The heating system warms the air brought into a vehicle’s interior. The heating system is connected to the cooling system and consists primarily of the heater core, heater valve, and, if equipped, a climate-control system.
Category: Glossary of Car Terms
What is HVAC?
HVAC is a mechanic’s term for your car’s ventilation system. The letters stand for Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning.
What is Heater Core?
The heater core is a miniature radiator that sits in the dashboard. When the heater is turned on, it opens the heater valve which lets hot coolant into the heater core, which then warms the air coming into the vehicle’s interior.
What is Heater Ducts?
The heater ducts are the tubes that connect the heater fan to the vents in your vehicle’s dashboard.
What is Hazard Relay?
The hazard relay controls the flashing of the hazard warning lights.
What is Heater Valve?
The heater valve is controlled by the interior heating controls. When you turn on your vehicle’s heat, the valve opens and allows hot coolant to enter the heater core, which then warms the air entering your vehicle’s interior.
What is Ignition Condenser?
The condensor soaks up excess electrical energy in an ignition system that has points. This prevents that extra energy from jumping across the points when they first open and close.
What is Ignition Module?
Part of the ignition system which instructs the coil to send voltage to the distributor.
What is Ignition System?
The ignition system contains the components that supply spark to your vehicle’s spark plugs. These include the battery, the coil, the distributor (including the cap and rotor), the spark plug wires, the ignition module, and the spark plugs themselves. Older cars also have ignition points and an ignition condensor.
What is Manual Choke?
Manual chokes have a cable that lets the driver control the carburetor’s choke operation. Most newer cars with carburetors have automatic chokes instead of manual chokes.
What is Muffler?
The muffler is a part of the exhaust system designed to reduce the noise generated by a vehicle.
What is Misfire?
When incomplete or no combustion occurs in one or more cylinders due to improper fuel, ignition, cylinder compression, or air.
What is LSD?
Limited-Slip Differential (LSD). An LSD senses the slippage of each wheel it sends power to and redirects power to the wheel with the most grip. Many high-performance vehicles have LSDs.
What is Lug Nuts?
Lug nuts attach a car’s wheel to its hub.
What is Leakdown Test?
A leakdown test is used to find excessive wear in an engine. When a technician performs a leakdown test on your vehicle, each cylinder is tested to see how well it holds pressure. If a cylinder is unable to hold pressure, your technician can pinpoint what component of the cylinder (piston rings, valves, etc) has…
What is Liability Insurance?
Liability insurance is coverage only for damage that you inflict on other people or their possessions. It does not cover theft or damage to your vehicle.
What is Ignition Switch?
This is the switch where you insert the key that starts your vehicle.
What is Idle?
When your car is on but not moving, and you are not touching the gas pedal, it is idling. For instance, when you are waiting at a stop light, your car is idling.
What is Idle Circuit?
This is a special kind of circuit found in a carburetor that only operates when the engine is at an idle.
What is Intake Manifold?
The intake manifold goes between your vehicle’s fuel system and the cylinder head(s).