“WHERE’S YOUR ‘POWERTRAIN’ OF THOUGHT?” Joshua Jones, on-| Koo wedoe ie, bevombased Garage Manager for the AA, explains why @ ‘ed approach to vehicle troubleshooting can help to eliminate much of the guesswork that so often leads to expensive mistakes. find it absolutely fascinating to ook at the diferent ways that we, as technicians, go about handling the task of tracing a vehicle fault tits origin. I ‘guess there are 3s many different avenues to take onthe road to diagnosis as there are automotive engineers — even when most of ws ‘were trained in largely the same way initially (One thing I'm particularly interested in is how we choose to maintain and grow our knowledge base and hone our approach to rectifying vehicle faults quickly and ficiently ~ something we all need to do in order to stay employed or be financially stable within this industry. Creating demand T've leamed during my career that my skills as someone that can answer a vehicle problem enguiry ~ either physically oF verbally ~ is basically what eas me money and creates demand for my employment. Granted, there are other experience-based skills attached, such as good customer interfacing skills, strong sales techniques, being approachable et., but there are 2 lot of people out there with these abilities. What sets us apart, I believe, is our ability to solve automotive problems for people. ‘The majority of my eater has been spent ‘with the pavement, s driveway othe hard shoulder as my workshop. For anyone that has spent time trying to find tat dodgy relay oF igure out which colts, you'k ‘know the extra strain it can place on your brain whist thinking about something that ‘ost people would describe as furly ‘complex. In my job ther is also nearly always the nest customer wating for your assistance, soon top ofthe aforementioned surroundings, there is the unstoppable force that is ime. This these things that have made me realise just how important it isto have a good idea of how you will attack a ticky question before you start to try and find the answer. In a technological world that is evolving st petrfying pace, building confidence in out knowledge of vehicle systems is absolutely paramount if we'te to remain valuable as, professionals. T've always felt the want to know more about the way cars work and learning about them has been an enjoyable and exciting journey, as opposed to being something I just ‘oto pay the bills. This approach has stood re in good stead financially and, as importantly, morally. I enjoy what Ido! TROUBLESHOOTER DIAGNOSTIC S Mae aS yen “Building confidence in our knowledge of vehicle systems is absolutely paramount if we're to remain valuable as professionals.” Drawing a blank? ‘So where am I going with all ofthis? Wel, ‘while observing different approsches that we hhave it's clear that some people struggle ‘more than others when it comes to diagnosis. of faults, with some technicians frustrated by the feeling of ‘drawing a blank” and not necessarily knowing the thing to test, or replace, next. ‘When we struggle i's often easier to shy vay of even worse, pues tthe case ofthe fault, Having been inthis situation alot in ry carly twenties, it drove me to establish a knowledge base of vehicle systems that has allowed me to feel confident in finding 2 ‘component x be faulty (or no) and being assured enough to rue it outa a case. then move on, getting closer tothe cause systematically PMM DECEMBER 2016 15TROUBLES NOSTIC From my experience tere seems tobe ‘ovo main ways tat technician diagnose cars the knowledge based approach and the memory based approach Memory bank ‘The memory-based spprosch iso _you'l often hear comments like: meters always go on these, 80 is probably that" or “this model was always a nightmare for those filing”. Don' get me wrong, ‘common fault databases and past experiences both play a vital pat, but what if you're the {ist technician to experience that particular airflow meter fault o the fault is too new to be on the ‘probable faults’ ist? Isat this point that some technicians will cary on investigating, while others will change a part ‘and hope it the right choice ~ for them and their customers sake, Knowledge is power For those of us that carry on investigating, 1 believe we use the knowledge-based ‘approach, which requires the basic ‘understanding of the system we're testing. A ‘good example of this approach is when You're asked to investigate a fault on a car 16 DECEMBER 2016 PAM