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  • Why do some techs have counterfeit scan tools?
    By Craig Truglia - Tuesday May 7, 2013
    "Thou shalt not steal." I can't remember which commandment that was, but I'm sure many overseas counterfeit manufacturers don’t remember that one either. I am not going to defend the practice of using cloned scan tools. These counterfeits are of lesser quality, can damage vehicles and are just theft by a different name. Yet, I know a lot of people that buy and sell cloned equipment. The question is, why? Many technicians are very proud of their big purchases. The huge toolbox, scan tools, the line of electric power tools and so on. I think buying tools is like buying a sports car. In a sick sort of way, it feels good to spend money on them. It just makes us happy for some reason. So, I don't think people have cloned scan tools...

  • Who pays for the misdiagnosis?
    By Craig Truglia - Tuesday April 30, 2013
    A couple cars that I serviced the other day got me thinking. One was a 2011 Mercedes ML350 that came to my shop with brake lights that flashed in the wrong spot and set a "brake light failure" notice on the instrument cluster. We diagnosed a bad rear SAM module. It cost about $400 just for the part. However, it turned out that we were wrong with our diagnosis. It didn't need a $400 module, but rather a $16.50 wiring harness. I told the customer that I misdiagnosed it and he owed me nothing for the computer I put into the vehicle and he was happy. Another car was a 2002 Honda Accord that would not go into reverse. The tranny shop sent it to us after rebuilding the whole transmission. Why? The vehicle still didn't go into reverse...

  • Why bother to keep a clean shop?
    By Craig Truglia - Wednesday April 10, 2013
    Would you go to a doctor's office with blood splatters on the wall? Would you feel comfortable with the dentist working with his Bahamas t-shirt on when it is hot out? Then, why do so many of us work in dark, dirty and disorganized shops? When I see pictures of brand new shops, I am amazed at the photos that show how clean some of them are. Granted, they are doing a photo shoot, so they are on their best behavior. Even yet, I can never make my shop that clean. I have a normal three-bay garage in a suburb of New York City. I don't have those shiny floors that resist dirt. Yet, people still compliment me on my shop's cleanliness. I think my region has low expectations for these things. Nevertheless, people can tell when you do the...

  • How did this wheel get this way?
    By Craig Truglia - Thursday April 4, 2013
    How did this wheel get this way? Yes, a saw was involved, but we didn't cut this rim into pieces for the heck of it. The real cause is that someone did not torque the lug nuts on this wheel that was on a Mercedes E320. Two of the nuts broke in the hub. Because Mercedes lug nuts also double as wheel studs, the rim was locked in place. We tried drilling the studs, but the bits were not able to reach far enough into the rim to drill a thick enough hole. The repair? We had to get a whole new steering knuckle, pads and a caliper installed after removing the old ones backwards and sawing the old rim off. What would you do if you ran into a similar situation?  

  • Light duty "bead to bead" retread tires offer fleets an alternative
    By Craig Truglia - Monday April 1, 2013
    My experience with retread tires is fairly extensive, as I used to put them on post office trucks. To be honest, those vehicles never had a single issue on the road. Retread tires "will perform as well as the best major brand new tires, with an adjustment rate as low, and often lower, than that of virgin tires," according to  Harvey Brodsky, managing director, Retread Tire Association (RTA). ( www.retreadtire.org ) "During a visit to a retread plant, I said to the plant manager that I'd bet him that their adjustment rate for their retreads was under 1 percent," Brodsky said. "He said I'd lose the bet because their adjustment rate was under 1/2 percent. New tire manufacturers can only dream of having an adjustment rate that low." I...

  • Torque wrench shootout: Digitool Solutions vs. the premium brand
    By Craig Truglia - Friday March 15, 2013
    If you watch this video , you get to watch my alter ego "Wrenchin' Roger" put the DTS Electronic Torque and Angle wrench from Digitool Solutions to the test against the gold standard of torque wrenches. I was very happy for two reasons. First, my expensive torque wrench doesn't need to be calibrated yet, which saves me money. Second, the Digitool Solutions torque wrench was extremely impressive. To sum it up, which you can gather from the video, these are the features which are unique to the DTS torque wrench, aside from extreme accuracy: Units can be changed between ft/lbs, in/lbs and nM with a click of the button. This means not having to look up conversions, which take up time throughout the day. The unit doesn't click, but...

  • Daylight saving time equals fewer car accidents
    By Craig Truglia - Monday March 11, 2013
    When I woke up this morning and it was pitch black, I was getting really mad at daylight saving time. I mean, it's great when we gain an hour, but losing one? It feels horrible. Being that we are not an agricultural economy anymore, sometimes I really wonder why we go through all of this. Well, aside from the benefit of it not being broad daylight at 5 AM in the morning in June, daylight saving time to this day still saves energy and lives. According to IHlaw.com : "What many do not know is that Daylight Saving Time also reduces traffic accidents and deaths. The 1970 [D.O.T.] study also showed DST reduced traffic accidents, saving 50 lives and about 2,000 injuries in March and April of the years studied. We have no definitive...

  • Why are U.S. roads more dangerous than Canada's but safer than Russia's?
    By Craig Truglia - Wednesday March 6, 2013
    Have you ever watched one of the videos online that show crazy driving in Russia?  If not, take a quick look. The roads in Russia are extremely unsafe for all the stereotypical reasons you might expect: snowy weather, long rural and suburban stretches of highway with people driving at unsafe speeds, substance abuse and bad roads. In fact, the roads are so dangerous in Russia it's a mainstream part of culture to drive around with a "dash cam" at all times, video recording everywhere you go. The result? Tons of videotape of catastrophic car crashes. Now, two things in these videos stick out to me. First, there are many examples where Russians exhibit a reckless lack of respect for human life. An example of this is a huge dump truck...

  • Mandatory technician licensing: it's a matter of public safety
    By Craig Truglia - Monday February 11, 2013
    Yes, again we're going to argue about automotive repair licensing, but for the sake of full disclosure I will reveal the following: I not only support licensing, because it would make the roads safer, but also because it will help increase the salary of technicians. I voted for Michael Badnarik, Chuck Baldwin and Virgil Goode in the last three Presidential elections. If you do not know who they are, chances are that you are not as serious about reducing the size and scope of government as I am. However, let's get back to automotive. The following is a synopsis of criticisms of a previous blog where I suggested that DIY auto repairs were making the roads less safe . "Keep government out!" "I believe that more people have...

  • DIYers are causing increased highway fatalities
    By Craig Truglia - Monday February 4, 2013
    I was reading an article in another magazine that noted that in spite of cars being built safer than ever, fatal accidents have increased. Some have theorized the increase in fatalities is caused by customers putting off repairs. Others have asserted that the advent of "texting and driving" and other distractions are not the cause, because car accidents were up all around regardless of age. Let me offer my perspective as a shop owner: Most customers, when given the option to spend a little more for the better part, will spend the money. Usually, I tell them that the part is made in a "better" country, will last longer and that its better construction increases safety.  Yet, my shop is off the main drag, so maybe I am more apt to...

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