The Tech Bench
Some diagnostics hurt your brain... Fixing diffcult and perplexing problems By Jeff Taylor Jeff Taylor boasts a 31-year career in the automotive industry with Eccles Auto Service in Dundas, Ontario, as a fully licensed professional lead technician. While continuing to be “on the bench” every day, he is also heavily involved in government focus groups, serves as an accomplished technical writer and has competed in international diagnostic competitions as well as providing his expertise as an automotive technical instructor for a major aftermarket parts retailer.
I
enjoy working through diagnostics, with my favorite being driveability concerns. The most common diagnostics that I perform relate to check engine lights, and lately some of those have been very challenging. I still get pattern failures
that are for the most part easy to solve and diagnose, but I don’t shy away from the more demanding problems that other shops or techs claim can’t be fxed. I have never been afraid to take on these tasks, maybe because I have a different attitude toward these repairs. I want to be the guy who can say, “I fxed it.” I have had many of these issues come into my bay for diagnostics over the last 12 months. A couple really stood out as diffcult and perplexing, and both had had lots of time spent on them by other shops or other techs.
2007 VW Beetle The frst vehicle was a 2007 VW Beetle 2.5 (BPS engine code). The problem: The check engine light (CEL) is on, and the car is due for its emission test. This car had been at
The check engine light was glowing away on this troublesome Volkswagen Beetle.
52 | February 2016
