My first experience with what I might have called a hybrid was a project Dodge van that a friend recruited me to help him with back in the 1970s. We chopped it and sectioned it and channeled over the frame until it set no higher than today’s new Camaro and was mated to a Jaguar drive train. Clearly, this vehicle wasn’t a hybrid by today’s standards.

No matter what you think of when the word hybrid is mentioned, it’s obvious that more and more people are thinking “green” these days, and in turn those gas-saving hybrid vehicles are becoming increasingly popular. What that means for body shops is the increased likelihood of having to deal with unfamiliar E85 vehicles, gas/electric cars, dual fuel, HEV dual power modes, etc.

I’ll Pass, Thanks

In the past year, I was exposed to my first towed-in hybrid vehicle that had more than a minor dent to fix – a Honda Civic with about $9,000 of damage. I simultaneously saw a potential profit source and a potential disaster sitting in our tow lot. It was a direct repair situation, so it was just a matter of assessing the damage and repairing the vehicle. The job was basically sold, so all we had to do was repair the vehicle and make a fair profit, right?

I wrestled with whether to repair this vehicle for days. I considered the possibilities of someone (maybe even me!) getting hurt or causing damage to some of the onboard systems we were unfamiliar with. Those parts surely couldn’t be too expensive, could they? After all that brain-thumping, I decided to pass on the opportunity for some fast cash and allow someone with factory training and better access to service information to safely repair this vehicle.

It turns out my decision was a good one, as the vehicle ended up being declared a total loss ­– this hybrid version had a much higher value than a similar vehicle with a conventional drivetrain.

Safety First

More recently, GM jumped into the hybrid market with its award-winning Tahoe Hybrid. For my dealership to be allowed to sell these new “green machines,” someone from our shop had to take and pass a series of tests. These tests were comprised of 34 hour of computer-based training classes followed up by some hands-on classes that were only available in a few locations. On top of that, I had an eight-hour drive to the eight-hour class.

But it was worth it. I took and passed all the computer-based classes and dove into the hands-on classes, where we took transmissions apart, removed the large battery pack and performed diagnostic operations specific to the problems this new sophisticated creature might experience. We were now ready to sell this advanced vehicle.

Of course, we still had a few stepping stones to leap. The price on this hybrid hovered around $50,000, and we only had a few customers who wanted to buy one of these plush, eco-friendly rides. We ended up selling a few, and the customers we sold to seemed happy – they were getting a great SUV that wouldn’t break the bank if you had to drive it more than around the block. This seemed like a great idea, or at least a great stepping stone to a better future vehicle design.

A stepping stone it was. I recently looked on a GM Web site and saw that GM was preparing to introduce 14 hybrids by 2012. Some looked similar to the Tahoe, but some appeared to be “plug-in” models. I thought, “Oh great, none of this training I just received addressed plug-in models.” But still, the basic safety I learned should keep us safe.

Ready to Repair

Let me give you an example of a repair that my training helped us do. Within the last six months, a local gentleman we’ll call Roy had a collision with my boss. Roy was driving a Toyota Prius and asked if we could repair his vehicle. I knew I had taken enough classes to understand all the safety precautions we needed to take to make our technicians safe, so I agreed to accommodate Roy’s request.

Roy told me that he wanted to do the minimum repair and retain as much of his money as possible while allowing his vehicle to be completely serviceable.  

There were many things about this Prius that were strange to us in the shop. After all, it was a hybrid made by one of our competing automakers and had a preheater for  coolant, among other things. One thing we knew, though, was what to do to keep all fingers and any appendages from falling off while we worked on our friend’s Toyota.

Without taking hybrid training, we would have had no idea what we were dealing with. In addition to the 12-volt systems we were used to working on, we had many different voltages now, such as the 300-volt three-phase systems and the 42-volt steering system used on the Tahoe. You’ve surely worked on 12-volt DCs, but how many of you have worked on 300-volt three-phases? This may seem like just a number to you, but it’s deadlier than it sounds!

A Shocking Tale

Let me tell you a story about an electrical problem that I set out to fix for my friend. Although it didn’t involve a motor vehicle, it illustrates the differences and similarities between varying voltages.

