FEATURE
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
EVERYTHING! A TOOL & EQUIPMENT REALITY CHECK - PART TWO These days, you can pretty much generate a diagnostic trouble code (DTC) for a vehicle just by looking at it. With even seemingly innocuous repairs setting off DTCs in the vast majority of today’s makes and models, having the best scan tools for the job is an absolute necessity. However, the marketplace for such products suffers from the same mischaracterizations and inconsistent use of terminology that currently plague the parts side. What are the true differences between “OEM” and “aftermarket” scan tools? Are there shades of grey in both categories? It’s time for some real answers. Five Steps to Clarity Finding a coherent definition for just about anything in the automotive repair and service worlds can be a daunting task. (Need proof? Ask five random people in the inter-industry to explain what “Opt OE” parts are.) Josh McFarlin, executive vice president of operations for AirPro Diagnostics, has developed a five-level list that finally provides industry members with desperately needed direction in regard to what’s available – and what should be avoided – in the scan tool market. “The benefit in doing this is it starts to clarify terminology,” he says. “People talk about ‘factory,’ ‘dealer’ and ‘OE’ and use those terms interchangeably. But in the purest sense of those words, they are not really interchangeable – they do have different applications. ‘Aftermarket’ can mean an awful lot of things, too.”
12
April 2021
Level 1: This is the truest example of a “factory” scan tool, as the factory is likely the only place you’ll find one. Not created for diagnostic purposes, tools at this level are used on the OEM assembly line to essentially help a vehicle’s various options and systems come alive through programming. “The factory scan tool, in this case, is effectively what’s giving the vehicle its identity,” McFarlin explains. “At some point, as the assembly line is putting all the pieces together, it needs to tell the vehicle what it is and how it operates so that all the different systems can work. For example, blind-spot monitoring isn’t going to work if it doesn’t know that the rear bumper is nine feet behind the mirror. You need to tell it all these things in order for it to start off in life.” It is not uncommon to see a tool of this nature built by an outside party (Bosch, Hickok, etc.) that has received the specs by an OEM. According to McFarlin, these tools are not found at dealerships or utilized by service technicians except for extremely rare circumstances. Level 2: Unlike Level 1 tools, which are designed to ensure a vehicle’s functionality, Level 2 tools are designed for dealers to use for diagnostics and calibrations once that vehicle has left the factory and hit the road. “It’s meant for a technician to use to diagnose and repair a vehicle,” McFarlin says. “It’s still very much an OE tool, but it’s an entirely different use case.”
