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An interview with ASE Education Foundation Leaders

In this exclusive interview, ALLDATA’s Rich Diegle talks with ASE Education Foundation President Mike Coley and Vice President George Arrants about the launch of ALLDATA’s Instructor Toolkit, a first-of-its kind training resource for auto repair educational institutions.

Used Car Lot
Used Car Lot

Getting the best bang for your buck

If you’ve tried buying a car recently, you’ve noticed that new car dealers’ sales lots are empty and car prices have soared. Why? Three words: computer chip shortage. It’s become an issue throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and at this point there is not a single automaker that hasn’t been affected.  

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Ron Ananian is the owner of R\A Automotive in Waldwick, New Jersey. Since 1991, he has also educated and entertained millions of listeners through his nationally syndicated radio program, The Car Doctor.  We sat down with Ron recently to talk about what he does in his downtime. Turns out that besides his CrossFit regime, he’s passionate about learning.

Technician with tablet
Technician with tablet

Automobiles, like heavy metal butterflies, go through a metamorphosis each year. Some models return with just a few minor cosmetic changes, while others undergo a total redesign, and some models don’t make it back at all. Manufacturers also use a new model year to debut their latest and greatest creations.

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In June, ALLDATA recognized outstanding auto repairers who were submitted by shops across the country for ASE Automotive Service Professionals Month.

Now we’re pleased to share photos of the honorees from Firestone Complete Auto Care in Lawrence, Kansas. They received certificates, AutoZone gift cards, ALLDATA shop stools, and other swag.

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Brake fluid is often overlooked until major brake work is done. You may be checking the level of the brake fluid and perhaps even brake fluid color, but are you checking the true condition of the brake fluid? To give your customers the highest level of service, check the brake fluid condition every time a vehicle enters your facility. At a minimum the condition of the brake fluid should be tested every year, and the fluid changed if needed.

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The National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence, better known as ASE, is an independent, non-profit, self-supporting organization that was created in 1972 to improve the quality of vehicle repair and service by testing and certifying automotive professionals. ASE has nearly 250,000 currently certified automotive technicians and service professionals working nationwide.

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The National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) has designated June as Automotive Services Professionals Month. To celebrate, we’re featuring some of the outstanding auto repairers as submitted by shops across the country.

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Interview with Aaron Stokes, Part 2

ALLDATA recently interviewed Aaron Stokes, the founder of Shop Fix Academy, owner and operator of five auto repair shops, and the radio show host of “Fixin’ Cars with Aaron Stokes” on Nashville’s 99.7.

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Interview with Aaron Stokes, Part 3

ALLDATA recently interviewed Aaron Stokes, the founder of Shop Fix Academy, owner and operator of five auto repair shops, and the radio show host of “Fixin’ Cars with Aaron Stokes” on Nashville’s 99.7.

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Can hybrid and electric vehicles be dangerous to work on? Absolutely. However, if you get proper training and follow OEM repair procedures, you can safely and efficiently service and repair them.

In this article, we will cover manufacturer-specific safety guidelines aimed at keeping you safe while working on two fully-electric vehicles – The Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Bolt.

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Interview with Aaron Stokes, Part 1

ALLDATA recently interviewed Aaron Stokes, the founder of Shop Fix Academy, owner and operator of five auto repair shops, and the radio show host of “Fixin’ Cars with Aaron Stokes” on Nashville’s 99.7.

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The National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) has designated June as Automotive Services Professionals Month.

“Automotive service professionals go above and beyond, providing essential services to ensure that vital vehicles stay in service to perform their important roles and keeping the motoring public on the road,” said Tim Zilke, ASE president and CEO. “Because these skilled professionals deserve our thanks, ASE has designated June as Automotive Service Professionals Month to recognize the valuable work they perform each and every day.”

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If you took a service technician from 1955 and transported that person to 2021 they would be amazed, and frightened, by the level of technology in today’s cars and trucks. Even today’s technicians are surprised at how interconnected all the systems are. Systems that you would not expect to share data do so with frequency. Lots of frequencies. So many that it Hertz.

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In the year 1918, many events took place: World War I was well underway, Woodrow Wilson was president at the time, time zones and daylight savings were officially established, the Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago Cubs in the 1918 World Series, and the Spanish flu ravaged the globe, killing at least 50 million people worldwide. 

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Thanks to a friend who bought two Honda CT-90s, I recently found myself assisting in the diagnosis and repair of these esoteric antique cycles. In June 1963, Honda debuted this lightweight, small cc (barely a) motorcycle. They were so popular that the Beach Boys wrote the very popular tribute song: ‘Little Honda’.

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ALLDATA Diagnostics now allows users to perform quick vehicle scans on their phones. While using a tablet is still the only way to take advantage of all the features that ALLDATA Diagnostics has to offer, the phone app, now available on Android and iOS*, allows you to quickly scan a vehicle, create a report, and even clear codes.

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Sometimes the automotive business rewards excellence by giving a great technician the tough jobs while the gravy goes to the run-of-the-mill mechanic. Such was the case for Eric*. His boss owned multiple auto repair locations and Eric was asked to leave his home turf and bat clean-up at one of the locations that needed his expertise.

