Protect Your Fuel Tank and Pump With Delphi Technologies 

Starters & Alternators - Tips For Diagnostics

Protect Your Fuel Tank and Pump With Delphi Technologies 

Starters & Alternators - Tips For Diagnostics

Sponsored By BCA Bearings by NTN

Sponsored By Carter Fuel Systems

Rotating Electrical: Solving the “No Problem Found” (NPF) Return

Alternators have historically been one of the highest returned “No Problem Found” parts in our industry. For shop owners, this means reduced efficiency, unnecessary operating costs, and reduced customer satisfaction. This webinar will discuss how you can avoid the unneeded parts returns and more accurately diagnose today’s charging systems.

Join us as we cover:

Speakers Randy Briggs, Carquest Technical Institute, Research and Development Manager Brian Sexton, Automotive Technical Writer, Babcox Media

ShopOwner includes technical and management content and is free to download and read.

The knock sensor is not the only sensor responsible for detecting engine knock.

Throttle-by-wire systems proactively manage the air and fuel going into the combustion chamber.

Underhood Service targets repair shops that derive 50 percent or more of their revenue from the service and repair of under-the-hood systems. The expanding amount of knowledge and capital needed to keep up with technological advances has led these shop owners to concentrate on underhood systems, while also offering preventive maintenance services on most major vehicle systems. By subscribing, you’ll receive the ShopOwner digital edition magazine (12 times/year) featuring articles from Underhood Service and the Underhood Service eNewsletter (twice weekly). Access to digital editions, contests, news, and more are ready for you today!

Underhood Service targets repair shops that derive 50 percent or more of their revenue from the service and repair of under-the-hood systems. The expanding amount of knowledge and capital needed to keep up with technological advances has led these shop owners to concentrate on underhood systems, while also offering preventive maintenance services on most major vehicle systems. By subscribing, you’ll receive the ShopOwner digital edition magazine (12 times/year) featuring articles from Underhood Service and the Underhood Service eNewsletter (twice weekly). Access to digital editions, contests, news, and more are ready for you today!

High underhood temps, increased power demands and vibration can damage alternators or starters. Sponsored by ACDelco.

Don’t settle for “almost” - it matters where the engine is manufactured or remanufactured. Sponsored by ACDelco.

Brake pads are thoroughly developed to produce the best result. This video is sponsored by ZF Aftermarket.

Click here  to view past issues.

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If you search the term “mechanic” you get an interesting idea on how different cultures value repair professionals.

We are an industry very focused on our own image. But, sometimes we need to step back to get a global perspective on the issue. There are several services where photographers can sell stock photographs for magazines, advertisements and websites. Shutterstock is a global company, so a picture for sale might come from Asia, Europe or South America.AdvertisementIf you search the term “mechanic” (not too many pictures come up using “technician”), you get an interesting perspective on how different cultures value automotive repair professionals. You can always tell where a photo was taken by looking at the technician’s uniform. In Europe, the technician typically wears a pair of bib overalls and bulky gloves. In Asia, mechanics usually wear a matching windbreaker and pants combo. They are always clean and free of stains. The technician in the photograph is treated the same way as a doctor or an accountant — with respect. Then you get to the photos by American photographers. The typical image is of an idiot working in his driveway. They might be wearing an old second-hand work shirt that is dirty and untucked. To the photographer, the image is authentic to what they have been taught by their parents, media and high school counselors. I have seen shops in Europe, Asia and South America, and they aren’t that much different than those in America. There are good ones and bad ones, geniuses and goof-offs. What these photographs really illustrate is how people around the world value the people who fix their vehicles. It is not a pretty picture. In China, repair professionals are held in high regard, and they are seen as an important part of the economy. In America, being a mechanic is typically depicted as a dirty, low-class job performed by people who aren’t too bright. The reality is the opposite: American technicians are some of the best educated and most intelligent, while the rest of the world is lagging behind.AdvertisementHow did this image problem happen? Somewhere, Americans lost some respect for mechanical knowledge and hard work in the face of culture worship, easy money and celebrity. Is there a way to fix it? Yes! We need to stop showing the worst technicians in popular media.

If you search the term “mechanic” (not too many pictures come up using “technician”), you get an interesting perspective on how different cultures value automotive repair professionals.

You can always tell where a photo was taken by looking at the technician’s uniform. In Europe, the technician typically wears a pair of bib overalls and bulky gloves. In Asia, mechanics usually wear a matching windbreaker and pants combo. They are always clean and free of stains. The technician in the photograph is treated the same way as a doctor or an accountant — with respect.

Then you get to the photos by American photographers. The typical image is of an idiot working in his driveway. They might be wearing an old second-hand work shirt that is dirty and untucked. To the photographer, the image is authentic to what they have been taught by their parents, media and high school counselors.

I have seen shops in Europe, Asia and South America, and they aren’t that much different than those in America. There are good ones and bad ones, geniuses and goof-offs.

What these photographs really illustrate is how people around the world value the people who fix their vehicles. It is not a pretty picture.

In China, repair professionals are held in high regard, and they are seen as an important part of the economy. In America, being a mechanic is typically depicted as a dirty, low-class job performed by people who aren’t too bright. The reality is the opposite: American technicians are some of the best educated and most intelligent, while the rest of the world is lagging behind.

How did this image problem happen? Somewhere, Americans lost some respect for mechanical knowledge and hard work in the face of culture worship, easy money and celebrity.

Is there a way to fix it? Yes! We need to stop showing the worst technicians in popular media.

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Technical resources to help diagnose and repair engine-related service issues.