My friend asked his brother (who worked for a utility company) to wire two lamps where he had one on his front porch. While at a family dinner, my friend asked if I would look at a peculiar problem he had with his new wiring project. He showed me how his new lights worked fine when he flipped the switch, but when he unscrewed the bulb in the fixture he was intending to do away with, all the lights went out. It didn’t take me long to realize he had what many of us think of as “Christmas Tree Light Syndrome.”

I told him that he had his lights wired in a series and, since he no longer wanted the old lamp, he could just wire across it inside the box it was in and it would work fine. As is always the case at family dinners, there happened to be another “expert” there. He asked me if I was sure it was wired in a series, and I said yes. He then asked me if I’ve ever worked on 300,000-volt systems, and I confessed I hadn’t but I was pretty sure that wasn’t the voltage we were working with here. If we needed an expert on 300,000 volts, I would have to call in my brother Jerry for advice. One thing was clear: 19th-century physicist Georg Ohm taught us that there is a direct proportion between the potential voltage applied across a conductor and the resultant electric current – a theory now known as Ohm’s law. Translated into plain English, this means you just have to be more careful with the higher voltages.

Now, if we were to ask Jerry what precautions to take with the 300-volt three-phase, he would probably say that you need Class 0 gloves and cat III leads on your test equipment – at least that’s what you need with the 300-volt three-phase system we have on our Tahoe. But with Jerry’s 300,000 volts, you might need additional protection. Just remember: You can never be too safe to save a life!
    
Worth the Time

I have to admit that I was happy I took the time to research these computer-based training classes because I learned so much new information. I was even glad to make the trek to the wonderful state of Texas for those hands-on classes. But I still wondered, “Will I ever use this plethora of information that I have been somehow compelled to retain here, or was this all a waste of time?” Looking back to the Honda and Toyota hybrids we actually did repair at an earlier date at my shop, I would have to say no. Learning what I did in those classes, I realized passing on the Honda Civic way back when was a smart decision. Now, we’re better educated on what we have to do to keep ourselves safe while disassembling and working on the new-to-me hybrid cars.

Do you have to know how to diagnose and repair any mechanical problems with hybrids in order to do collision repair on them? You can possibly get around that by subletting those repairs, but you better not try to get around learning the safety aspects of working on hybrids. These new vehicles offer plenty of new opportunities to hurt ourselves or others. I would rather continue learning to repair and make a dollar on these vehicles.
Always remember: Use extreme caution when dealing with these high voltage systems and stay safe!

10 Things to Remember When Working on Hybrids

1. There are many safety devices (interlocks, etc.) built into the two-mode hybrid, but your best defense against getting hurt is to use your head. Choose common sense over dangerous ideas. 2. Only cover the eyes you want to keep with safety glasses. Flying sparks are inevitable, especially if you short out a high-voltage circuit. 3. The high-voltage battery sounds less intimidating if you think of it as 40 battery modules with 7.2 volts each. But don’t let that fool you – it still adds up to 288 deadly volts just waiting to be unleashed if you make a mistake. 4. The service manual recommends working with one hand if possible to eliminate the possibility of both hands making you the conductor between their connections. 5. Orange may be pretty, but it’s deadly! On the GM Tahoe hybrid, the 300-volt system is always coded with orange wires. 6. Most people try to stay away from isolation (keeping the 300-volt system isolated from the frame and body structure), but with hybrid voltages, isolation could mean the difference between life or death. 7. Hybrids have regenerative properties when they roll and can generate their own electricity. If they’re pushed or rolled, they can charge the capacitors or batteries, making for a potentially shocking experience. 8. When disabling the high-voltage system, never assume that it’s officially disabled until you check the circuit for voltage with a quality meter. 9. If unsure whether a circuit is live, err on the side of caution and treat it as live. A live circuit could mean a dead technician! 10. It’s best when checking high-voltage circuits to use Class 0 gloves with a current certification stamp. Remember this by thinking the zero in Class 0 is exactly how much voltage you want to feel.

Contributing Editor Keith Combs is the body shop manager at Bill Roberts Chevrolet, where he’s been employed for more than 25 years. He was named GM/ASE Master Collision Repair/ Refinish Technician of the Year in 2000 and was one of the first to achieve GM’s World Class Technician status in 2002.