Feature Articles

SEMA/ASE Installer Certification Program

SEMA/ASE Installer Certification Program

Showing Customers That Technicians are Proficient and Professional Trust may be the greatest sales tool available to any business. When customers feel that they are treated fairly by well-qualified technicians, they not only return to that service but also spread the...

Don’t Wreck the Tire Pressure Monitoring System

Don’t Wreck the Tire Pressure Monitoring System

Even though these systems are relatively new, you’ll get tire work on them any day now. Don’t embarrass yourself. What drove the development of TPMS was governmental concern that the average driver underestimated the critical role of the tire/pavement interface, and...

Resource: iATN

Resource: iATN

A few “quick fixes” from the shop. Simply stated, the International Automotive Technicians’ Network, www.iATN.net, is a group of nearly 50,000 automotive professionals representing 136 countries. But it’s more than that. It’s a community. Like all communities, it has...

Electronic Engine Tuning

Electronic Engine Tuning

Performance and Economy Through Engine Management. The advent of electronic engine-management controls to help reduce emissions brought about a revolution in efficiency in the automotive world. With engine control units (ECU) and various sensors located throughout the...

Another Mystery Solved: Hesitating Corola with MIL

Another Mystery Solved: Hesitating Corola with MIL

In every issue, the “Auto Tech on Wheels” will be giving Master Technician readers his unique perspective on diagnostics, and real-world accounts of how he’s solved mysterious problems. I was called in to a shop for a complaint of hesitation accompanied by an...

$02 Takes on Mode $06: Using Ford Mode $06 Data

$02 Takes on Mode $06: Using Ford Mode $06 Data

Some techs swear by Mode $06, while others see no value in it. Both views are extreme, but we believe it's quite useful in certain circumstances. Just about every technician has encountered intermittent driveability issues on Ford vehicles from time to time. Sometimes...

Bye Bye Brake Lathe?

Bye Bye Brake Lathe?

Not quite, but there's definitely a trend toward replacement. Here's why... Our brake lathe went in the trash,” a Mercedes-Benz service manager tells Master Technician. A veteran brake trainer says, “Within the next five years, you won’t see a brake lathe in a shop.”...

Different Diesels are Definitely Due

Different Diesels are Definitely Due

New technologies and evolved fuels are making the compression-ignition engine more acceptable in terms of performance and emissions, and rising fuel prices assure a big demand that will put more and more on our roads soon. Leroy Robert “Satchel” Paige, the legendary...

Daily Decisions:  Choosing the Right Antifreeze

Daily Decisions: Choosing the Right Antifreeze

It's about time somebody came right out and told the whole story as plainly as possible, and was willing to take the inevitable flak. Remove a radiator cap today and you might think you’re on an acid trip — you’ll see green, gold, yellow, orange, pink, red, or even...

Practical Uses of Mode $06

Practical Uses of Mode $06

Round out your diagnostic skills. As I worked to get a handle on the presentation of Mode $06 at a technician’s level, I was reminded of a slide in one of my PowerPoint presentations that announces, “The lab scope allows the technician to look inside the...

Hidden Danger: Replacement Relays

If it plugs in, it's right, right? Not Hardly Figure 1 In a recent training session on troubleshooting relay circuits held in a fleet repair shop, I asked the foreman to bring a couple of standard replacement relays to class for discussion. After examining the two he...