KEEP COOL WITH FIRST LINE
New Products And Great Advice For Workshops
Cooling components from First Line provide factors and their workshop customers with arguably the largest and most accessible range of matching original equipment products in the country. The latest additions include 15 temperature housing units and almost 30 temperature sender units, which will provide the solution for most vehicles entering the workshop.
Alongside a commitment to continuously expand its product range, First Line is also dedicated to support the workshop with sound advice to help them improve the quality of their work and their reputation among their customers. For this reason, First Line always recommend that technicians follow best practice when undertaking any job and cooling system service or repair is no different.
Of the many advances made to the cooling system of the modern vehicle, the coolant itself is perhaps the most dramatic. No longer is it a ‘universal’ product; instead it is a specific component that now even comes with its own dedicated part number. Using the wrong formulation, or watering the coolant down can lead to potentially severe consequences to the cooling components.
As vehicle manufacturers seek to meet the emission and fuel consumption targets demanded by the European Union, many of the components they use are designed to help reduce the overall weight of the vehicle. As a result many thermostat housings are now made of plastic, which while effective in reducing kerb weight can be prone to fracture as they age, particularly as they are subject to enormous heat variation and vibration due to the fact that they are often mounted on the engine.
It is as a response to this problem that First Line has introduced a range of thermostat housing units to cover the most common part numbers, perhaps the most notable of which is the FTS1015 used on the Ford Focus and Maverick.
Technicians need to check for the tell-tale signs of a fracture, which will not necessarily reveal itself as a pool of coolant on the workshop floor, but more likely as a shinny residue left on the engine surface where the coolant has run and has been evaporated by the heat from the engine. Sometimes it can run into the engine under tray, which means that the first the driver will know about the problem is when the temperature gauge on the dash rises sharply toward the red zone.
Another component that is prone to failure, generally due to their age or because of damage to their wires, is the temperature sender unit. These units are usually located in the thermostat housing unit and communicate with the vehicle’s ECU to ensure that the correct engine temperature is maintained by regulating the cooling system.
The temperature sender unit should be one of the technician’s first ports-of-call before changing the thermostat. They can be checked using an oscilloscope or with specific diagnostic equipment; otherwise it’s a case of fitting a replacement and testing the vehicle.
First Line’s range of 29 temperature sender units will cater for the vast majority of likely failures with the two most popular part numbers being FTS3001 for VAG group vehicles including the Audi A3, A4, A6 and Golf MKIV and FTS3007 fitted to vehicles such as Alfa 156, Citroen Relay, Fiat Ducato, GM Astra G and H.
For more information concerning the complete range of First Line’s cooling products, call the sales team on: 01869 248484 or visit: www.firstline.co.uk
ENDS
For further information relating to this press material, please contact Steve Coombes on: 01753 650004 or e-mail: steve@chicanemarketing.co.uk
Chicane is an established PR agency with a particular specialism in the automotive aftermarket and the motorsport industry.
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