Posted on 11/16/2010
One might say the most challenging part of being an automotive service technician at Convoy Auto Repair in San Diego CA is diagnosing a problem before it can be fixed. Cars are made up of a bunch of complex systems. There usually could be a number of reasons for any given symptom. So it's challenging to track down the actual cause of the problem. And it can be frustrating for the vehicle owner because it can take time and money to get to the bottom of a problem. If it's not something obvious, it's easy for the customer to focus on the fixing and not the diagnosing. Let us introduce you to something we'll call Customer Detective Work – that is helping your San Diego CA technician find clues to what's wrong. We start with the detective basics: What, Where and When. Play along with me. You come in to Convoy Auto Repair and your car is making a funny sound. Do you see where we're going? You're gathering additional information to help your San Diego CA te ... read more
Posted on 11/5/2010
Have you ever had an experience like this in San Diego? You drive through the one of those automatic car washes. When you get to the end, where the dryer is blowing, your check engine light started flashing! You fear the worst, but within a block or two, the light stopped flashing, but stayed on. By the next day, the light was off. You wonder; "What was going on?" Well, it's actually a good lesson in how the Check Engine light works. Your air intake system has a sensor that measures how much air is coming through it. When you went under the high-speed dryer, all that air was blasting past the sensor. Your engine computer was saying, there shouldn't be that much air when the engine is just idling. Something's wrong. Whatever's wrong could cause some serious engine damage. Warning, warning! It flashes the check engine light, to alert you to take immediate action. It stopped flashing because once you were out from under the dryer, the airflow returned to normal. Now the ... read more