical and electronics systems. It begins with simple circuits and finishes with complex electronic systems that include engine management, transmission control and stability control systems.If you want to diagnose a simple alternator charging or headlight problem, this book is for you. But if you also want to fix complex electronic systems using On-Board Diagnostics, a multimeter or oscilloscope, this book also shows you how to do that.Is it best to use a series or parallel circuit when adding a horn? How do you use a multimeter to check a coolant temperature sensor against its specs? How can you add an electronic timer that will keep your headlights on as you walk to your door? When should you buy an oscilloscope - and how complex an instrument do you really need?The author has been writing about car electronic systems for over 25 years.
About the Author
Julian Edgar, 56, started his working life freelancing for photography magazines. He then worked as a secondary school teacher for eight years before leaving teaching and becoming a full-time technical writer. He edited a national Australian automotive print magazine before becoming editor of AutoSpeed, an online car magazine. Along the way he wrote extensively for Silicon Chip, an electronics hobbyist magazine, while also contributing articles to publications in Australia, the UK and the US. He has also worked at Executive Level in the Australian Public Service. Formal qualifications include a Diploma in Teaching (Secondary) , Bachelor of Education and Graduate Diploma in Journalism. In addition to his book writing, he co-owns training company Communication Knowhow, a company that provides courses in executive writing skills. Clients include government and major private companies. In the automotive field he has owned cars with two, three, four, five, six and eight cylinder engines; diesel, petrol and hybrid petrol/electric drivelines; front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive configurations; and cars with single turbos, twin turbos and superchargers. He has been electronically modifying his cars for about 25 years. Over that time he has modified engine management systems, engine cooling systems, turbo boost controls, electric power steering systems, auto transmission controls, all-wheel drive torque split controls, stability controls, hybrid car regenerative braking controls, and lighting and sound systems.He also enjoys aerodynamic modification of cars. He was the first automotive journalist to extensively wool tuft cars and write about the results (starting in 1989) , and use Magnehelic gauges to directly measure aerodynamic pressures (in 2000) - both approaches now widely used by amateurs. In 2018 he developed a technique allowing amateurs to measure car aerodynamic panel pressures on the road.Julian has supercharged - and then turbocharged - a Toyota Prius. He has also turbocharged a Honda Insight and fitted it with programmable engine management, doing the engine mapping on the road from scratch. The Insight also has electronically-controlled, custom air suspension that Julian developed and fitted. Designing and building loudspeaker systems is another interest. Many of Julian's loudspeaker designs have been published in print magazines and on the web. He has an extensive home workshop that is equipped with a chassis dyno; lathe; mill; MIG, TIG and oxy welding gear; metal folder and other tools. Julian lives in a hamlet 80 kilometres north of Canberra, Australia. He is married to Georgina, a training company manager, and they have a son, Alexander who is 15 years old. Also in the family are Victor the sheep and Ar-Chee the cat!
