Tech Shop Articles Archives - Page 5 of 18 - UnderhoodService
Lifts: Raising Vehicles And Expectations

Are you planning to purchase a vehicle lift soon? With many options to choose from, selecting the right vehicle lift for your shop can require a bit of research.

Pulling Codes: The Variables Of Cam Timing – No Code Analysis

Carlton Banks investigates a no-code analysis for a variable cam timing (VCT) system issue involving multiple misfires. The subject vehicle is a 2005 Ford F-150 Super Duty and has a 5.4L engine with three valves per cylinder. The engine starts and runs; the idle quality is very poor; and cylinders 2, 3 and 4 have misfire activity.

Liquid Tools: Automotive Chemicals Are Essential Tools For Keeping Vehicles In Top-Notch Condition

Babcox Media Technical Contributor Gary Goms recommends that for maximum productivity, every shop should have at least a small working inventory of these diverse kinds of automotive chemicals.

Pulling Codes: This One Didn’t Go ‘Zoom Zoom’! The Story Of P1345

Top EPA Codes: Carlton Banks investigates a P1345 code – CMP Sensor Circuit Malfunction – in a 2000 Mazda Protege. This is a code that involves the cam sensor input to the PCM. In many situations, one may be tempted to replace the cam sensor right away. This article will attempt to provide a possible plan of attack.

Top 5 Tools: Mike Crahan, Cherokee Complete Trailer Maintenance and Repair

The country’s top technicians tell you which five automotive tools help them the most.

Top 5 Tools: Michael Samuels, Naticoke Automotive

The country’s top technicians tell you which five automotive tools help them the most.

Advances In Electrical System Testing

Contributing writer Mike DuBois returned from the AAPEX and SEMA shows with a host of new information on multimeter and scan tool innovations.

Innovations In Automotive Specialty Tools

There is a theory called the Butterfly Effect. This theory in part states that an action or condition in one place, however insignificant, can greatly change the outcome or conditions in another place. This theory, however fantastic, does remind me of the fact that the tool business is very much like this.

Getting Organized from the Ground Up: Building a Tool Storage Solution on a Solid Foundation

Mike DuBois talks about how to minimize or eliminate the problem of being messy and disorganized in the shop. The reality is that it’s not about being tidy; it’s about making money. The faster and more efficiently you can work, the faster you complete jobs and, ultimately, the more money you make.

Editor’s Notes: Desperately Seeking Organization

TechShop magazine and Mechanic’s Time Savers (MTS) announce the winner of the magazine’s first Get Organized! (Messiest Toolbox) Contest. Enoc Rios, head technician at International Motor Group in Union, NJ, was nominated by his co-worker Richard Tobias.

Pulling Codes: Intermittent Misfire/Idle/Stall on Dodge Stratus, Codes P0300, P0303 and P0171

This month’s column comes to us from Bill Fulton. He takes us through a Pulling Codes case of a 2004 Dodge Stratus with intermittent misfire/idle/stall using his symptom-to-system diagnostic strategies.

Tool Tip: Maximizing Tools: Diagnosing ABS/ESC Hydraulic Control Units

Brake & Front End Editor Andrew Markel finds the root cause of a brake pull using Innovative Products of America’s Brake System Analyzer.