Gonzo

AWESOME!

Do it annually. In fact tie it to an already existing event such as the Vision convention in Kansas. If you've not been to this event it's pretty awesome. Lots of top notch instructors and classes you can attend as well as an expo with all the latest tools for sale or demo. The place is huge and I don't think you'd have a problem finding hotel space. There's at least 10 large hotels in a block area, and it's more or less central of the country for ASO members to fly or drive into. Here's an article I did on last years convention. http://www.gonzostoolbox.com/StoriesFolder/The-Best-of-the-Best.html

It makes ya wonder how many times the doctor didn't read the manual before doing an operation. LOL But, yes... a DIY'r or newbie auto mechanic straight off the lube rack might need to do more than just read the manual... time for some practical experience, and a few lessons from the old guys.

I was really trying to bring that exact point to the story. When do you draw the line? Not only how far should a DIY'r or a non qualified mechanic go before saying they've gone past their abilities, but.... to understand that before they start messin' around with the tools. Read first, labor second. The other part of the story is about how much time is spent on reading up on a repair, or for that matter how much time is spent just hooking up different scopes, leads, scanners, volt meters, etc... to diagnose something. There's no real book time for all of that. I've never read anywhere that stated .5 of an hour to find the best place to hook up the lab scope on no#3 injector. Some of these new GDI engines you can't even get close to the injector leads without a major tear down. Oh, and a mechanic... is a mechanic. A technician sounds like a lab coat guy. I try to write stories and spread both terms around so that everyone can call themselves what they want to call themselves. (It would make for an interesting story topic though.)

Manual Reading – Manual Labor Reading and interpreting a service manual is part of a typical day at the repair shop. Probably not the most glamorous part of it, but then what is? Of course, after all the book work you’re still not done. Now you have to take that information and turn it into a working repair and not just words on a page. Obviously, understanding what you’ve read is just as important as doing the actual work, and a great deal of the mechanics time is spent just researching a lot today’s automotive problems, even though labor guides (which are just a guide by the way) don’t include any manual reading or research time as part of the final labor costs. (They should!) Today’s mechanic is more involved in computer systems and multiplexed data lines than most average consumers realize. The grease and grime is still part of the job, but you can spend just as much time chasing some electrical gremlin or interrupting a scope reading, as well as changing a water pump these days… if not more. It comes down to the amount of research time, as well as the actual “physical” labor time you need to make repairs. It still surprises me how often someone will call and ask, “How much?” to do a certain job on a certain car and expect an exact quote. Regardless of the hundreds and hundreds of possibilities that could detour the repair. Sometimes it’s not a matter of how much but how long… long as in how long it’s going to take to do the book work, reading the manual, and figuring out what the best course of action there is to take. (That’s not in any labor guide either.) There’s a real difference between reading a manual, understanding what you’ve read, and doing the actual manual labor. Some people can read something and retain that information forever. They can ace any test on any subject as long as they read up on it previously. Then there are people who go to the other extremes. They’re the type of people who have trouble taking a written test, but excel at hands on applications. Today’s modern mechanics needs to be proficient at both. Me, I don’t do as well as I’d like to do in the retaining side of things, never did in school either, but I do have enough of it stuck back in that old noggin’ of mine to know where to find that written info the next time I need it. I know I don’t have one of those photographic memories, and I’m pretty sure there’s no need in trying to stuff any more film up there… ain’t no camera to put it in. I’ve already got too much stuff to try and remember. Now some guys I know, they can remember the firing order on a 327 or the exact oil filter number for a given car. Me…no way, I’ve gotta look it up every time. I see a variety of manual reading/manual labor related problems when a DIY’r brings their car into the repair shop. You can tell when they’ve glanced over the manual a few times, but couldn’t put the information to good use. Most of the time, you’ll find their manual on the passenger seat with the pages marked. It probably has more to do with watching one of those weekend automotive shows or a You Tube video about how to make a certain repair. It all looks easy on TV. But when it comes time to applying that information to the tips of the fingers… it just ain’t happenin’. Oh, they’ll put a gallant try to it, maybe mess it up worse than it was before they started… but try they will. One fella brought his truck in after replacing the front calipers at home. As he told me, “It sounded easy to do in the manual. You know, remove a couple of bolts, install the new one, and bleed the brakes. Super easy.” Even though he had read all the description pages and detailed instructions in the manual, somehow it just didn’t work out. And, as usual, his repair manual was on the passenger seat. I made the repairs and even circled the photo in his manual so he could see where he went wrong. (On some cars there is a right and left caliper. If you put them on the wrong side the bleeder screws will be on the bottom instead of the top.) I figure it’s something like this…anyone can turn a couple of bolts and slap on a few parts on, but there’s a very special ability that can’t be found in the manual. That’s mechanical aptitude. It’s not about reading manuals or being able to turn those bolts. It has a lot more to do with understanding mechanical things. And, these days that includes electronics too. It’s what separates average wrench turners and the true professional in the trade. Oh sure, if you spend enough time at anything you’ll get the hang of it, but sooner or later that lack of one or more of those qualities that separates good mechanics from the average ones will sneak up on ya. Cars have changed tremendously from those early days of the first electronically driven engines. Today, a repair manual, common sense, and a whole lot of that mechanical ability needs to be applied to most any type of repair. Ok, I know what you’re thinking, “Well, there are some things my cousin Ernie can do and he’s never opened a repair manual.” True, but how far can he go before getting over his head? My guess is when something looks simple and then turns into something that’s not is when cousin Ernie gets in trouble. From past experiences with these “cousin Ernies” … anything is possible. There are repair manuals out there that are strictly written for the DIY’rs and other manuals meant for the professional. Those DIY manuals are great for basic repairs that aren’t explained in the owner’s manual. Certainly, most DIY’rs would like to accomplish every conceivable problem on their own, but with today’s cars they are far more sophisticated and require a higher degree of understanding and equipment than most DIY’rs are willing to invest in. I do believe that everyone who owns a car should have some basic working knowledge of how their car operates. Reading a manual is probably one of the best ways to do that, however that’s not to say you need to fix it. Maybe reading the manual will give you a better idea of what to expect at the professional shop. Maybe it would be a good way to gauge whether or not you’ve chosen a true professional repair shop vs. some hack shop. If, after some in-depth manual reading the problem looks to be too involved for you to tackle the manual labor part of the repair, then it might be time to take your car to the pros. You’ll know who they are, and they’ll know if you’ve read the manual or not… because they have too. View full article

