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23 August 2019 · Motoring Tips & Advice

Understanding the Parts in Your Car's Computer | Phil Gilbert Hyundai

Understanding the Parts in Your Car's Computer

Take a look at your Hyundai vehicle, and what do you see? Underneath it all, you’ll find that your car is actually just a collection of connected computers. Almost all the parts of the car are controlled by a system of CPUs, connectors, and operating systems. They come with four wheels attached, to get you around, but otherwise, they’re not too different to the device you’re using to read this blog.

Why Do We Use This Technology Over Older Mechanical Systems?

Your car’s electronic systems are far superior to the older mechanical ones they used to run on.

Like any other computer, the one in your car processes inputs and executes complex functions. This gives it a level of adaptability not possible with mechanical systems, whether that’s changing driving conditions or your own driving patterns.

What position should the accelerator be in to make gear shifting smoother? What is the best timing for the spark plugs, and how long should the fuel injector be open? As a complex and self-learning computer, your car makes millions of tiny calculations under varying environmental and internal conditions, to give you the best possible power delivery, fuel economy and overall performance.

A Guide to The Parts in Your Car’s Computer

Some aspects of your car’s computer include:

  • Analogue-to-digital converters: These take analogue voltage inputs from sensors, such as the oxygen sensor, and converts it to a 10-bit digital number the processor can understand.
  • Digital outputs: These allow the processor to send commands to individual parts of the engine.
  • Digital-to-analogue converters: These are for engine parts that only receive commands in analogue voltage.
  • Communication chips: These allow high-speed communication between different modules of the computer.

What does your Car’s Computer Do?

Some examples of what the computer does are:

  • Fire the spark plugs.
  • Open and close the fuel injectors.
  • Turn the cooling fan on and off.
  • Control the transmission and camshaft systems.
  • Adapt the idle speed.
  • Ensure compliance with pollution emissions laws.

Your car also has built-in systems to runs diagnostics on engine abnormalities. It monitors engine parameters such as speed, air pressure, temperature and voltage, as well as car parts such as the throttle, brakes, steering and ventilation.

What this means for you is, your car is working to help you or your mechanic work out what’s broken.

What Could Go Wrong with Car Computers?

At times, things can still go wrong with your car’s computer. These range from electrical shorts in the sensor circuits, which can overload or damage the computer, to malfunctioning sensors giving the wrong inputs. The engine light will go on to notify you when the computer detects a problem.

Your car’s performance is fundamentally tied to its computer, which is unique to its manufacturer brand. If any issues arise, make sure you have your Hyundai vehicle service done by specialist Hyundai mechanics.

Service Your Car's Computer with Phil Gilbert Hyundai

At the Phil Gilbert Hyundai dealership, we understand and are experienced in automotive electronics systems for all Hyundai models, as well as doing all our diagnoses and repairs with official Hyundai spare parts. Visit our website to book a service with us today.