Car Automotive

Archive for November 29th, 2009

At this stage it is important to emphasize the need to be methodical. A simple,but effective approach to diagnostic work is known as the ‘six-steps’ approach.This six-step approach may be recognized as an organized approach to problem solving, in general. As quoted here it may be seen that certain steps are recursive.
That is to say that it may be necessary to refer back to previous steps as one proceeds to a solution. Nevertheless, it does provide a proven method of ensuring that vital steps are not omitted in the fault tracing and rectification process. The six steps are:

• collect evidence
• analyze evidence
• locate the fault
• find the cause of the fault and remedy it
• rectify the fault
• test the system to verify that repair is correct

Collecting evidence means looking for all the symptoms that relate to the fault and not jumping to conclusions, e.g. because the system is controlled by an ECU it must be the ECU that is at fault. In order to collect the evidence it is necessary to know  which components on the vehicle actually form part of the faulty system. This is where sound basic skills comes in. If an engine control system is malfunctioning because one cylinder has poor compression it is important to discover this at an early stage of the diagnostic process.

Those readers with experience of working on different makes of vehicles will know that the range of differences that are to be foundwithin computer controlled systems makes it virtually impossible to cover all different systems in one volume.Changes in computing technology and electronics occur frequently and this means that the design of computer controlled systems on vehicles also changes quite frequently as new designs incorporate the new technology.

This means that data and information is frequently updated and it is a major task to keep abreast of these changes. Technicians in franchised dealerships are normally notified of changes and, with modern technology, this updating can be done rapidly. In the case of the general garage workshop, technicians will probably have to rely on data and information from specialized companies.

An updating and information back-up service is offered by companies such as Robert Bosch Ltd and Lucas Aftermarket Operations etc. Whatever the case, it is essential that the information that relates exactly to the system that is being worked on should be readily to hand and that all procedures are properly understood before work commences.