DIAGNOSTICS ARE EASY!… RIGHT?

In today’s automotive world, it’s not uncommon for high street garages to lure punters in with the promise of “free health checks”, which, in our view, totally undermines the skills, training and technical know-how required to diagnose a faulty vehicle correctly. Rather than just hooking up a vehicle to a laptop, the diagnostic process demands extensive equipment, experience and insight. At Motorsport and Performance, we see diagnostics as an investment in a vehicle’s health, and seek to identify and fix problems with minimal fuss. Take a look a detail breakdown of our diagnostic service below, and let us save you time and money in the long run.

Diagnostic Tools

Diagnostics can be very challenging, so making life easier with the best tools for this is key here. Plus having the knowledge and understanding of what it is that you are trying to fault find. Our diagnostic equipment and tools to help us find faults are second to none.

Having the right diagnostic tools is essential for making the correct diagnosis. Knowledge and experience are imperative, but most of the time, you will need setting on the right course, which is where diagnostic equipment comes into play, and we aren’t just talking code readers. Live data is the key, reading and monitoring each and every component to accurately pin point what is causing an issue, we need this to be as accurate and reliable as possible so there is no risk of misdiagnosis. Which is why we use state of the art diagnostic computers to guide us down the right path.

The wheel alignment machine was never designed to be a diagnostic tool, but has proven its worth as one many times, when a car isn’t driving straight or isn’t performing while cornering the way it should be the alignment machine gives insight into every aspect of the vehicles geometry so that we can see the cause.

 

Dyno’s are usually associated with making big power and fast cars. However, using a dyno to simulate real world driving conditions means data logging vehicles to see how the engine is reacting under load and speed is much easier and safer for finding issues with engines, especially when the issue only occurs at a certain point.

Without the technical knowhow and the experience all of the above is absolutely useless. Our team at MAP take great pride in actually knowing how a car works as oppose to just following instructions, meaning with the tools we have we are almost unstoppable.

Engine Diagnostics

Engines of today are more complex than ever before, with constant revisions due to the ever changing emission regulations, safety regulations, and performance enhancements. This means that when something goes wrong you need to be sure that all the basics have been covered, so you don’t end up being charged for a control unit the car never needed.

The pre-cat oxygen sensor on a modern car will tell you more about how the car is running than any fault code. This basic check of fuel trims calculated by the engine control unit from measurements taken from the oxygen sensor and mass air flow sensor is a great insight into what the engine is doing. From this you can diagnose what components may be at fault, weather that be fuel, ignition, or a sensor itself. This is a check commonly missed by repairers, often leading to misdiagnosis.

Smoke testing an intake system is a lifesaver when a car has a running issue believed to be caused by an intake air leak. Using a unique tool that emits fog into the intake system, any leaks will be seen coming out of the failure point; this cuts diagnostics time massively instead of trying to find an intake air leak manually, which would mean stripping down the entire intake and inspecting every seal.

If we believe there is an injector fault, we have in-house injector testing facilities that can see if an injector isn’t working or how well it is working. This check also means that, in some cases, injectors don’t need to be replaced; they can be cleaned and serviced for a fraction of the cost of a new injector.

Here is an excellent basic check. Simply put, spark plugs are the engine’s heart that can cause minor running issues or damage to surrounding components if left unattended. And in today’s world, where dealer servicing schedules get you less and less for your money every year, the likelihood of spark plugs being replaced is slim. So, ensuring spark plugs are in good condition, gapped properly and serviced appropriately can solve or avoid issues.

Chassis And Suspension Diagnostic

Chassis faults can be a number of things, the vehicle may not feel right when corning, when travelling at high speeds, you may get a subtle clunk when you pull off your driveway or a loud bang when driving down the road. Whatever the issue, misdiagnosis can be expensive, we ensure no stone is left unturned.

If you’re experiencing noises from your suspension system regardless of how it may sound, these can be very difficult to trace back to the source as sound travels through the chassis. Time and patience is key in this, as when you are searching for a noise there is no room for educated guessing. The only way to accurately diagnose these kind of issues is to test every component and rule them out.

The actual suspension problems will either come from how the car is driving and how it feels round corners, or how the car actually sits. If one corner seems to have dropped there may be a broken spring. Measuring ride height, testing damper oscillation, and even removing dampers to test rebound speed is not uncommon when trying to diagnose what is causing the car to drive poor. Long gone are the days of simply observing a misting damper.

Issues with wheel alignment can cause uneven tyre wear. Our alignment system and technicians who actually understand the readings and why manufactures specify these, and in some cases making corrections ensure you aren’t paying out for tyres more than you need to be. On top of this we carry out pre-checks to confirm that it is the alignment causing the problem and not a worn suspension arm or bush.

End links, otherwise known as drop links are the component that links the anti-roll bar to each opposing axle wheel to give stability in corners. These components are commonly wearing out/failing, due to our poor road conditions in the UK, and as they naturally work under tension their life span can be short. Meaning a suspension clunk is usually caused by one of these. If misdiagnosed, you could replace a very expensive suspension component for the sake of a £15 drop link.