When it comes to service and repair on today’s advanced vehicles, it is critical to formulate and constantly refine your diagnostic game plan. Vehicle technology is increasingly complex. A logical, consistent diagnostic process that utilizes the key tools at your disposal can be the difference between diagnostic success and failure.…
Winter often means dead battery season. You might be cruising along with your battery getting the job done and things seem just fine. Then, the mercury drops and suddenly your battery just can’t give your car what it needs any longer. Time for a new battery. You’ve got this… right?…
Do you have someone in your life who lives for engine revving, vehicle restoration, torque specs or the smell of exhaust fumes? Or, are you someone who falls into these categories? If so, we have a few holiday gift ideas to get excited about. For fun, we decided to break…
This month, we take a dive into three critical areas of change related to the repair and maintenance of vehicle starting and charging systems: module reprogramming, ADAS system repair and recalibration, and Start-Stop systems. Each of these areas are evolving quickly and all have major impacts to the equipment needed…
“Every system on the vehicle has undergone a technological transformation – including the fundamental battery and charging system. The higher demands of “Start-Stop” technology, the advances in charging system strategies, and the introduction of new battery designs all require today’s shop owner and technician to be up-to-date on diagnostic and…
In modern vehicle design, 5-volt reference signals/circuits are a key aspect of vehicle command and control. As summarized by Gary Goms, the 5-volt reference signal typically “flows through a sensor containing a resistance that varies according to changes in temperature, pressure or position. Due to this variable resistance, the signal…
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…