When your first guess doesn’t fix an issue, it’s not wise to guess again. It’s wise to follow established procedures. British educator Thomas H. Palmer is credited with popularizing the proverb, “If at first you don’t succeed, try and try…
A multipronged diagnostic attack to resolve a rare problem led us to find out if we had a fuel-flow issue or a fuel-pressure issue. Relative compression is a fast way to ascertain if an engine has…
Chasing down the cause of an underperforming blower motor sheds light on a solution that saves time and money. Using a wire diagram is better than just looking at the fuse panel. With a diagram, you…
The first shop gave up. So did the second, third and fourth. So what did we say when it wound up in our shop? Bring it on. A sporty little MR2 like this showed up at…
Our shop specializes in diagnostics. The only advertising we do consists of looking for vehicles that have been difficult for others to fix. As a result, we see our fair share of work that comes from the do-it-yourself (DIY) sector.…
How not to waste two hours on a simple problem: Develop a sound diagnostic plan for your shop and, oh yeah, follow it. If you don’t have a car fixed right the first time, one or…
Detective work needed to solve the mysterious case of multiple diagnostic problems in a beat-up former police car. We’ve all been faced with cars that had multiple concerns that seemed interlocked or related. These problems sometimes created one single complaint,…
For the most effective diagnostics, don’t just rely on the codes to troubleshoot. Actual testing will give you a bird’s-eye view. Last issue, we talked about a problem created by technician error and made worse by hanging parts without knowing…
Pete’s Garage takes on jobs that stump others. Often my shop encounters jobs that have taken a tour around our fair state and had multiple failed attempts to diagnose and repair. In our trade, these cars are often referred to…
