Believe it or not, an auto repair diagnostic sheet may be one of the most important tools your auto mechanic has in the toolbox. Why? Well, a great auto repair diagnostic sheet is designed to provide information you can use by your auto technician to quickly gather relevant information from industry internet data bases. Checking these databases is important because it can save your mechanic lots of time, resulting in a speedier, less costly diagnosis. Additionally, the information can serve as a supplement to the computer diagnostic info.
At our auto repair facility, we use six different diagnostic sheets. That's because the technician will need different types of information with regards to the nature of the problem. Having fewer inquiries to answer makes it a lot easier to get to the most important information quickly.
If you're unsure as to which category your condition fits into, just take phone questions on the sheet, to see if they ask about the kind of problem you are experiencing. Every one of the sheets separate the questions into two classes: 1)This is the problem and a pair of) It occurs as follows. This way you end up providing information to aid explain not only the sort of problem, but under what conditions it's occurring.
The six diagnostic sheets we use are:
o Noise, Vibration and Harshness - This is an easy category for customers to spot, because most of us know when a car is shaking or making some form of noise that's uncommon. Rather than just telling your auto mechanic the car is creating a noise, the form really helps to further specify the kind of noise, (e.g. rattling or squeaking) so when you hear it. For example, you may only hear the noise when the car is going in a certain speed or once the air conditioner is on.
o Heating and Air cooling System - Again, although it may be easy to identify when you're having a problem with heat or the air conditioning, you may be less likely to pay attention to a few of the details of the problem. This diagnostic forms helps guide you through the problem by asking them questions about airflow, section of the car where the issue is occurring, whether or not you are getting any cooling effect along with other similar items that will help your auto mechanic reach the root of the problem.
o Drivability - Here is the form to choose when you're having concerns about whether the engine is idling high or low, stalling, hesitating, or skipping.
o Electrical - This diagnostic sheet includes stuff you may not expect like get the job done car has recently been in an accident, or whether you needed a battery, fuses or accessories replaced. This type of information can help a tech get to the cause of an electrical problem.
o Cooling and Overheating - This sheet helps diagnose problems related to engine performance versus the heating or cooling of the passenger compartment. Here you will need to take note of things like get the job done check engine light comes on, what speeds or outside temperature the problem occurs at, whether there is steam coming from under the hood, whether the AC or heater were off - things like that.
o Automatic Transmission - Lastly, this diagnostic sheet is geared at being aware what types of problems you're experiencing when upshifting or downshifting. It asks you to provide information like mileage if the problem occurred, frequency with the problem, and driving conditions when the problem occurred.
Auto repair miramarIn addition to providing your auto repair shop with a diagnostic form, it's important not to jump to conclusions about what's inducing the problem. You'll want to avoid giving a shop a list of potential problems you on the internet or a list provided from your friend. It's true that your actual problem could be on that list - but which? This places your vehicle shop in the awkward position of getting to address everything on your list in order to avoid you saying "I told you so." This can lead to the shop spending more hours on diagnosis -- the opposite of what you were aiming for by completing a diagnostic sheet. That is why it's best to use diagnostic forms to clearly communicate the observed problem and also to build a working partnership along with your auto service provider.