Makeover of a Plug-In
There have been no redesigns of any plug-in cars except the Chevy Volt. The Nissan Leaf did get a larger capacity battery pack and the motor/inverter underwent changes, but the body and chassis stayed the same. Tesla has new models but not a new makeover. So why did General Motors change everything? Let’s revisit the decade at GM.
No Idle Curiosity
The car was a 2008 Chrysler Sebring with a 2.4-liter engine. She complained that there were times when she stepped on the gas and the car would just idle along. Lately, she told me, the idling had been accompanied by a blinking icon showing two bars and a lightning bolt between them. She said that when the car wouldn’t accelerate, she could turn it off, restart it, and it would be OK for an undetermined amount of time.
Honda CR-V: Which Model Year Easier to Service: 2011 or ’16?
This month, we look at the evolution of the Honda CR-V through the eyes of a tech. Is this little SUV getting easier to service, or did the engineers forget about us? Full disclosure: Honda Research & Development and Honda Manufacturing are Automotive Career Development Center (ACDC) customers, and as I stated ealier, I have had a love affair with Honda for almost 50 years.
But I won’t let that keep me from reporting the truth as I see it.
Data-Driven Decisions
Sometimes, experience-based information systems can help diagnose a vehicle. I said sometimes because these systems can lead a technician down the wrong diagnostic path. As independent repair professionals, we have an array of information systems to choose from – OEM to aftermarket – but we need the most effective repair path.
Chew on This: Curious Tech Sinks His Teeth into a Start-Stop Problem with a Prius Hybrid
“My check-engine light came on in my Prius,” one of my customers told me. “Is it OK to drive it home?” “Is it running OK?” I asked her. “It seems to be running fine. I just need to get home. Then I can get my husband to follow me to your shop.” “Well, if it’s
How Easy, or Hard, Is it to Service the Gen III Vehicle?
The Prius family – Prius Hatchback, Prius C, Prius V and the Plug-in – is still wildly popular, and a new Prius is coming soon. So this issue, we’ll compare the second-generation Prius (2004-09) to the current, third-generation Prius (2010-15). The redesign changed a lot, technically, but did the car get easier or harder to service and repair?
DIYs or Bunnies?
With vehicles staying on the roads longer than ever before, we’re seeing more age-related issues with our customers’ cars. With age comes the increasing probability for human intervention in the form of aftermarket alarms, stereos and exterior lighting. A recent multi-hour, hide-and-seek experience with a 1992 Acura Vigor simply underscored this fact.
Something ‘crazy’ causes systems to quit
“The speedometer drops off,” my friend Lee told me when he brought in a Jeep Grand Cherokee he wanted fixed. “Then the gauges quit and all the warning lights come on. This thing has been acting crazy on and off for a couple of years. Nobody can figure it out.”
Serviceability Report: Kia Soul
Let’s take a look at Kia. Is it easy to service?
Kia was a poorly made car when this Korean company brought its 1994 Sephia to America. Kia made cars for Ford/Mazda prior to 1994, but most people had no idea where they came from. Remember the Aspire from Ford? That was a Kia.
Age-Related Issues Call for Alternative Measures
With the average age of vehicles on the road hitting an all-time high of 11.4 years, I continue to revise my path of diagnostic “what ifs?” The preponderance of age-related issues creates the need for me to consider alternative pathways to identify the root cause, especially when diagnosing intermittent concerns.
Serviceability Report: Honda Fit
This month, we will examine the 2015 Honda Fit and see what happened when it was redesigned recently. The Fit went on sale in the U.S. on April 20, 2006 as a 2007 model-year car. The first-generation Fit was replaced after only two model years by a new 2009 model and again in 2014 as a 2015 model. We will compare a 2009 to the new 2015.
Taking a Short Trip Back to the 1970s
In a service and repair world filled with CAN/BUS systems, scan tool diagnoses and iATN archives, I found a recent repair interesting due to its lack of these technical needs.
My customer arrived with a 1971 Chevy C10 long-bed pickup truck and a concern that his dash lights did not function. I was excited to accept this repair because I hadn’t had my hands on one of these in quite a while! Besides, how hard could it be to find out why his dash lights weren’t working?
