The electrical system is the perfect place to begin building a foundation for an automotive education. This program takes a complex system and gives you the fundamentals in terms easily […]

Check out all of our tech tips in one location in our exclusive video player!

In this month’s Diagnostic News show, we focus on keeping it cool. With summer around the corner, it’s time to get ready for air conditioning service work! Check out several articles with A/C tech tips to get you started on AC repair. Also, get the inside scoop on diagnosing transmission problems! Get everything you need and more from AVI’s Diagnostic News!

From 1993 to 2008 the GM 4l60E transmission used a pressure switch manifold to tell the computer what gear was selected. In this Tip Clip instructor Wayne Colonna gives a detailed technical overview of this component with some helpful info on diagnosing associated problems.

Orange cables in hybrid vehicles means SAFETY SAFETY SAFETY. In this Tech Tip Clip instructor Dave Hobbs gives us instruction and insight on what to look for in safety equipment and multimeters for use in Hybrid applications. Remember techs, safety first when dealing with hybrid vehicles and high voltage.

Air-conditioning service stinks sometimes. Let’s face it. I mean it sometimes stinks literally – like bad odor stink. Those of us in the warmer and more humid climates regularly run into customers complaining of a foul odor that emanates from the dash. Your customer today is driving a 2003 Chevy Trailblazer and describes their complaint as this terrible musty odor. When you climb inside the vehicle to confirm the complaint, your nose causes the rest of you to want to do a 180, but you know it’s going to be your job to turn this foul odor into a profitable job. You are all too familiar with the cause and the fix.

Hot weather is fast approaching, and that means it’s time to tool up for summer air conditioning service work. A lot has changed in recent years. A whole new generation of smarter, more accurate, more efficient A/C recovery machines and recharging stations have been introduced to handle today’s reduced refrigerant capacity vehicles.

According to the new refrigerant’s developers, there are chemical differences between HFO-1234yf and the current R-134a system. As a shop owner, you’ll need to learn the Safety, Equipment and Charging Issues surrounding this new refrigerant.

Terry Wynter Auto Service Center’s website recently won an award of distinction for its website at the 2010 Image Awards. Visitors to the website can make appointments, obtain maintenance schedules and view tips on how to properly maintain their vehicles.

Team AVI understands that you are busy. We understand that to keep up with the technology rolling into our shops. To help you stay busy and get the info you need check out our great new desktop app. Download the free app to have the same great training clips, industry news and technical tips you find online delivered directly to your desktop as high quality video.

ATSG’s Wayne Colonna is here to help you by providing answers to some of the most difficult transmission related problems, giving you solutions and demonstrations on how to properly diagnose these issues utilizing aftermarket scan tools.

Automotive Video, today announced that it has received a 2009 All-Star Award from Constant Contact®, Inc., a leading provider of email marketing, event marketing, and online survey tools for small organizations. Automotive Video was selected for meeting Constant Contact’s best-practice standards for the use of Email Marketing throughout 2009.

Data-bussing and multiplexing can be complex and aggravating. In this clip instructor Dave Hobbs teaches us simple and easy tricks for diagnosing data bus and module issues.

Check out episode 1 of the new monthly news show: Diagnostic News. AVI has partnered with autocarepro: news, a Babcox website filled with the most current industry information and great technical articles.

Gasoline direct injection has been gaining momentum in the industry for some time. BG recently published an article recognizing GDI, and the fact that it will be around for some time. Gasoline direct injection (GDI) was first used in 1925 on the Hesselman engine. Jonas Hesselman designed the engine to start on gasoline and then switch over to run on diesel or kerosene. But in 1952, Bosch developed the first automotive direct injection system that actually ran on gasoline. Mercedes Benz wasn’t far behind in 1955 with the first direct injection sports car, the 300SL.

Airtex offers the following Tech Tip to assist technicians in performing a fuel system voltage drop test. Misdiagnosis is the leading cause of fuel pump problems and returns. Often times a voltage drop test is the only effective way to find excessive resistance in high amperage circuits. It’s a quick and easy test that doesn’t require any dis assembly, and will give you immediate results on whether you’ve got a good connection or a bad one. Check out this tech tip from Airtex offering a step by step procedure to assist technicians in performing this valuable and easy test.

