The Modern Strategy to complex Automotive Repair
What are you driving right now? A 1978 Chevy? Or a 2014 Audi A7, Or even a simple Chevy Equinox. Even better, a 2020 model car. Any builder. Has the Automotive world kept up with repair strategies since 1978? I say no. The days of looking at a car, diagnosing it for an hour, and repairing it, are gone. Sure, we may get that result one out of ten times, but the rest of the time, you had better have a strategy. Working with today’s modern design is done in a layered, or stacked effect. That bring us to our Theory, Cascading Failure.
• Vehicles are very complicated now, with 60-80 even more computers fitted.
• First, we address Physical, Push Bang Blow Suck, spinning and gears, fluids, and fuels. Even electric has this same featuring. No Push Bang, but a lot of moving parts.
• Second, we have electrical, supplying nearly everything on the car, even components that once were not powered, now are. Actuators, Solenoids, motors, Servos, Computers, all powered.
• Third, Electronics. Modules use this power to process the information it gets, make decisions, this includes sensors, wiring, algorithms, code line, and an enormous amount of testing to get the desired result.
• Fourth, Networking. Like an office with a hundred PC’s, all tied together through cables. Cars, in some sense, are even more complicated. The most modern cars have at least 4 CAN networks, a Lin Buss and an optical bus. These networks talk to each other, and in one way or another are all connected.
This leads to the point. Cascading Failure.
Like a waterfall, dropping down levels, and hitting rocks, splashing and making a mess.
When a vehicle hits our bays, with 90K on it, it may have already hit some of those points. As a vehicle is driven, it is continually trying to degrade, devolve. (entropy). We see it, with what may look like one complaint, but as we work it, find other problems. This is Cascading Failure. An oil leak to leads to a bad sensor. This can lead to fuel controls not in the right frame. This can damage a Catalytic Convertor. It may have also been service neglected and need remediation in that area. Service neglect causes much more of this type of failure than you think.
So, what is the modern strategy? Cascading Repair.
To get your vehicle back to normal operation, we must use this thinking to get to a final, complete repair. What we end up doing in the end, is Cascading Repair.
We try very hard to anticipate these scenarios, but many times, one type of repair will need completed before another shows itself. For instance, a misfire, and fuel trim codes,
will not allow the PCM to test The Cat. Once repaired, the blocking condition is removed, tests are done by the PCM, boom, Cat code. While we can do some testing in the shop, the PCM is very good at the algorithm of testing and cannot be repeated manually.
Our approach is to bear in mind this type of issue while concentrating on layers. Typically, we start by addressing the physical layer, either on its own or in combination, to resolve the problem. This approach is usually effective, but frequently we observe the impact of cascading failures.
Consider this analogy: If your car or truck has traveled 98,000 miles, it has essentially circled the Earth at the equator four times. With the introduction of GDI, turbos, diesel CR, and more stringent emission controls, we are encountering an increasing number of carbon-related malfunctions. Until you transition from an internal combustion engine to a Tesla, this remains a reality. Carbon does not discriminate and does not play nice.
It's important to realize that when a Service Advisor from a reputable shop contacts you and mentions additional issues that need to be addressed, they are not attempting to extract more money from you. They are actually addressing Cascading Failures. Nowadays, most good shops are making sincere efforts to gain and retain your long-term business.
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