No matter where we live, these are difficult and crazy times. If you are like many of us, you have one or more cars that are not getting as much action as they normally do. In many ways, this is great. Less wear and tear, less need for maintenance, hardly…
Electrical system diagnosis and repair is tricky business to begin with. Parasitic drains, intermittent faults and inefficient/improper grounds are just a few of the ways technicians can get drawn down the wrong diagnostic rabbit hole. This was true even for vehicles from the turn of the millennium, when system design…
This month, we are featuring a guest article from Tanner Brandt. Tanner is the owner of Tanner’s Auto Clinic, a mobile diagnostic and programming business. He also teaches for CARQUEST Technical Institute and Worldpac Technical Institute and is a guest contributor to VehicleServicePros.com. “Helping to better the automotive industry through…
It might seem like batteries are somewhat unpredictable, and in some ways, they can be. While the two most common killers of batteries are heat and time, winter cold is often the final straw that exposes underlying battery weakness. And it doesn’t always take a polar vortex to cause battery…
There are dozens, maybe even hundreds, of options when looking for a battery maintainer for your car, truck, boat, ATV or other vehicle. It can be confusing to choose among all those options, especially when there are many different approaches to this seemingly simple task. For many reasons, we’d say…
Once only found in the realm of hybrid-electric models, Stop-Start systems have now become common technology found on luxury and economy vehicles alike. Many vehicle systems were rethought and revamped as a part of the adoption of engine Stop-Start, with both mechanical and electrical components having to change to accommodate…
We have been saying for several years that, if you own an older battery charger, you should be seriously thinking about replacing it. There were many reasons for us to make this suggestion, but we believe that those reasons have now hit such critical mass that the time really is…
A few years ago, we posted an article about the need for clean power during diagnosis and on-vehicle maintenance and repair. This includes diagnosing electrical system components, such as fuses, relays and more. It also includes repairs to electronic systems, such as electronic brake jobs, which would be severely disrupted…