Do You Know Automotive Lingo Common Acronyms Explained MAF ABS TPMS SRS IAC

In this video, I want to talk to you about common automotive tech lingo.

So in this video, we want to talk to you about just car lingo that has like acronyms, like TPMS and what it stands for. It stands for tire pressure monitoring system. Now that is what runs in everybody's tires, little sensors and they tell you the tire pressure instantly, and it's activated by like magnets and it runs to the PCM and it tells the PCM, knows what it's supposed to be for pressure. And it gives a little bit of a window, whether it's -5 or -3 PSI, plus PSI. And then when it goes below that your light comes on.

So, 'nother common one is MAF. Maybe you hear us talking and we're talking about, "Oh, we're going to replace mass airflow sensor or a MAF sensor." Mass airflow. It is, what nowadays in computer cars, runs the air-fuel ratio sensors. So carburetors, you used to have your little mixture screws, maybe you've heard of people talking about how they mix the carburetor screws so that you can ratio...the air and fuel mixture is perfect so your car runs great. Well, now it's electronically controlled, so it's a MAF. Mass airflow. So that is located in the engine compartment, right off of the airbox because that's where the airflow is going into the throttle body where the fuel injection is and that's where it ties us into the IAC, idle air control. So that does the same thing. It mixes the air with the fuel and knows on your acceleration whether you're going fast, slow, whether it's cold out or warm out. And it tells it how to mix the air-fuel ratio, gets readings from that and that, and they all work together. So these are just words I'm trying to use. So maybe if you look up parts someday and you're looking on a site and it says...it might give you an acronym. Now you know what it stands for. Maybe you just want to know.

ETC, electronic temperature control. That is probably more of old days. Some of the new cars, they take it from all different sources. But ETC was a sensor, sometimes it was a single wire when it first started, then it became two, three. I think it's up to four wires now in some of the high-end cars and it tells the computer inside what the temperature of the engine is so it knows where your idle should be, where it used to be a choke before operating that, tells it whether it needs a high idle. And once again, it communicates with everything that gives it air-fuel ratio, IAC, mass airflow sensor, gives it all that reading, all works together. Your car is like a circus of things just going constantly talking to each other. You think your phone's fast, car's faster.

ABS, automatic braking system. Everybody has one. You all know about it now. Some of you don't like it, some don't even know it before that. They've only had ABS. So it's come a long way. Let me tell you when it first came out, was not...it wasn't the greatest device. They had the idea, and now they've mastered it. What it does is obviously equalizes the pressure to each wheel during a panic stop or if you're sliding when you just apply the brakes if you drive where ice and snow is and it starts to skid, it'll actually lock one wheel up, release the other, lock this one up. It does it so that your car stays in a straight line whether you know how to do it or not, whether you're not panicking or if you are.

SRS, a lot of people don't know what that stands for. You see it on your dash, right? Especially if you're a passenger, you see this little SRS in the corner, or sometimes you see it on the pillars on the side of the seat. It means supplemental restraint system, airbags, basically, bang. The seatbelt and how it reacts, that has a sensor in it. So when you jerk the car, stop real fast, boop, waits for impact, goes to the impact sensors too. And it all ties in together and it says to its own little computer system by itself, "Hey, we're just gonna...coming into an accident." Split-second it knows, poof, there goes the airbags. And that's what that stands for. That is what SRS is. It's not a great stereo system.

MPG. We all might think, "Oh, well, everyone knows that." But you would be surprised how many people say to me, "I don't even know what that means." Miles per gallon is what it means. It's just basically telling you what you're getting for gas mileage, miles per gallon.

ECO. I know a lot of you don't know what this means because sometimes I can't even remember. I don't memorize this. Economical mode. I know what it does, but I'm like I had to look it up. I know what ECO does, but I don't know what the E stands for. Well, that's what it stands for, economical mode. I know, we're not the guys that make up all this language up in the upper seats, but what it stands for is your transmission learns and knows how to give you better fuel economy. Because they're so tightly adjusted now, transmissions with the computer systems and the pressure systems, I mean, they're 6, they're are 8-speeds now in some vehicles. But we all were used to 4-speeds or 5-speeds, now we might have, say, a 4 on the shifter where it just says D. They could have a 6 or an 8 automatic transmission speed, so it's so smooth you don't even feel it shifting anymore. So when you're deaccelerating on the highway or you're going at a steady speed, that transmission automatically drops down to a nice even mode. Not a high gear ratio so it's not using up your fuel, just gives it a low-energy mode. But it's there, boop, when you give it gas to get out of the way, takes ECO right off, right on the dash, ECO just disappears, if you have it.

A/T. Well, some people don't know it's not on the car, it might be on the dipstick, if you have one. And also when you go shopping for stuff, like your fluids, it just says A/T fluid, stands for automatic transmission. That's what it stands for, automatic transmission.

Now, this is a good one. I get so many questions about, "I have four-wheel drive." I'm like, "Well, you really don't have four-wheel drive. You'd have to have a button." In my world, you should have a button if you have four-wheel drive. And now they're changing all the rules around. I mean, if you're paying attention to the cars nowadays, they're making a Mustang. It's now it's just SUV. It's really a car, but no, they change that rule too. Now it's an SUV. Well, as far as I'm concerned, if you have all-wheel drive it means all-wheel drive. It's just common sense, right? All-wheel drive all the time. You don't have a switch to take it on and off. You don't have an option. It's just there, all-wheel drive. All four wheels are spinning with power to them at the same time. Four-wheel drive, we'd have a button to take it out to make it two-wheel drive.

Last but not least, a lot of people will go, "VIN, what's a VIN?" That's the number, but do you know what it stands for? Vehicle identification number, that's all it stands for. It's that simple. And on a car, you should have two locations on any cars in the United States. There's one on the glass right in front of the driver. It's a steel plate. And there's one in the driver's door, sometimes on a plate or a sticker mounted inside the door. A lot of European cars actually have it attached to the motor, on top of that, they have it in the trunk. Like I know BMWs, a lot of ID numbers are in the trunk, Mercedes too, on top of the glass. And the door, they'll put them in the hidden places so technicians or dealerships know how to get to them.

I know it was a lot. It was a lot for me. Ugh, I'm exhausted from giving you all these little acronyms, but I hope that you learned, you know, one thing. And I want to give you a quick little, little like surprise at the end. I want to teach you one thing that you might not even know that maybe you say, "Oh my God, I was 42 on the day I learned it." Well, how old were you the day you learned what the arrow means on your gas gauge? Look at it. There is an arrow there. It doesn't say arrow, but there's a little divot or something. That actually tells you what side the gas cap is on. A lot of people don't know that. I thought I'd give you a little treat. We call that an Easter egg. Well, if you're not a subscriber, please subscribe, and don't forget to ring that bell because it turns on all your notifications, and that way, you won't miss any of our future videos.