What are the different steps of automotive diagnostics?
Nowadays there are many books on electronics and electricity related to cars. Unfortunately, many of them describe the different stages of automotive diagnostics theoretically, in which subjects can quickly become complex. To better understand the various elements as well as the vocabulary related to the process, here is a small guide that should greatly help you.
Perform an automotive diagnostic with an expert:
It is not always easy to know what is causing your vehicle to malfunction and where it is coming from. Is it an electrical or mechanical disorder or both? To see more clearly, we present the six steps that the automotive diagnostic professional will perform in order to successfully find the cause of the problem and fix it:
Step 1: Verification and confirmation
This is the automotive diagnostic step that will allow the specialist to check for a problem. In fact, this can be compared to a visit to the medical doctor. The mechanic will take the time to do a thorough analysis of your vehicle and will ask you about the different problems or noises you have noticed.
Step 2: Define the problem
Once the preliminary analysis is completed, the mechanic will then be able to define the origin of the problem, no matter where it is located. Be aware that a problem can occur on both a main circuit and a sub-circuit.
Step 3: Isolation of areas
At this step, the auto diagnostic specialist will isolate the problem in a circuit or in an electronic or electrical sub-circuit.
Step 4: Repair
This is the step where your auto diagnostic specialist starts repairing the circuit or sub-circuit causing the problem.
Step 5: Final check
Verification is the final step. Indeed, this is the time when your car diagnostic professional verifies that the repair has actually eliminated the detected problem and that your vehicle is working properly.
Performing an automotive diagnosis by oneself:
The electronic part of the vehicles consists of 15 to 20 boxes that are called calculators. The latter communicate with each other via a central calculator.
To carry out your diagnosis, you will need to connect the diagnostic socket of the vehicle to an OBD box. It is actually a conductor which can collect calculators’ information transmitted to a computer (via USB cable) or a smartphone (via wifi or Bluetooth).
We remind you that for your vehicle to always be at its best, it is always better to go to a car diagnostic professional such as Trans-Mico.