These break out boxes have been around for quite some time, but... I finally got one. Since I do a lot of low and high CAN related problems and the dreaded "no bus" problems I thought it would be a great help. And, it has. Definitely one of those "must have" tools.

I'll do a little "let me lookie see" for customers, but I draw the line at free code checks. Because every time you do a free code check they always want to pick your brain for what the code means and what the most likely cause of the code is. AND, of course, they say, "Thank you... you've been so kind to help me." ... ... ... then drive off never to be seen again. That is until they need the next "freebie - lookie - see"

The power balance test is one that I use all the time on my IDS. I wonder how they even got a hold of it. Hard to believe they cracked the Ford security, but I guess anything is possible. I wish that ALL the info was obtainable to ALL aftermarket scanner companies. Wishful thinking... probably never happen.

A man hasn't been feeling well, so he goes to his doctor for a complete checkup. Afterward, the doctor comes out with the results. "I'm afraid I have some very bad news," the doctor says. "You're dying, and you don't have much time left." "Oh, that's terrible!" says the man. "Give it to me straight, Doc. How long have I got?" "Ten," the doctor says sadly. "Ten?" the man asks. "Ten what? Months? Weeks? What?!" "Nine..."

I don't think I'd even want to do it on a bicycle either. That's just nuts.

Years ago I had a tire shop bring one in that they forgot to put the oil pan drain plug back in. Of course, the engine was ruined. The extended warranty company not only told me what I was going to charge but they would supply the motor. I did manage to get the tire shop to cough up the difference and I told them I would rather use a motor of my choice, but they wanted the warranty company to pay for it. Needless to say, the motor was trash. Then they wanted me to pull it back out for free.... ah, no...ain't happening. they took it to another shop. enough said there.

I think the autonomous car will have as much influence in the marketplace as the hybrids do. Until fuel is so expensive or depleted I don't believe they'll be a factor.

A hundred years from now if somebody read this article I'm sure they would say... "What an idiot." Because ya know, somehow the future electronics, engineers, and mechanics find a way to make it all work. I think I'll fire up my blacksmith furnace... could use a fall back career ya know.

