SEMA/ASE Installer Certification Program: Showing Customers That Technicians Are Proficient and Professional
Showing customers that technicians are proficient and professional.
Electronic Engine Tuning
Performance and economy through engine management.
Subaru AWD: Various Varieties
After more than 30 years of producing All-Wheel Drive vehicles, Subaru now offers five configurations to best suit the needs of the vehicle and driver.
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
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...
The Legal Side of Exhaust Systems
A look at the vagaries of sound, emissions and warranty issues.
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
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
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
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?
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
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
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...
Leaking, Weeping, and Sweeping: The Ongoing Saga of GM Intake Gasket Failures – The Big Picture of this Perennial Problem
The continuing saga of GM intake gasket failures.
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...
StarTuned September 2006
In this issue: Electrical Basics, Part 2; Finding Leaks; Putting Air on the Scale; Sprechen Sie Deutsch?; Factory Service Bulletins
Mercedes-Benz Factory Service Bulletins: Rear Axle Noise; Rough Idle, Code P201 A/B; Power Outlet Failure
These suggestions and solutions for technical problems are from service bulletins and other information published by Mercedes-Benz, selected and adapted for independent repair shops.
Sprechen Sie Deutsch?
Knowing a little German goes a long way when servicing Mercedes-Benz vehicles.
Riding the BMW CAN Bus – Faster, Lighter, More Reliable, and Cheaper
Faster, lighter, more reliable, and cheaper
BMW TechDrive September 2006
In this issue:
Riding the CAN BUS
In the Tank
Monitoring Tire PSI