Tech Tip: Adding a Fluid Flush Can Boost a Shop’s Average Repair Order
Many shops are recovering revenues lost to a shrinking repair market by "upselling" fluid maintenance services or, as they’re commonly called in the aftermarket, "fluid flushes." In other words, adding a fluid flush to a money-losing routine oil change can boost a shop’s average repair order amount into the range needed for true profitability ….
Tech Tip: Diagnosing Wheel Speed Sensors
Wheel speed sensors (WSS) provide essential wheel speed information not only for anti-lock brake systems (ABS), but also for traction control and stability control systems. Some vehicles even compare the wheel speed sensor readings against the vehicle speed sensor (VSS) to make sure all of these sensors are accurate and working correctly. In some situations, it is also possible that the ….
Diagnosing Wheel Speed Sensors
Wheel speed sensors (WSS) provide essential wheel speed information not only for anti-lock brake systems (ABS), but also for traction control and stability control systems. Some vehicles even compare the wheel speed sensor readings against the vehicle speed sensor (VSS) to make sure all of these sensors are accurate and working correctly. In some situations,
Mitch Schneider: Riding the ‘Best to Worst’ Pendulum
The concept of optimism is best defined in terms of who we are, where we’ve been, where we are in our lives at this moment in time and where we believe the odyssey we’ve embarked upon is likely to take us. The first element of such a definition is that the world in which we live is the best of all possible worlds. The second is that goodness pervades reality. The third suggests that good will ultimately triumph over evil. And, the fourth suggests that ….
Tech Feature: Servicing Jeep and Ford Feedback Carburetors
Lately, it seems, more people are "going retro" by rehabilitating older cars and trucks. Perhaps it’s the longing for the simplicity of a bygone era or perhaps it’s the sentimental attachment to a particular vehicle that’s driving the retro movement. Although in the Rustbelt East, the survival rate of these vehicles is probably very low, their survival rate is very high in the arid West ….
Mitch Schneider: Managing in Times of Great Change
What do you do when nothing seems familiar anymore? When every challenge appears different and somehow inconsistent with anything you’ve ever seen before? It’s easy to say "Improvise. Adapt. Overcome." But, this isn’t the Marine Corps. And, if that’s all you’re doing, if everything you face is an exception to the rule because none of the rules seem to apply anymore, every day is an endless nightmare of crisis management, damage control and, if you’re lucky, failure analysis.
Keeping on Track with Steering Position Sensors
Cars just keep getting smarter all the time. Sensors are being used to monitor more and more functions, and to share information between vehicle systems that formerly were mute or didn’t communicate with one another. One such sensor is the steering position sensor. The sensor’s basic function is to monitor the driver’s steering inputs. This
Diagnostic Solutions: Charging System Diagnostics & Troubleshooting
Although checking charging voltage at the battery terminals is the most popular method for testing an alternator, a charging voltage test seldom reveals less common problems like open or shorted alternator diodes, intermittent high or low charging rates, charging system wiring problems, intermittent cranking/no start complaints or intermittent dead battery complaints. In addition, testing charging
707 hp/520 kW and a Top Speed of 348 km/h: Ferrari F430 RACE from NOVITEC ROSSO
At the heart of the snow-white racer featuring triple-design black stripes lies the NOVITEC ROSSO twin-supercharger engine in its latest evolutionary stage – RACE. Up to now, the eight-cylinder, four-valve engine with a displacement of 4,308 ccm and mechanical NOVITEC ROSSO twin superchargers produced 656 hp/482 kW ….
Fuel Injector Service: The Basics and Beyond
and go traffic conditions. Because high underhood heat usually increases electrical and clogging failures in fuel injectors, fuel-injected vehicles driven in metro areas may generally need more maintenance than vehicles driven in rural areas. We can also generally say that many late 1980s and early 1990s fuel injectors fail more often because of poor design,