Cars with Brains Cars have had some form of a brain in them since the early 80’s, and those brains have steadily increased in capabilities since then. Instead of just setting timing issues or injection pulse widths they now can do just about anything you can think of for controlling fuel consumption and emissions. And, you can bet tomorrow’s cars will have even greater computing power than those today. One of the latest (if you haven’t already heard about them) innovations is the self-driving car, or what is sometimes referred to as the “Autonomous vehicle”. An autonomous vehicle basically means a car that can navigate the road, avoid obstacles, and plan the most strategic path to your destination. Sounds futuristic doesn’t it? It’s not, it’s the real deal. Right now we can give a car the ability to navigate the nation’s highways without human intervention, and it’s obvious they use some form of GPS or internal guidance system to track their position. And, to do the job right the car has to be aware of not only all the traffic conditions, but the weather conditions as well. This allows them to be “self-aware” and have the ability to reason which route is better than another. But, to what level of awareness and reasoning are we willing to give to these electronic marvels? They actually are more like a rolling robotic device rather than an automobile at this point. And, being "self-aware" something has to govern their reasoning processors to ensure they are not going to put you in harm’s way. This is where the three laws of robotics the noted science fiction writer Isaac Asimov developed years ago might need to apply. No. # 1 - A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. No. # 2 - A robot must obey orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. No. # 3 - A robot must protect its own existence, as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law. Think about it, a self-thinking mode of transportation that can not only decide the route, but also make the decision whether it’s safe to travel at all. Here’s a hypothetical situation to ponder: Let’s say that in the future every car on the road is an autonomous vehicle, and it’s in the middle of winter. The snow is 4 foot deep and drifting even deeper somewhere along the route you’ll be taking, but only slightly snow covered where you live. Basically the roads are impassable at some point, but you don’t know this. You hop in your car and tell it to take you to grandma’s house. The car calculates the different possible routes, but cannot find a safe path to your destination at this time. Should the car even allow you to get out of the garage? What if the car refuses to move? Are the three robotic laws in affect at this point? What if, for instance, you needed to get to town ASAP, let’s say for a prescription that is a matter of life or death, or your wife is going into labor? You jump in the car and tell it to head to the pharmacy or hospital and to STEP ON IT! Would the car say, “I’m sorry, but I cannot exceed the posted speed limit.” ?? I suppose there would be a feature that would allow you to override the programming that tells it to obey traffic laws to some degree. But, if each and every car is aware of each and every other car, what is going to happen when you go cruising through the next stop sign without slowing down at all? (Assuming the other car’s crash avoidance systems are operating correctly.) Well then… if the other cars know, I’ll bet Mr. Policeman will know too! Here’s something to think about. Should total control be left up to the computer in the car, or should the driver have the final say regardless of the outcome? Should failure and poor judgment be left up to the human, or should the computer override their requests? Many a movie has predicted the eventual outcome of what could happen if the three basic laws of robotics aren’t adhered to. Could we be heading in this direction? At this point … all is possible. As a technician, I’ve seen some crazy electronic current flow through unrelated circuitry cause all kinds of weird and unimaginable faults. With that in mind, and then throw in that we are talking about an autonomous vehicle what are the possibilities of a failure like now? Even with the systems that are out in the market place today, such as “auto-parallel parking” these systems have fail safes that basically turn the feature off if a problem arises within its system. However, it’s hard to imagine every possible glitch has been covered by the engineers. You’d think they have covered it all, but if that’s the case … why do I still see electrical problems that aren’t covered in any of the diagnostic manuals today? And, if all the glitches are already sorted out what do we need recalls for? It’s a scary thought. There’s no doubt as we go further into the electronic age, even software updates and some recalls might be just an internet download away from being sent directly to your car. (Telematics for example.) Even with the advancements in technology, autonomous cars may still be far from ready. However, taking into account “Moore’s law”, which states computing capabilities will double every 18 months… it might be a lot closer than we think. It would be something to jump ahead another hundred years and see what we’ve done. Good or bad. I might rather go back into history to the days of the horse and buggy instead. Of course, a horse has a mind of its own too, and if you did manage to get into a dangerous situation with a horse and buggy chances are you’re both going to be in trouble. Now, if you tried the same thing with an autonomous car, the car isn’t likely to buck and run off leaving you stranded there. Then again, the outcome may actually depend on how the three robotic laws are interpreted in those cars with brains. View full article

I've been at this for well over 30 years. I've seen large shops fail as well as small one man shops come and go. It takes a business plan that fits YOU. If a big shop is your goal then that's where you should focus your efforts. Hire right, fire right. Have the right advertising and the right equipment. Train everyone, which might include in house classes, going to conventions, to even having a known automotive teacher (one of the guys or gals at these conventions) come to your place. I always figured that you have to know twice as much about your job and your business than you'll ever actually use on a daily basis. That goes with the techs too. You'll find your niche. It's out there.

Keep it up Jeff and I'll have to write a story about you! ! ! LMAO

Joe... this guy was originally from New York. Now, if ya don't mind... quit sending them down here! ! ! LOL

No... not really... but I did stay at a Holiday Inn once. LMAO.

