Ram: A New Era of Trucks
The Dodge name has been around as long as any technician can remember. Chrysler Corp., as you know, was bailed out by the U.S. government and then a buyer was sought. When Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat, made the best offer in 2008, Fiat was given the keys to Chrysler. The automaker was in the throes of a financial meltdown and Marchionne had already rescued the Italian automaker and turned it into one of the fastest-growing companies in the industry, so Fiat looked like it could save Chrysler.
Fixing Today’s Transmissions Requires More than New Parts
It wasn’t too many years ago that when you got a vehicle in for a slip or flare the transmission was pulled and rebuilt. When installed it road-tested fine and down the road it went. There were no computers or sensors; there were T.V. cables, vacuum modulators and governors.
Times and cars have changed. Today there are so many things outside of the transmission that can cause transmission problems. You must be sure that your diagnosis leads you to the transmission before pulling that transmission out, especially a front-wheel drive. The last thing you need is to pull the transmission and find nothing wrong inside.
Are You Easily Understood?
People are focused on what’s important to them at the moment. If what you’re saying either doesn’t have enough significance for them or they don’t fully understand it, you lose them. They can look you right in the eye and go “Uh-huh, uh-huh” and not be getting a word of it. When you use words that people can’t understand either because they are technical terms or they’re just above the grade level of education that the average person has, again you can lose them. If you try to use acronyms or abbreviations to shorten up your questions or statements, you need to know for sure that the other person knows what they mean or again you will lose them. In other words, it’s so easy to lose their attention and so hard to keep it. You can keep it, however, by simplifying your terminology and by showing them how what you’re saying benefits them. People always listen when they think they are going to derive a benefit from it.
Diagnosing Valve Bodies with Vacuum Testing
Valve and bore wear occurs when valves repeatedly stroke in a pump or valve-body casting (figures 1 & 2). This wear will eventually increase clearance beyond what is necessary to maintain a proper hydraulic seal, making it impossible for the valve to function properly. Computer adaptive strategy will attempt to compensate for poor performance in some units, but failure ultimately results, codes are set and drivability complaints occur.
Work Status
When I was a young manager, I went to work for a shop that required me to manage work flow. At that time in my career that was unusual, because everywhere else I had worked they did not want me to even entertain the idea of managing work flow.
June 2013 Issue
In This Issue
Rebuilding the Mercedes 722.9
6L80 shift issues caused by checkballs
Nissan CVT malfunction caused by throttle body
Inside the Tremec TR6070 7-Speed Manual Transmission
Last month we looked at the new C7 generation of Chevrolet Corvette, which brings the famous “Stingray” name back into use. GM has invested tremendous amounts of labor and capital to create a real world-class new model, which will be the first to use the new Tremec TR6070 seven-speed manual transmission. The new Stingray’s advanced computer controls will enable the driver to tune the vehicle to a number of driving modes, and Tremec did a really first-class design to provide seven speeds in a package that is only slightly different in size from the previous TR6060.
Compliance or Commitment: Which Do You Want on Your Team?
You are completely in control of your attitude. And, as a leader, you can influence the attitude of your people (and, therefore, their performance) by creating an environment in which positive attitude is revered and people with negative or toxic attitudes are voted off the island.
IMA (Integrated Motor Assist)
In an effort to improve fuel economy, drivability, durability, and cost, many changes have occurred to automatic transmissions over time. In the last decade however, the proliferation of new models has been unending. Step-type transmissions have ratcheted up the gearing from old-time three- and four-speeds to five- through seven-speeds.
Information, Equipment & Experience
When a vehicle comes into your shop for repair you need to determine whether you have access to service information, the equipment needed to make the repair and the experience to repair it. As you read this article you will see just how challenging a transmission replacement sometimes can be. In this particular situation the service information was misleading and special equipment was needed to make the repair. This was one job that turned into yet another learning experience for me.
