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4 June 2009
Education Is a MUST!
The Best Technicians Are Well Educated
Today’s vehicles are very complex and that’s not going to change in the near future. In fact, the future that’s looming on the horizon will be even more intricate.
The vehicle’s electrical system is one of the most interesting and involved systems on today’s vehicle. This system has multi-plex computers, which means you can have three or four computers in the vehicle and they all talk to each other. Now for instance, you can have something wrong with Circuit Number 4 which will also affect Circuit Number 1, but actually, there is nothing wrong with Circuit Number 1. A technician who is not aware of this feature can work a long time trying to find out what the problem is, sometimes to no avail, and in the meantime can cost his employer a lot of money for his labour time.
Electric Steering Assist
Let’s take a look at the Electric Steering Assist System, which consists of a mechanical rack assisted by an electrical motor that’s driven by a computer. For this device, it is necessary to have a bi-directional scanner to check it out. To be able to do the final toe adjustment, you need to centre the steering—the rack and pinion—using the scanner. Also remember that the back wheels need to be perfect as well; that’s because the motor goes back to centre all alone due to the computer. If the back wheels are not right, the system will fight it. The vehicle then becomes a challenge to drive.
For instance, the 2008 Escape—which has electric steering—has a signal (a red battery meaning you have an electrical problem) that comes up on the dash to tell the driver to stop the vehicle and call for a tow truck. The power steering has given up the ghost! Yes, if you’re big and strong, you could wrestle with the steering all the way to the repair shop, but someone smaller and less strong would find it almost impossible.
1998 Cadillac Seville electrical system
(source: autodeadline.com)
Education is imperative
What I’m also trying to get across here is that it is of the utmost importance for today’s technician to get a very good education… less won’t cut it in today’s world. As well as high school, it’s preferable to attend a technical school. A technician must be very at ease with today’s electrical systems and electrical diagrams. Today you can’t just be good with the hammer— you have to be good with the head! A repair shop that doesn’t have a high-tech technician will not survive today. The electrical system is throughout the vehicle even in the tires, i.e. TPMS.
Electric brakes?
Pretty soon, BMWs and Mercedes will be coming to the dealerships with an electrical brake system. It’s now on some vehicles and they’re still in the process of perfecting it, but it will soon be all ironed out and the systems will be here to stay.
Will you know how to fix one? One day you’ll take a tire off one of these vehicles and not know what you’re looking at. You need to be ahead of the game. Get all the training and upgrading possible. All automakers have courses for technicians, so be sure to sign up for it; it will be necessary in the future to be able to repair the vehicles that will be coming into the shop. A firstclass technician is one who has excellent training.
Pierre Bissonnette was the technical instructor for a major aftermarket manufacturer. He holds a teaching certifi cate in andragogy – which is the art and science of helping adults, whose general education has been cut short, in their learning process.
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