REVENUE
GENERATING
OPPORTUNITIES
Hybrid Service
www.VehicleServicePros.com DECEMBER 2017 PROFESSIONAL TOOL & EQUIPMENT NEWS 53
Hybrid vehicles bring with them
new dangers to the technicians who have
to work on them. While hybrid vehicle
manufacturers designed these vehicles
with an eye on fuel efficiency, Peter
Zaidel, product manager, KPA, notes
that the manufacturers also focused on
the safety of service technicians.
KPA (www.kpaonline.com) is a
nationwide leader in environmental and
safety compliance programs for vehicle
and equipment dealers.
He recommends sharing these
fundamental safety basics for serving
hybrids with service technicians:
1. How to identify a vehicle as
a hybrid.
Almost all hybrids share three
common identifiers, says Zaidel. They
are: Hybrid badging on the body of the
vehicle, typically the rear right section
and under-hood identifiers, including
the extra motor and the inverter; the
“Ready” indicator inside the vehicle
in the ignition area; and orange highvoltage
power cables.
2. How to determine if the hybrid
vehicle is really turned off.
“This may be the single most important
safety factor for service technicians
working in a shop where there
are hybrid vehicles, because the hybrid
system is silent when running on battery,”
Zaidel points out. “Hybrid systems
can automatically turn themselves off
and on, switching between the highvoltage
battery and the gasoline engine,
so it is easy for the technician to be
unpleasantly surprised that a vehicle
thought to be ‘off’ is in fact ‘on.’”
He advises that technicians should
observe the following service protocols:
A hybrid is not necessarily powered off
until it is verified that the vehicle is
powered down; keep vehicle keys a safe
distance from the hybrid (more than 20’
as many hybrids have a keyless ignition,
with on/off sensitivity up to 20’ away
from the vehicle) and always check the
vehicle dashboard hybrid indicator to
ensure the vehicle is truly “off” before
any kind of work is performed on it.
3. How to protect one’s self from
high voltage.
While the amount of voltage and
amperage in hybrid vehicles is enough
to be fatal if a technician comes in contact
with the high-voltage circuits, the
high-voltage system does not ground to
the body or the chassis, but rather is isolated
from the vehicle body completely,
says Zaidel. A technician would have to
touch pole-to-pole or become part of the
circuit for an injury to occur.
To read the full article, visit:
VEHICLESERVICEPROS.COM/12256989
SERVICE NEW-
AND PREVIOUSGENERATION
HYBRIDS
The Engine Clean
Solutions Hybrid
Brake Fluid Exchange
Machine will service
previous generation
braking systems in addition
to the newest generation
of electric and hybrid
vehicles that require high pressures to
bleed regenerative braking systems. This
machine provides variable air pressure and
suction for both new and used fluids from
1 psi to 100 psi. Once this machine is connected
to the brake reservoir, technicians
can perform a complete fluid exchange in
under 10 minutes.
Circle 122 on card, or enter at “e-inquiry” on
VehicleServicePros.com
Hybrid vehicle
servicing hazards
There are a number of safety precautions to
consider when servicing hybrid vehicles.
by David A. Kolman, Contributing Editor
FIND MORE ONLINE
TECH TIP TECH TIP
WHAT CAN CAUSE LIMITED
PERFORMANCE IN A HYBRID
VEHICLE?
While performance may not be the
first thing that comes to mind when
you hear the work “hybrid” it is likely
that you will eventually have one in
your shop with a complaint of reduced
performance.
Read more online:
VEHICLESERVICEPROS.COM/12009619
SAFETY TO CONSIDER WHEN
MEASURING VOLTAGES OF
HYBRIDS
Always use a DMM with minimum
safety rating of CATIII 1000V.
Read more online:
VEHICLESERVICEPROS.COM/10915349
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/(www.kpaonline.com)
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