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Edited 20 August, 20169 yr by Legend

It cannot be overstated quite how essential staff training is in a modern dealership with today's cars being crammed full of technology. Having said that, there isn't much point in training people who aren't capable of being trained, and so it's equally essential that good quality and conscientious staff are employed in the first place. It's perfectly obvious that most main dealers could and should be doing a lot better than they are.

In most independent garages training is non-existent. Gone are the days when mechanics could bundle their way through day to day. Independents have only really offered a cheaper service to a main dealer. They have never been and never will be an equivalent alternative.

It cannot be overstated quite how essential staff training is in a modern dealership with today's cars being crammed full of technology

 

Which begs the question - how much training is required to plug a USB device into a port, remove it and then plug it into a pc which will tell you *exactly* what is wrong with the car?

 

In my first job as a delivery driver, our best van mechanic was registered deaf.......he used to put his hand on the engine and could diagnose the problem from the vibration.

 

Times and technology moves on.

Which begs the question - how much training is required to plug a USB device into a port, remove it and then plug it into a pc which will tell you *exactly* what is wrong with the car.

Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Please tell me that's a joke.

Edited 21 August, 20169 yr by Tech1e

Which begs the question - how much training is required to plug a USB device into a port, remove it and then plug it into a pc which will tell you *exactly* what is wrong with the car?

 

In my first job as a delivery driver, our best van mechanic was registered deaf.......he used to put his hand on the engine and could diagnose the problem from the vibration.

 

Times and technology moves on.

You think it's that simple eh? A tech plugs in a piece of diagnostic equipment and is told what is wrong? Nothing could be further from the truth.

 

Here's an example that may help you to think differently. A potato is deliberately stuffed up the exhaust of a petrol engine car and partially blocking it. The car is driven until the MIL illuminates, and at the same time the driver notices a lack of power. Along comes Mr Tech with his laptop. He sees that there are fault codes relating to the MAP sensor and/or O2 sensor or fuel trim. Where does he go from here? He is not aware that the problem was set on purpose, and the ECM cannot possibly know that either. He replaces the components because that's what his laptop told him the problem was, but the fault still exists (because we know what the fault is, don't we?)

 

A blocked exhaust will have a serious effect on manifold vacuum which is picked up by the MAP sensor, whose purpose is to tell the ECM manifold vacuum. The ECM doesn't know there's a potato blocking the exhaust, but it does know that the MAP sensor signal is implausible.

 

So now we can see why the old skills of older technicians are still valid and useful today. A technician with a vacuum gauge would've found the problem. Specialist and expensive diagnostic equipment is next to useless in the wrong hands, and probably why so many cars get misdiagnosed.

 

Fault codes fall into two categories:

1. Electrical circuit faults. Open or short circuit components, sensors or wiring.

2. Mechanical faults. Those that have an effect on engine running which in turn is detected by a sensor monitoring a part of the system.

 

The trick to accurate diagnosis is to think the way a computer sees things. It does exactly what it's programmed to do. Nothing more and nothing less. Computers cannot apply logic, reason or common sense.

I suspect the two previous posters took my post literally.

 

I didn't mean to imply that mechanics (as we used to call them in my day) aren't necessary any more.  Of course they are.

 

But I'll guarantee to you that you take a modern car into a dealership with a problem and the first thing they'll do is plug a USB device in, collect the readings and then pump the numbers into a pc.

 

You can employ a 16 year old on minimum wage to do that bit of the job.  Hence my original question.

 

Apologies if my post came across as dismissive of mechanics, sorry, vehicle technicians.

Diagnostic equipment delivers a symptom, not a cause.

And most diag interfaces use Bluetooth or close network wifi, USB is only required for programming.

It's just another misconception of how "easy" working on modern cars is.

If it was that easy then there wouldn't be the need for garages and there certainly wouldn't be a huge skills shortage in the motor trade because of the skills required to learn how to fix them, which despite people's opinion - few actually posses them!

I suspect the two previous posters took my post literally.

I didn't mean to imply that mechanics (as we used to call them in my day) aren't necessary any more. Of course they are.

But I'll guarantee to you that you take a modern car into a dealership with a problem and the first thing they'll do is plug a USB device in, collect the readings and then pump the numbers into a pc.

You can employ a 16 year old on minimum wage to do that bit of the job. Hence my original question.

Apologies if my post came across as dismissive of mechanics, sorry, vehicle technicians.

This post is also deluded and shows you have little knowledge of what goes on in the dealer environment and why.

Edited 21 August, 20169 yr by James@RRGRochdale

This post is also deluded and shows you have little knowledge of what goes on in the dealer environment and why.

 

Thankfully, it's posts like THIS

 

that keep us ordinaries informed.

What's some idiot on a road test got to do with diagnosing faults on cars?

Or you tarring us all with that brush to?

Edited 21 August, 20169 yr by Tech1e

What's some idiot on a road test got to do with diagnosing faults on cars?

 

I was responding to "This post is also deluded and shows you have little knowledge of what goes on in the dealer environment and why".

 

Nothing to do with diagnosing faults, everything to do with "what goes on in the dealer environment".

I was responding to "This post is also deluded and shows you have little knowledge of what goes on in the dealer environment and why".

 

Nothing to do with diagnosing faults, everything to do with "what goes on in the dealer environment".

In 25 years and multiple dealerships I have never seen behaviour like that. There are always the exceptions but they don't last long.

I was responding to "This post is also deluded and shows you have little knowledge of what goes on in the dealer environment and why".

Nothing to do with diagnosing faults, everything to do with "what goes on in the dealer environment".

I think you're just using any old example of wrong doing in a dealership to back track on your original assumptions that working as a dealership technician in the motor trade is so easy a 16 can do it because all we have to do is plug computers in then go on another computer to get the answers to fix cars.

I think you're just using any old example of wrong doing in a dealership to back track on your original assumptions that working as a dealership technician in the motor trade is so easy a 16 can do it because all we have to do is plug computers in then go on another computer to get the answers to fix cars.

And if that were the case we wouldn't have half the posts on here.

I sure hope he never needs help with an issue lol