The ABCs of Automobile Diagnostics


Automobile diagnostics are really important for figuring out what may be ailing a car quickly and systematically. Automobile computer diagnostic systems help the car owner in many ways. The main benefit is the cost savings diagnostics extends to the car owner. Without the computer diagnostic system, the auto technician could take many more hours to diagnose the problem, thus, increasing labor costs substantially.

Moreover, the computer diagnostics system allows the technician to accurately determine the real cause of the problem and not just fix the symptoms. Simply fixing symptoms is expensive for the car owner as the car will require several fixes before the real problem is addressed and adequately fixed. There are a lot of ways diagnostics can help to problem solve a car experiencing diminished performance and other problems.

Finding Abnormal Occurrences

An abnormal occurrence in a car is when something happens that is not supposed to happen, such as, when the engine quits unexpectedly, or the car fails to stop when the brakes are applied, etc. It is often hard to replicate these abnormal occurrences in a car so the computer diagnostics assist the auto technician tremendously in pinpointing the exact event or occurrence, then it up to the technician to determine what can be done about it. ?

Is it an Upstream or Downstream Occurrence?

When a car isn't running properly it is normally a series of events or causation causing the problem. Therefore it can be very difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of the problem without a car diagnostics system that looks upstream and downstream of the problem occurrence to really pinpoint the exact problem causation. A problem that is downstream must be caused by an upstream issue. The diagnostics can get complicated very quickly! Properly using computer diagnostics leads to a quick and permanent fix.

What is Normal Operation and What is Not

Everything about the mechanical and computerized nature of a car is either in a normal state or not normal state. Are the brakes acting normally or not? Is the engine running smoothly or not? Is the car starting correctly? Automobile repair via diagnostics helps to correct non-normal states and restore the car to its normal operation.

Finding the Real Cause of an Automobile Problem

Determining causation is the real goal and purpose of automobile computer diagnostics. A diagnostic computer system if operated correctly will determine the exact cause of a problem. Tracing the chain of events and clues to the real cause is the sign of a good auto repair shop. A good auto technician will fix the real problem once, not put an expensive Band-Aid on the car and wait for the customer to come back again and again.