ACDC and Team AVI are catching you up to speed with the latest and future Hybrid technology with Craig Vanbatenburg. Hybrid vehicles have been around for a decade now and with millions of these vehicles on the road if you don’t already service hybrid vehicles in your shop, now is the time to start. This extensive program includes thorough training for hybrid vehicles from GM, Saturn, Ford, Honda, and Toyota providing you with detailed information, servicing tips and hands on demonstrations to keep your shop ahead and up to date with hybrid vehicle technology.

By Mitch Schneider. Intermittent automotive service problems are one of the few things capable of terrifying and paralyzing folks on both sides of the service counter.
Everyone is terrified of something. It’s a fact of life.
Probe deep enough, look hard enough and you will find a phobia that is if not paralyzing, then, at the least, debilitating.
If that fear isn’t enough to inhibit your ability to act, I’ll bet it is significant enough to ensure that at least some of your actions fall out of the realm of what most of us might consider “normal” — whatever normal means.

For the best training on the planet during the automotive aftermarket’s biggest industry event, you will not want to miss this technical training experience. Automotive Video will be hosting a live training event at the end of the 2010 Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week in Las Vegas.

The Automotive Management Institute (AMI), is accepting applications for the $1,000 Automotive Video Inc. (AVI) Education Scholarship. The scholarship will be applied toward the recipients’ expenses to attend the 2010 Congress of Automotive Repair and Service (CARS) in Las Vegas.

In this clip Jim Wilson teaches us about graphing MAP and RPM in your scan data to test for glitches in the pattern in order to isolate mechanical, fuel or ignition problems.

Join Team AVI during Industry Week on November 4th & 5th for live training sessions conducted by experts in the automotive aftermarket industry. The event will begin on Thursday November […]

We see it happen all the time. A driver complains about poor gas mileage. No codes are set. Is there a problem that can be fixed? Or, is the driver just hoping for a solution we can’t provide? Extensive testing of the engine, fuel system and ignition system may reveal that fuel injector service, a tune-up, or some engine repair is needed. However, it is much faster and easier and more professional to simply probe the tailpipe exhaust gas and know how to proceed without even raising the hood.

There is a rapidly growing trend for dealerships to suggest that having oil changes done by independent or other non-OEM service providers could compromise warranty coverage. Consumers are listening and increasingly opting to have all routine maintenance performed by OEM dealerships. If you are not concerned about this, you need to wake up and smell the coffee!

In case you haven’t heard, ASE has introduced a new addition to the Automobile Technician certification test series—the Light Vehicle Diesel Engines Test (A9). The new A9 test comes as a response to industry interest in having ASE provide a certification path for technicians working on light diesel engines. Many vehicle manufacturers have plans to incorporate diesel engines in existing production automobiles and light trucks in order to enhance their lineup. The first A9 tests were offered in the May 2009 ASE Test Administration.

It is with much love and respect that we say goodbye to our dear friend, Sales and Operations Manager, Dennis Valone, who passed away suddenly February 17, 2010.

As a once-familiar gas jockey greeting passes into history, now-mandatory TPMSs have made it easier for drivers to monitor tire pressures. Servicing these systems is somewhat more complicated than operating a tire pressure gauge.

The problem most automotive technicians face when trying to select an appropriate labscope is reading and understanding labscope specifications and then matching those specifications to the test requirements. Our objective is to explain bandwidth and sampling specs as they apply to automotive testing. Once you’ve read the labscope spec data and compared that data to your requirements you can make a better decision.

What would you say is the most valuable tool in your auto repair shop? If you did not answer your shop management system, then you could be missing out on many opportunities to streamline your business and maximize success.

In AVI’s Toyota J-2534 Passthough video, you will learn more about passthrough programming with ATG’s Ross Wellwood.

Fort Myers, FL – February 19, 2010 It’s time to rethink the way Toyota vehicles are being repaired. In the past, Toyota vehicles rarely presented a diagnostic challenge. Today these […]

Fort Myers, FL – February 19, 2010 All shops are doing oil changes and every shop competes on price, quality, and convenience.  George Witt will show you how to take […]

As fast as lightning strikes, automotive technology changes. Since 1994, Automotive Video has worked to help keep you out of the storm. Much like the automotive industry, web technology is also changing. Social networking has become an integral part of the way companies conduct and market their business, so we here at Automotive Video have taken action to grant you access to diagnostic training on the most familiar social networking platforms—Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Search Auto Parts. Check it out today and help us help you.

“Hybrid vehicle electronics are dangerous and only the dealerships will be able work on them.” “The independent garage is on its way out.” Have you heard statements like these before? I have, and I have to disagree with these opinions, based in part on history.