Management: Employee Uniforms Increase Consumer Confidence
First impressions matter in every industry, and the automotive service aftermarket has its own set of challenges and needs. Your employees define who you are and what your company stands for; the appearance of your facilities and team are a reflection of the services you provide. What impression are you making on your customers?
Diagnosing & Servicing Automatic Transmissions
To prevent having any service from being over sold or under sold, it is important to not only know that a particular service should be performed, but also why it should be performed. That knowledge can also help you spot when to recommend that service, and when not to. When speaking about transmission fluid, the
Ride Control Repairs: Keeping Your Customers’ Tires Glued to the Road
Confused about modern ride control technology? Sometimes looking back into automotive history can put such technology into a more usable framework. A good illustration is how ride control technology evolved from the simple, early-century friction shock absorber to the electronic variable-rate shocks and MacPherson struts currently being installed on late-model imports. When early automobile manufacturers
News Update: Raybestos’ Simplified Product Offering is Built Around Technicians’ Needs
Raybestos brand brakes’ product offering has been re-engineered, following months of extensive research with repair technicians, the results of which can be seen in Raybestos’ new 1-2-3 brand strategy. “We conducted both qualitative and quantitative research to understand precisely what techs want and need from a brake supplier,” said Jeff Stauffer, vice president of global
Maintenance Essentials…, OBD II & Chassis Checks
All cars need maintenance. The fact is mechanical devices wear and fail in normal use, and deteriorate over time, so being able to diagnose a future failure has become a part of the automotive repair and service industry. Customers always ask how long it will be before a component will fail, and are usually not
GMC/Chevy Light Truck: Central Port Fuel Injection Diagnosis
Back in 1992, General Motors introduced a new type of fuel injection system known as “Central Port Injection” (CPI), which GM also refers to as “Central Multi-point Fuel Injection” (CMFI). The system was used on 4.3L V6 Vortec engines through 1995, and was redesigned in 1996 and renamed “Central Sequential Fuel Injection” (CSFI). The system
Tech Info for Servicing Parts: Central Port Fuel Injection Diagnosis
The acronym PATS stands for Passive Anti-Theft System. It is called “passive” because it requires no action on the part of the driver. With this system, Ford likes to play annoying little games of PATS hide-and-go-seek. That is to say, they can’t seem to decide where they want to put the PATS system. Not only
Tech Tip: What is Viscosity Breakdown?
All of us in this business understand an SAE 5W-20 oil is thinner in viscosity than an SAE 10W-30 and that the "W" stands for winter, but that’s probably about where it stops even though there is more to the story.
Tech Tip: Brake Maintenance and Inspection
The brake actuating system, consisting of the master cylinder, calipers, hoses and wheel cylinders, experiences wear each time the driver applies the brakes. Some drivers rarely use their brakes and therefore never wear out a set of brake linings. Nevertheless, no matter how little the brakes are used, moisture contamination and rust will eventually cause the brake actuating system to fail.
Tech Feature: Getting Up to Speed on Hybrid Vehicles
Hybrids are hot. As the price of gasoline goes up, so does the demand for new vehicles that can squeeze more miles per gallon from every drop of gasoline. Hybrids do that by combining the best of both worlds: electric power for low-speed, stop-and-go driving, and gasoline power for highway cruising and long-range driving.