A technician’s job is becoming more like that of an IT specialist than that of a greasy wrench head every day – not saying there is anything wrong with the latter! Many of the complaints and concerns your customers are bringing to you, though, are increasingly related to something a computer is doing. And the repair requires some form of interaction with that computer, and sometimes with other computers that rely on the same sources of information.
The first onboard automotive computers were very basic and code retrieval was often just a matter of jumping certain pins in a wiring connector and watching a light flash out it’s version of a Morse Code of sorts, identifying the code that was recorded. There was no reprogramming, though on many models the memory chip had to be swapped from an old module to a replacement one.
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Today, the computing power of individual modules on a car rivals that of the laptop you use in the shop or at home. Instead of just one module, now there are dozens of modules on the car, making up multiple networks that control everything from engine management to how cool the cabin stays.
Replacing failed modules often requires some form of initialization procedure before the car will accept the transplant, and many customer concerns are related to faults in the software of the controlling module. Additionally, other components on the car have to be learned by the controlling computer(s) and the list of these components is always growing. Today, on many models, even a new battery has to be introduced to the ECM!
The need to be involved in reprogramming and to understand what tooling and precautions are needed to be successful in meeting these challenges is old news, yet many shops still ship off these money-making opportunities to their local dealer rather than take the plunge themselves. In this edition of the Trainer, we’ll show you what it takes to enter this arena and add a very profitable source of revenue to your shop, with a little help from our friends at Drew Technologies.
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