It looked very sharp for a nine-year-old car. The still shiny ’91 Camry came in running fine, on its own with no obvious problems – no misses, no smoke, nothing scraping, banging, flapping, clanking or dragging. It was clean as a whistle and rustless entirely. So why did the man behind the wheel look so […]
The recent SAE Future Transportation Technology Conference in Costa Mesa, California, provided information on hybrid electric vehicles, 42-volt electrical systems, alternate fuel and fuel cell technology, Intelligent Data Bus (IDB) and OBD-II+ systems. All of these technologies will (perhaps) find their way into new vehicles in the not-too distant future. However, I believe the Intelligent […]
When you are the world’s greatest automotive detective, you meet all kinds of guys. Well, guys like Dave. That’s Dave as in “Dave’s Transmission City,” formerly “Dave’s Lifetime Brake & Muffler,” still earlier “Dave’s International Auto Repair,” “Dave’s Dependable Towing,” “Dave’s Quality Detailing” and so on back through a long chain of sequentially failed automotive […]
To a ‘civilian,’ a no-start seems like the most frustrating and difficult of all car problems. It’s always unexpected and inconvenient. And entirely inexplicable! After all, ‘didn’t the engine start fine thousands of times before, with the same gas in the tank and the same key in the ignition slot, just like now? Doesn’t it […]
Part Three of our Business Software series (Import Service, October 2000) described how to export data from shop management programs with built-in export utilities. This month’s column describes how to retrieve data when your shop management program lacks an export utility, as well as how to import data into Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Access. Please […]
The Parthenon, Buckminster Fuller intoned, splendid an edifice as it is, dominating the Acropolis at Athens, a most fitting monument of classical Greece, the very symbol of the best in European culture, makes a damned poor radiator for a supposedly aerodynamic roadgoing vehicle. His own admirably egg-shaped “Dymaxion Car,” however, boasting front wheel drive and […]
Can you expand what you learn from these kinda of hair-pulling problems to help you not only with the unlikely case of repeat of the same automotive glitch, but to learn as much as you can about the best ways to approach unpredicatable and difficult technical problems across the board, wasting minimal time and coming […]
When we talk about CV joint service, it’s usually just a matter of deciding when to replace a cracked boot or a noisy joint. Customers rarely spot a CV joint problem for themselves, unless they drive until a damaged joint fails completely and disables the vehicle. That’s why it’s important to inspect the CV joints […]
Part Two of our “Front Counter Mechanics” series on Business Software (September 2000) described how to create a customer mailing list using Microsoft Excel. If you have built an excel spreadsheet, you know that project is comparatively easy; the real work comes in filling in the data. If your repair business is like most others, […]
Well, not quite. Ever get brake fluid on your hands? Well, natch, a person can’t be too fussy about spilling a little stuff here and there, as long as you keep it off paint that shows. But it does quite a number on your skin. Please log in below to view content. If you haven’t […]