Garage Talk

GAR AGE TALK

DOCTOR OR MECHANIC?

ou might wonder what a medical doctor and an automotive repair technician have in common, but it’s actually more than you think. While the medical doctor is trained extensively in the ways of medicine, taking years of classroom training and several more years of gaining in-field experience before being certified as ready to “practice” medicine, the automotive repair technician takes a fraction of the formal training time to gain certification to repair vehicles. However, he/ she does require years of experience in the field before being able to properly diagnose, in a timely manner, the root cause of an issue. This is where the commonality comes into play. Proper root cause diagnosis is key to providing an accurate course of action in order to remedy the vehicle (or “patient”). Once the information has been collected, the physician, or technician, will make a diagnosis, and recommend a course of action, which might be something as simple as rest, medication, or a new air filter. In an extreme case, where internal damage has occurred, an invasive procedure might be required. In both cases, training and experience are just as important and are key to resolving the issue. As vehicles become more and more technologically advanced, the process of diagnosing an issue has become increasingly complicated, with not only training and experience becoming more critical, but having the proper tools to perform a complete diagnosis adding to the process. In the coming months, I hope to dive further into the specialized tools that are used, in the Y

hopes of providing some insight into their use and how they help the technician diagnose a vehicle’s issue. ■

Article by Gene Harris of Jim Miles Garage, LLC For more information, please visit www. jimmilesgarage.com

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