Drivability Diagnostics

Once upon a time there was a carburetor under the hood and more often than not all it took was a screwdriver and a few simple adjustments to fix a drivability problem. But today, a diagnostic scan tool is usually the first thing you need to reach for. Engine control systems have become ultra complex, displaying overwhelming amounts of data from a plethora of controllers. It can be easy to forget one basic premise when it comes to solving drivability problems in 2005: essentially, engines haven’t changed all that much.

“The internal combustion engine hasn’t changed. All they’re doing is making them better,” affirms Bob Augustine, Business Developer at Santa Barbara, Calif.-based Vetronix Corp. “The key is understanding how the system works that controls them. It’s still all about fuel and air delivery on an internal combustion engine. The piece that has changed is the amount of information available.”

If you’re thinking that it’s getting harder and harder to solve drivability issues, Augustine contends exactly the opposite is true.

“The onboard controllers are actually giving you a lot more information than they ever have. It’s totally dependent on the technician to be able to interpret the data. And that’s the key right there. The scan tool and the service information are tools. And if they don’t learn how to use the tools properly, then it’s like trying to take a wheel off with a sledgehammer.”

How much can you do with a scan tool today? Matt Forsyth, National Sales Manager at EASE Diagnostics, says it depends on how competent a technician is to begin with.

“In the days of OBD-I, it was swap out components … you may or may not have thought about the level of interaction. You can’t do that anymore. Then, there were maybe 7 or 10 major components. Now there are 50, 100, or 150 and the list is growing.”

“If you don’t have a good foundation in the basics of what’s going on under the hood, you’re going to be lost. And you’re going to be more lost as time progresses.”

Ed Lipscomb, the Senior Product Manager of Diagnostic Systems at SPX, refers to the development of scan tool and vehicle systems technology as a series of “gateways” that started first with the very first onboard controllers in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

“At each level, we have crossed a different sophistication … now we are keeping up better than ever with the tools and information,” he says. Take CAN for example. The promise of CAN communications and having all of the little microcomputers on a bus system is going to supply yet another level of diagnostics that we probably haven’t seen yet. CAN hasn’t matured.”

The Controller Area Network (CAN) protocol, developed by Bosch in the early 1980s, is the new standard for data communications between vehicle systems and diagnostic tools. “CAN is coming up more and more. It’s here now and it will be fully implemented by the 2007 model year … and this will be the way until 2020. That’s practically a generation,” says Jeff Elder, Marketing Manager at Mississauga, Ont.-based Blue Streak Electronics.

All the diagnostic tool manufacturers equally tout their respective diagnostic tools as the best or most capable one for today’s service technician. And they all agree on this: Many technicians don’t know how to take advantage of all the capabilities of scan tools, and sophisticated tools can’t make up enough for a lack of training.

Training is the key tool

“Even to use the scan tool properly takes a lot of training,” says Gerry Beronja, Marketing Manager at Lincolnshire, Ill.-based Snap-on Diagnostics. “We put a lot of information in our Troubleshooter that should help fix the symptom or the code and all too often it’s not accessed or followed even though it’s right there in their hands.”

Lipscomb, who has been a technician, a shop owner and a diagnostic equipment trainer adds, “We’ve got to get the technicians to realize that now more than ever … they need to be trained on the equipment and the systems. It was true 20 years ago, it’s just more true today.” Current technicians should be “ravenous” for any training they can get and for some kind of information system — a book, on the web, or a CD-based system, he says.

Augustine says technicians should take “some kind of training class” every two months — and make sure they use the knowledge gained. “If you don’t go right back to the shop and start using what you’ve learned, then your retention rate is usually very low.”

Jeff Elder points out that older technicians who may not be totally scan-tool savvy have a lot of other skills the newer guys can learn from. But the fact remains that today, technicians need to understand chemistry, physics and electronics in addition to the mechanical side of things. A powerful diagnostic tool in the hands of a capable technician will help him do his job much more efficiently, everyone agrees. Conversely, a scan tool in the hands of a technician whose knowledge is weak, is not a good thing.

“The scan tool is designed to make the guy more efficient. A guy that understands the system could probably still fix that vehicle without that tool. It may take him four times as long. With a simple volt meter you can still do the same tests, because you’re still dealing with mechanical systems and fuel delivery. A high-tech tool in the hands of a low-tech guy is a much more dangerous thing,” says Bob Augustine.

He points out that an O2 sensor trouble code doesn’t necessarily mean that the O2 sensor needs to be replaced — it can mean there’s a problem with fuel delivery, not a malfunctioning sensor. If you get into replacing parts, rack up a high bill for the customer and the problem still isn’t fixed, then you’ve created a customer satisfaction problem.

The problem, says Matt Forsyth of EASE Diagnostics, is that current technicians are primarily baby-boomers who grew up without computers and electronics, and had to learn technology on the fly.

“The technician who was capable enough to do what needed to be done just a decade ago … has been outclassed 10 times over by the equipment that’s available to scan with, and in many cases, the sophistication of the vehicles being offered by the OEs.”

Going wireless and being Internet-savvy

Wireless technology in diagnostic tools is already here, and it’s affordable. EASE Diagnostics has focused on wireless technology for half a decade, and the SPX/OTC Genysis tool is wireless, as are Delphi’s DS-series systems. All manufacturers agree wireless is something that can give technicians more ease of tool use and help them be more productive in the service bay — but it doesn’t make actual diagnosis easier.

“I can definitely see it taking hold at the dealership level where they measure productivity down to the minute perhaps more than your independent shop,” says Jeff Elder of Blue Streak.

“It’s great to be wireless so you can easily print or access information from a web site and you’re not limited by the length of a cord connecting you to a PC or routers,” says Beronja of Snap-on Diagnostics.

The challenge with wireless and its capabilities is two-fold. First, shops have to be willing to invest in it. The second part is this: If shops don’t have Internet access, or can’t get the broadband speed required because they’re in a remote region of the country, then wireless technology is useless, says Beronja.

Shops that aren’t Internet-connected are at a distinct disadvantage nowadays. Technicians need to be able to download multi-megabytes of scan tool updates, and diagnostic information, from web sites.

To be effective and keep current, technicians need to update their scan tools once or twice a year, and as often as once a quarter depending on how often the manufacturer issues updates.

“If you own somebody’s piece of equipment, find out if there’s a way that you can be e-mailed about the latest updates that are out, or what’s available,” suggests Ed Lipscomb.

It’s going to be the next gen
eration of technology-savvy technicians in vocational schools and colleges now that will be the driving force in the industry.

“This is the Playstation 2 and the X-Box generation. These guys understand that level of sophistication. They sit down in front of those controllers and they can do all kinds of wild, wacky stuff. They’re going to play PS-2 under the hood,” affirms Matt Forsyth of EASE Diagnostics.

And they will force the older shop owners and technicians to get up to speed and flourish, or get out of the business, he affirms.

Lipscomb is somewhat amused by the whole thing and chuckles. “Yes, the vehicles are absolutely more sophisticated. But you know what? They were in 1980 as well. When we saw the first computer come out, look at all the technicians who gasped and asked, ‘what the hell is this computer thing?’ It was a very similar scenario to today.”

Keep up with the pace — because this is just another cycle in the development of vehicle and diagnostic tool information technology.