through unning symptoms and an iluminated EML. You give the car a visual inspection under the bonnet and check the ei to make sure that thing blindingly obvious ‘as oceurred. Then you rach forthe sean tool and interrogate the engine contro uit for DTCs where you might find a code in the system: "Manifold pressure sensor signal Jmplausible'. At this point he two diferent spproaches — oF ‘powertrain of thought ~ «an potentially come int play If you use the memory-based approach ‘you could check your own head tose if you've experienced tis problem before and try to recall what the cure was, Altematively you could check your compute to see if there is'a technical bulletin that relates to this DTC. But let's say there are no related bulletins and ‘you don't reall seeing this problem befor what do you do next? Replace the MAP sensor? I's the most likely outcome, right? ‘The knowledge-based approach at this point would take a diferent path, a the technician carrying out this example task would immediately ask hinvherself: “What ‘could cause this fault code to be triggered?” Our knowledge would tell us straight away that there isa ist of different explanations for Praeeued OR Roe Wd tf mere Pr) Erica Dl eee a od understanding of the Pe tu eke this DTC being triggered and we have to tick them off one-by-one as not being the caused normaly deserbe his 8 "find what i 08 and youl rive at what is" ‘We ean create this ist in our heads by simply understanding the principles in which MAP sensor works: piczo erystal inside it is used to change a voltage output based on the atmospheric pressure itis placed i, The contol unit uses this varying output to know how much pressure is preset in the inte stem ofthe engine I've, in turn, have basic knowledge ofthe ‘ther components of the powstrin in exactly the same way, we can conjure uni ‘our brains of how a fault with on an eause a knock-on effet to aa in tiegering a DTC. For instance we s0 kr the basic way in which a MAP sens operates, and if we also know that « tore flap ona diesel engine is primarily ins ad to reduce pressure in an intake system ding engine shutdown in an effort to enhance Smoothness as the engine comes to a halt, we could put two and two together and assume that ifa throttle fap were to even pantally close atthe wrong time, pethaps with the engine idling then tis could make the “MAP rentscror irl inpaus Moving on om th we we kn the wa in which a throttle flap iy ap sopra mest vehicles, ten we codes ae? eradicate it as a cause a for fa I've keep doing this with al teeter lac omponets hat cove cased our woule code, we nearly always anv tthe cp THIS isa knowledge based sprout Weekly workout My adic hoe tat vant to improv owledge shat you can dgetone ce, etiatraon sec on how ee ea ‘tin ho pce fe youre math mor confident al ptm a ‘elenpowered meses may have excped your note tat nt oe daring my explanation of ts way of doing things dT mention a specif bad o model of vehi, that is becuse onc and then ak and apes 9 pty A MAP sensor on « Mira works in avery similar way othe ones used on a McLaren; if you Know ths way it works on a Mira then {You know how it works ona McLaren, 3 you can test away knowing what you'te locking for. believe that by conducting ourselves this ay we can cut out a huge amount of “guess work’ and increase revene by feling confident about charging for ove ime, So, if you're already using the knowledge: ‘based approsch then I salute you. Ifyou prefer to take the memory-based route then Why not temps to digest some extra knowledge? ess readily available these days, through the fteret,tining courses and magazines (ike PAM) that update ws on the way things work, so we can use them ‘decide if component requies repair replacement “The joumey may have just started for you, butts one that hope you'l find as exiting ast have! pee Ne AXONE Ne! TEXA’s New Flagship Product ‘The AONE Nemo redefines the curent world of diagnostic tools with its extraordinary technical features, The revolutionary AKONE Nemo features: Lenesoye nt + Windows 10 Operating System. + Arugged magnesium housing + An ultra-wide 12 inch capacitive screen + Gorilla Glass protection + Designed to Mill. STDB10G specification + Water resistant + New Powerful IDCS Software ‘TEXA have created a tool that is prepared for the future and believes the AKONE Nemo achieves this ‘with its interchangeable modules for connectivity. 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