Technical Training Focus of Lindertech North Event

More than 75 technicians plus other aftermarket professionals attended the fourth annual Lindertech North Conference, one of the best technical training events in Canada.

Held in Toronto at the Four Points Hotel in late April, the conference offered detailed presentations of MAF and fuel injection system diagnostics, common OBD-II codes and their fixes, and cooling system diagnostics, as well as an update on the Right to Repair issue.

Jim Linder, owner of Linder Technical Services, spoke candidly at the conference about the genesis of Lindertech North. “We’ve been training for 30 years, and [Toronto jobber] John Cochrane came to me in Las Vegas where we were teaching at the ASA Convention and said, ‘I’m in Canada and I’d like to do something like your training course in Canada.’ From there he followed up with our training centre, where he met with some of our instructors. That’s where it all started; now Lindertech North is in its fourth annual conference.”

The conference, which was taken over by the AIA in 2008, may have attracted fewer attendees than last year, but the quality of the presentations and move back to Toronto were appreciated.

“For many technicians, getting to [Mohawk College in Hamilton] last year was a bit of a hassle,” said Durrell Frey, owner of Lloyd Frey’s Garage Ltd. in Floradale, Ont. “Holding it in Toronto made it easier for a lot of people and having it at a hotel made the classes just steps from your room.”

“Anytime you can get two technicians to sit down in a class on Saturday and Sunday you’re doing well. I’m impressed anytime a guy takes his own time to further his education or his career,” said Linder. “Our goal is that everybody can leave this conference and do something Monday morning that he learned here that will make him money or make his job easier.”