What Would You Do? Part 2 - The Fix
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What would you
do?
Part 2 - The
Fix
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What Would You Do? Part 2 - The
Fix
The Story . . . .
A customer brought in his
minivan with about 70,000 miles and the transmission would not shift and was
stuck in limp mode. The transmission repair shop did their initial diagnosis
(I assume) and then removed the transmission to be rebuilt. After the rebuild
was complete and the transmission reinstalled it still would not shift. The
shop owner decided to take the vehicle to another transmission repair shop
for their help since there was a technician at that shop who had a "fix
it" reputation. It seems both shop owners were good friends and helped
each other out from time to time. The make and model of the vehicle does not
have any particular bearing on this story and the ultimate fix. Let's
consider this a family (generic) minivan with a transmission that fails to
shift problem.
The owner of the second shop
told the R&R tech to pull the transmission and take it to "Mr. Fix-it"
in the back, by the name of Larry (not his real name but I want to keep him
humble). Larry took charge of the situation and moved the vehicle to the back
area and told the group in the waiting room to hold on a few minutes. If you
were Larry, a great tranny rebuilder by the way, what would you do?
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The Fix . . . . . .
Larry had been using the
electrical flip-chart FIRST
THINGS FIRST on a few vehicles so he had confidence in doing
these simple electrical checks first
which only takes a few minutes. When he got to Test Step 7, measuring the
voltage drop of the voltage side of the charging system (between B+ terminal
on the generator and battery positive post at the right time) he was looking
for normal reading of no more than 0.20V. He found this vehicle was reading
0.60V and that was too much.
He visually inspected the cable and connections. He noticed the connection at
the generator's B+ terminal was not assembled correctly. He turned the
ignition key off and disassembled the B+ terminal wire, washer and lock nut
and properly reconnected the cable and hardware to ensure a good electrical
connection. Then he checked the voltage drop again and got a correct reading
of 0.20V.
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He decided to test drive
the vehicle and found the transmission now shifted normally. He had been
working on the vehicle less than 15 minutes. He said the look on everyone's
faces when he brought the vehicle around to the front and dropped the keys on
the front counter with a short "it's fixed" comment was a hoot to
behold. Without another word Larry returned to the back where he was
rebuilding a tranny.
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The Real
Satisfaction Comes Later . . . . . .
Larry told me a few days
later the owner of the vehicle stopped by and wanted to shake his hand. The
other shop had told the owner they took his car to another shop where Larry
worked. The owner told Larry that he had bought the vehicle brand new. During
the warranty period he had taken the vehicle back to the dealership on three
different occasions complaining that the vehicle just didn't seem right. He
said it just didn't run like a new car. The engine did not run smooth and
shift gears easily. When turning on electrical accessories it always seemed
to create more performance issues. As the mileage increased the
problems got worse. Each time he took it to the dealership they told him
there was nothing wrong with the vehicle and he would leave the dealership
frustrated. With 65,000 miles the transmission stopped shifting and now the
car was out of warranty so he took his car to a local transmission shop.
The owner told Larry: "I don't know what you did to fix my car but it
has never run so good and everything works like a new car. I just want to
shake your hand and personally thank you."
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How You
Can Too!
Because we work in an
industry that changes so dramatically every model year with the all new
innovations presenting new service issues we may not have encountered
before, we tend to become so focused on the new technology we forget the
vehicle's essential electrical system that ensures the vehicle performs
properly. If a problem develops in the essential electrical system, what do I
check and how do I check it? What readings should I get with the DMM and what
do I do if a DMM reading is too high or too low? How long will it take to run
the tests?
 FIRST THINGS FIRST shows you what circuit to test - what order to test each
circuit - what condition the vehicle should be in to perform each test step -
what the correct DMM reading should be - and what to do if a DMM reading is
too high or too low. There are 14 test steps that most techs can complete in
less than 5 minutes with a little practice.
This is why you need a copy of FIRST THINGS FIRST. It shows you how
to quickly discover electrical problems most techs overlook. A technician in
this picture is testing the voltage drop of the voltage side of the charging
system where "Larry" found the problem. FIRST THINGS FIRST is
printed as a flip-chart on laminated cardboard pages so it will last a long
time in heavy shop use.
Read our web page describing FIRST
THINGS FIRST
HERE.
There are two versions.
FIRST THINGS FIRST Pro
covers a 14V electrical system with a single battery for $79.00 per copy plus
shipping $7.00 to US Zip codes. (Price increases May 1st) Buy The Single Battery Version
FIRST THINGS FIRST-2
covers a 14V electrical system with two batteries because there are 4
additional steps for the second battery circuit. Priced at $99.00 per copy
plus shipping $7.00 to US Zip codes. (Price increases May 1st)
Buy The Dual Battery Version
Watch for "What Would You Do - Part 3" It's a doozie!!!
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