This past week I was invited to sit in on an advisory panel for Lincoln Technical Institute in Whitestone, Queens. The purpose of this panel was to tour the school and offer feedback on the program. The facility is state of the art and the program is an excellent start for young technicians wanting to get into the business. I was honored to be asked for my opinion on various subjects during the feedback sessions. Just wanted to say thank you to the people over at Lincoln Tech for the invite. I am hopeful for the future of the automotive industry and the automotive technician.
Speaking of the future and feedback. I am at the seven month mark with my Ottotest scantool. Look for an unabashed detailed review of this scantool real soon. Future articles also include more fun with a low amp probe including more fuel pump patterns as well as checking ignition low amp patterns. Also, a blast from the past Lexus odyssey, GM Class 2 issues caused by a "chia pet", an Audi evap issue, and two similiar Caravans with different end results. I think I will also detail a "day in the life" of a mobile diagnostic guy like myself. Any suggestions for articles? Feel free.
Hey John, I would like to see an article that has a very strong focus on direction and reasoning behind some of your thought process. With most of the articles, we follow you on your diagnostic path, but many times throughout the article, I find myself asking, “OK, so what made you go left instead or right. What was your reasoning for doing this particular test over another?”
ReplyDeleteOr as an example, a vehicle has the symptom of running rather rough at low speed. There are no codes stored in any modules so you decided to hook up the scope and check ignition wave forms. But why are we checking ignition or starting here? I would love to know the thinking behind such decisions.
“Why are we even checking ignition patterns in the first place? ...Here’s some background info for ya. I chose to look at ignition wave forms because it’s the easiest to do on this particular vehicle. Essentially, a vehicle needs good spark, fuel, compression, smooth air flow (into and out of engine) and proper timing to run properly. Any anomalies in any of these systems and the vehicle could run poorly. Why am I going high tech and using the scope when I could use a traditional spark tester? Well a spark tester is typically good for finding problematic cylinders with dead misfires. It will let you know whether you have spark or no spark. It’s sometimes difficult to identify weak spark or even intermittent spark issues using only a spark tester. With a scope, ignition issues can be pin pointed rather quickly and easily. With an amp probe, ignition current patterns can be viewed for all cylinders at once to quickly identify whether an issue exists in the ignition system or not”.
This may result in more typing and explanation but helps our understanding of some of your diagnostic decisions.
On another note, have you thought of making youtube videos like scannerdanner? Maybe some google hangout sessions to answer some questions or share experiences?
Thank you for this awesome blog, and your efforts.