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This newsletter is provided to share information about our users, their shops, automotive industry news, things going on at Mitchell 1 as well as tips for using the OnDemand5.com and ShopKey5.com products. If you have questions or comments about this newsletter, or ideas for what you'd like to see in it, please .
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NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Mitchell 1 Introduces ProDemand™ and ShopKey®Pro
FASTER, EASIER, SMARTER
Mitchell 1 is proud to introduce our new repair information products, ProDemand™ and ShopKey®Pro. These new products deliver accurate information to help technicians complete their jobs faster, easier, and smarter. Beginning in April, existing OnDemand5.com and ShopKey5.com subscribers will have the opportunity to upgrade to ProDemand™ and ShopKey®Pro.
FASTER - eliminating the need for multiple information look-ups. By returning relevant content in one look-up, ProDemand™ and ShopKey®Pro quickly give the technicians everything they need to complete the job.
EASIER - allowing the technician to effortlessly navigate from procedures to TSBs to specifications to wiring diagrams and more. ProDemand™ and ShopKey®Pro bring the information to the technicians so they can focus on the vehicle.
SMARTER - intelligently cross referencing components, phrases, and codes in the database. Technicians don't have to know the OEM specific term because ProDemand™ and ShopKey®Pro will find the information regardless of term entered.
Wheel speed sensors have evolved over the years, but still are important undercar components.
Motor Age -- As long as vehicles have been rolling, the speed of the load-carrying wheels has been an issue. When I was a young boy watching western movies in the 1960s, I could always tell when a wagon was going to crash, because the camera would focus on a wood-spoked, steel-tired wagon wheel that was obviously spinning faster than it should. Those wooden wheels had a hard wood hub spinning on a hard wood axle; there was no bearing at all except for the animal fat-based grease that was packed in between the components.
In the course of the story, a crisis situation would come about that caused the draft animals to bolt and carry the wagon too far too fast (usually hurtling along through boulder-strewn cactus country or on the rim of a 1,000-foot promontory). Then a wheel would come off, tossing the wagon's cargo and passengers far and wide amid splintered boards accompanied by a suitably exciting explosion of dust and debris.
I'd remember those scenes as I rode in the back seat of the family car on vacation trips while looking out the side window at the blur of the spinning wheels on the vehicles we were passing. And as I watched, I'd wonder how fast a car would have to go before the wheels came off the way those wooden wagon wheels did.
For years, vehicle road speed was measured at the output shaft except on old Volkswagen beetles, which had the speedometer cable fed through the hollow left front wheel spindle with its square end poking through a matching hole in the left front wheel bearing dust cap and a small snap ring to hold the end of the cable in place. The old VW engineers had a way of doing things like that: smooth and simple, easy to troubleshoot and easy to repair. Heck, the gas gauge on older bugs was even mechanical; it used a short cable-and-sheath affair that led from the float lever in the tank right up to the gauge.
Clamp Down On Electrical Gremlins: The Trainer video series
Motor Age -- Of the three electrical fundamentals of voltage, resistance and current, only current can be measured anywhere in the circuit's path and remain the same. That makes low current testing attractive because testing can be performed at the most convenient access point to the circuit, rather than directly at a component or connector.
Measuring current in a working electrical circuit can help in a variety of diagnostic situations. By using a low amp clamp, testing becomes even easier. The low amp clamp, when mated to a digital multimeter or scope, can be used to test the amount of parasitic drain in a vehicle's electrical system and to diagnose the cause of a relay-controlled component failure. Similar components, like injectors and ignition coils, can be tested simultaneously using this versatile tool. Even the operating health of systems like the fuel pump/delivery circuit can be diagnosed with confidence.
Join Motor Age technical editor Pete Meier as he shares some of those techniques in this month's edition of "The Trainer".
Motor Age will be holding a series of web casts on various topics of interest to automotive technicians. Go to the Motor Age web site for more information and to sign up for these webcasts.