Mr. Details Spend enough time at a repair shop, working on cars, answering questions for the customers and sooner or later you’ll find yourself with a Mr. Details at your counter. Your typical “A” type customer (that’s “A” for anal) who arrives with all the facts and figures regarding his problem gathered up from under the nearest rock or website. He’s the over bearing, overly concerned, and downright meticulous type of client that shows up with an entire portfolio of documents about his car. He’s tracked every single repair that has ever been done to his car right down to the exact date and time the dome light bulb burned out and when it was replaced. Our story begins with Mr. Details bringing his 2003 Chevy Silverado in with inoperable fog lights. Of course, Mr. Details has already taken the liberty of removing the dash panels and trim for me and has so graciously left the light switches dangling by their wires for my convenience. This… as he put it, “Now you won’t have to charge me for tearing it apart.” is supposed to help me in diagnosing them. He has scrutinized every detail he could find about the fog lights and followed the guidance of several known experts on some website, which has led him to a dead end and now… to my front door. Just to be sure I understood the validity of his story he opened his overly large folder of paperwork and began to read each and every one of them. The date, the problem, and the eventual outcome and cost. (I don’t think the US government keeps the records on nuclear weapons as accurately as this guy keeps on his truck.) Time is an important commodity, and this guy was using up a lot of it. (Keep in mind, once they start, let them finish… you ain’t going to get a word in edge wise anyway, and more than likely you’ll just throw them off of their game plan, which means they’ll have to back up and start all over.) After making it through the pile of paperwork we ended on the final document in his huge binder. The bill of sale. Yes, the original document that brought Mr. Details and this vehicle together and ultimately to the repair shop with a fog light problem. The one slip of paper the culminated into a vast collection of facts and figures so well maintained in this leather covered binder that historian’s centuries from now will be studying it in great detail. Now, believe or not, we haven’t even discussed what is really wrong with the car yet. I had to ask, “So, what’s wrong with it now?” (After all these years I still don’t understand why some people just can’t tell you what’s wrong without going into a lengthy detailed history lesson on the car. Seriously, if I wanted all that background I would have asked a question like, “So… where’ve ya been, who’d ya see, whatchya had done to it, and when did y’all get it done?”) At this point, since I was trying to get the problem at hand, a few more pages were getting shuffled around as he did his best to make me feel stupid that I even asked what was wrong with it. I could tell there was a bit of frustration building up, so I thought I’d better rephrase the question. “What kind of symptoms are you having?” (Works better to ask about it this way.) Turns out it’s not only the fog lights but the day time running lights that are acting up. He went through all of the scenarios and the “tried this and it didn’t fix it” routines and the when and how he did them. Finally, the history lesson was over, I could get the keys and start on this project. On this model the DRL and the fog lights are actually operated by the BCM (Body Control Module). Rather than take his advice and replace the fog light switch with a known good one. (Since ya know… all of us mechanics have spare fog light switches just laying around for every make and model.) I thought I’d try diagnosing it the modern mechanic way, using the bi-directional control for the fog lights and the rest of the lighting system that’s available on the scanner. No need in tearing any dash parts out, removing switches, or wiring around bulbs as Mr. Details had done so far, just plug in the scanner and click a few buttons. Yea, it was pretty messed up alright. The BCM control was fine but looking back into the gaping holes where the headlight switch and the fog light switch would normally be I could see the familiar outline of an aftermarket alarm system piggy-backed into the BCM wiring. Oh man… here’s the problem. I reached in and disconnected the main box and sure enough everything went back to working perfectly again. Now it was time to call Mr. Details. Here we go… “There’s no aftermarket alarm in my car you’re nuts!” was his response. I could hear him shuffling through his stack of paperwork trying to find anything about an aftermarket alarm. But, there was none. And, since it wasn’t in his paperwork he pretty much made it clear that I must be either crazy or completely incompetent… or both. There was no getting around it; he’s made up his mind… I’m an idiot. Later that day he stormed into the lobby hurling even more insults and demanded that I give him his truck back. He was about leave when I thought I should mention something to him. The truck is a 2003 Silverado that much was clear. But let’s go back to the last page of information he so kindly went into detail with… that bill of sale. (He conveniently brought all his paper work with him of course.) Let’s examine that final piece of paper one more time. Hmmm, the car was purchased in 2004 a year after the car was built. I asked him, “Sir, did you buy this new?” “No, I bought it from the original owner,” he proudly told me, “So what’s the point of that?” I brought it to his attention that in all his carefully laid out and detailed lists of all the things “he” has done to the car he never once considered what might have happened prior to him purchasing it. “How can you be so dang sure there’s an alarm in the car?! In fact, I know every inch of that truck like the back of my hand!” he sternly asked. “Well sir, the fact is, it’s there, and since you took the dash apart already it wasn’t hard to spot.” I told him. A lesson learned by both of us, it’s sometimes not about what facts you know, but the fact that you don’t have all the facts. View full article

Your kidding... a hardware store? What's next? I suppose Radio Shack will start programming cars and selling PCM's too! !