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The ALLDATA News staff sat down with ALLDATA President Satwinder Mangat to get his thoughts on the automotive repair industry and key technology trends for 2021.

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In a lot of ways, your business is like the cars we work on. There are many complex systems that work together in concert, but if the intake system isn’t operating correctly it causes numerous difficulties. Without proper procedures, you shouldn’t guess at diagnosis or adjustments.

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We’re all doing things differently this year. And SEMA is no exception. ALLDATA is pleased to support this year’s SEMA360 by offering attendees a number of ways to engage with us during the virtual event, Nov. 2-6, 2020

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When it was announced that the collision industry’s foremost trade show was going virtual for 2020, ALLDATA embraced the opportunity to offer attendees an online experience unique to these challenging times.

Discounts don't add up
Discounts don't add up

An Interview with Lynne Cardwell by David Bry

When the phone rings and there’s a potential repair customer on the line, you have a choice. You can offer a price quote and hope that it’s not too high and scares them away. Or you can take the approach of a fellow shop owner with decades of experience: offer a quote ...

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October is the optimum time to remind your customers to get their vehicles ready for winter driving and to deal with any service or maintenance issues they may have been putting off during warmer weather.

Drivers are holding on to cars and trucks longer during the coronavirus pandemic.

The average age of a vehicle on U.S. roads rose by a month this year to a record 11.9 years.

Since 1991, Ron Ananian has informed, educated, and entertained millions of listeners through his nationally syndicated radio program, The Car Doctor

Digital micro-load “conductance” testers are becoming increasingly popular. They’re small, light, inexpensive, and quick, garnering a much-deserved following. Here’s a breakdown on why you should be performing these tests on every vehicle coming through you shop.

The Internal Combustion engine is a marvel of reliability. If it has air, compression, fuel, and ignition in the proper quantities and at the correct time, it will run. If it doesn’t run or runs rough, then we have to diagnose the cause.

 

HOW SHOPS ARE KEEPING THE DOORS OPEN DURING THE PANDEMIC

As ALLDATA President Satwinder Mangat calls out in his COVID-19 update, our teams are working diligently to maintain the integrity of our customers’ access to ALLDATA products and to continue to provide outstanding service and support during these unprecedented times.

ALLDATA Repair®, our flagship product, has been evolving since its creation in 1986. From stacks of manuals and disks to a simple click of a button, we’ve worked hard to keep our product up-to-date with repair information (we publish new information daily!), and stay ahead of the game with a positive user experience. We aim to make the important information accessible – for example, about 40% of our users end up on Parts & Labor, so we made it easy to access on the home screen. Here are some of the top useful features we want to make sure you know about!

Cedarbrae Automotive, is a successful independent service repair business in Scarborough, Ont. Founded in 1972 by Sam Scala and today operated by sons Frank and Corey, it’s a busy shop with a huge and loyal client base, that depend on its staff for their automotive needs year after year.

Yet as vehicle technology advances, Cedarbrae has taken steps to ensure it has the access to the latest and most accurate repair information, one reason why, says Frank Scala that “two years ago, we chose to partner with ALLDATA.”

scan tools
scan tools

Connecting to a vehicle’s electronics and extracting information is not new. While primitive by today’s standards, some carmakers had scan tools over 35 years ago. The early 1990s saw several scan tools from aftermarket tool makers; the iconic MT2500 “Brick” from 1990 introduced many independent shops to scan-tool diagnostics.

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diesel600

When you’re looking for something good to eat, diesel fuel is probably not in your food pyramid. Yet, there are critters that like to feast on diesel fuel and their munching can create major headaches for operators of diesel engines.

4th of July Barbecue
4th of July Barbecue

Celebrating American Independence means fireworks, family, friends, and apple pie. But these staples would not be nearly as satisfying without the barbeque. Whether you are grilling meat or tofu, it is hard to imagine a more universal day for Americans to break out the briquettes.

I hope that the previous article stirred some discussion in your shop. Perhaps you were already aware of the need for proper coolant or how heat transfer works?

Now we'll cover what can go wrong with cooling systems and how you can diagnose and repair the problems that arise from improper servicing.

The aftermarket automotive repair industry has quite a few misconceptions surrounding it as a whole. Unfortunately, one of the biggest problems is the concept of trust – or, rather, the consumers’ lack thereof. As we know, a very high percentage of consumers don’t trust car repair shops.

YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005 in an office above a pizzeria in San Mateo, California. One year later it was one of the fastest growing sites on the internet. Today, over 45% of smartphone users access YouTube. People access YouTube not only for entertainment; they visit to learn how to tie a tie, remove ingrown hairs, clean clogged drains, or how to safely shear sheep in the springtime.

To help technicians diagnose and fix vehicles even faster, ALLDATA has added a new feature to its ALLDATA DiagnosticsTM scan tool. 

At ALLDATA’s Tech-Assist center, hardly a day goes by that we don’t hear about a slew of automotive problems caused by low system voltage.

The safety of your customers’ vehicles is of utmost importance.  If you haven’t already made it part of your service check-in, there’s a simple ALLDATA look-up that gives you access to key vehicle safety information via Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs). But before we get to that, let’s take a look at automotive recalls.

BG White

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