2012 WEBCASTS
January: Best Practices for High-Strength Steels, January 26.
Produced in cooperation with I-CAR
February: Bearing Inspection, Removal and Installation Tips, February 16.
Produced in cooperation with TST and Sponsored by Timken.
March: Perfecting Your Car Count, March 29.
Produced in cooperation with the Automotive Management Institute
April: Blueprinting, April 26.
Produced in cooperation with I-CAR.
May: Testing Engine Mechanical Health, May 24.
Produced in cooperation with TST.
June: Sourcing Global Products, June 27.
July: Understanding Steering and Suspension Diagnostics, July 26.
Produced in cooperation with I-CAR.
August: Testing ECMs Inputs/Outputs, August 23.
Produced in cooperation with TST.
September: Revamping Your Website, March 26.
Produced in cooperation with the Automotive Management Institute
October: Growing the Multi-Shop Operation, October 23.
November: Low Amp Testing Techniques, November 20.
Produced in cooperation with TST.
Internet Explorer 9 Compatibility
Before installing or upgrading to Internet Explorer 9, please read our page of information detailing what to do and issues that may occur with this update.
Would you or one of your techs like to be profiled in the newsletter? How about your shop? We're looking for techs and/or shops to feature in this spot. This is an opportunity to let other techs know about you and your shop. You can share information on what your specialties are, what special conditions you have to deal with in your area, anything interesting about your shop or even what you like to do in your free time.
We will also list your shop's information such as location, phone number, web site, or any other information you'd like to provide.
Send your story and photos for consideration to . Please also include your account number.
Did you know... When you post a tip or question in the OnDemand5/ShopKey5 Live Tips system, there is a spell checker available. It is the right-most button on the tool bar above the text box. Just click the button before you click the post button.
Click here for more hints on using OnDemand5 and ShopKey5.
Mitchell 1 is running a tip contest for a limited time in OnDemand5.com and ShopKey5.com. Below are the latest winners of the contest. Each of these tips earned the tech a $100 prize. Click the links below to see the complete tips and for more information on how you can enter.
Mitchell 1 and Motor Age Team up on Monthly Tech Tip Contest
FEBRUARY 2012 IS THE LAST MONTH TO GET YOUR ENTRIES IN
NOTE: The following contest is in addition to the contest listed above. Winning tips from the regular contest will automatically be submitted to the Motor Age contest.
"Necessity is the mother of invention," and techs can be real mothers when it comes to inventing ways to make life in the shop easier. Motor Age now gives you the opportunity to share those ideas with your fellow techs with a chance for monthly prizes on its Motor Age Tech Tips page.
Motor Age and Mitchell 1 have teamed up in this monthly contest for our readers. Just fill out this form with your best tech tip. Each month, Motor Age editors will select the best tip and feature it and you in the magazine and online. Not only that, but Mitchell 1 has great prizes for each monthly winner. Readers will choose the grand prize winner at the end of the contest year.
In the shop, it's all about helping your fellow techs earn their livings a little easier, a mission we share with you. Submit your tips today and help out your fellow techs all across the country!
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Mitchell Repair Information Company, LLC. All Rights Reserved. By accessing and using Mitchell Repair's web sites, each user agrees that they have read and agreed to be bound by the Legal Notices governing Mitchell Repair Online. Our Privacy Policy. The Mitchell 1 name is used herein by permission from Mitchell International, which has no ownership interest in Mitchell 1.
Would you or one of your techs like to be profiled in the newsletter? How about your shop? We're looking for techs and/or shops to feature in this spot. This is an opportunity to let other techs know about you and your shop. You can share information on what your specialties are, what special conditions you have to deal with in your area, anything interesting about your shop or even what you like to do in your free time.
When you post a tip or question in the OnDemand5/ShopKey5 Live Tips system, there is a spell checker available. It is the right-most button on the tool bar above the text box. Just click the button before you click the post button.
