Major Automotive Service Technician Tools Found In Every Garage

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When embarking on an auto career, the first things you learn are the ins-and-outs of using the most popular industry-standard tools. In addition to these, however, there are other major tools not usually found in the garage of the hobbyist, but are absolute necessities for the automotive service technician. These tools are indispensable to building up your business from the ground-up, or becoming a valued member of a pre-existing team.

Tools You Can’t Do Without

Early in your auto career, you’ll come across the full range of electrical issues with the parts of a vehicle. As such, a voltmeter is an essential piece of diagnostic equipment, which drastically cuts down the amount of time you would otherwise spend trying to find shorted wires and faulty connections. Often sold together, a multi-meter for the checking of amperages is just as important.

Because a busy automotive service technician can easily encounter tens-of-thousands of bolts, screws and holes in a short period of time, you’ll find air-powered ratchets, ball drivers and power drills to be merciful instruments of construction and disassembly. They save your joints from inflammation and injury and allow you to easily tighten and loosen disagreeable bolts and screws.

For big jobs that involve razing down the thick metal of a car, cutting and making adjustments are easily handled by this next popular tool of the automotive service technician: the plasma cutter. Reaching temperatures hot enough to ionize the surrounding air, this is essentially the perfect knife and slices through hardware like butter. The plasma cutter is an indispensable welding tool that will serve you well in your auto career.

A work light is an absolute must. Even during the brightest day, there are nooks and crannies in the back of the garage where darkness dominates, and it is crucial that you see what you’re doing. Work lights come in super-bright halogens and low-energy LEDs, where the lack of an extension cord and power adapter proves handy.

Extensions and swivels are mechanical tools that allow you to reach and manipulate hard-to-reach bolts, which are either deeply-embedded in some corner of the car, or surrounding by too many other machine parts at an awkward angle.

Jacks and jack stands are instruments of dual-importance, so much so that they’re sold as the feature of many starter packages for the beginning auto mechanic. The jack is for removing car wheels safely, by allowing you to slide underneath the multiple-ton vehicle to inspect the underbelly.

These represent just slightly more than a handful of the essential tools you’ll encounter in auto careers, and serve as the bare minimum for a serious mechanic. Vehicles develop all kinds of problems through wear-and-tear, and these tools help you effectively apply your knowledge in finding solutions for satisfied customers as an automotive service technician.

Car Care Tips To Ensure Smooth Holiday Travel

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Holiday travel can be a bust if your vehicle breaks down on the way to visiting friends and family.

With today’s busy schedules and high-tech vehicles, most drivers are left with neither the time nor inclination for an afternoon of tinkering on their car. But motorists can still do their part.

According to the experts at the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE), good communication between the repair shop and the customer can help ensure satisfactory service.

ASE offers the following tips to help make the repair process go smoothly.

* Do your homework before taking your vehicle in. Read the owner’s manual to learn about the vehicle’s systems and components. Follow the recommended service schedules and keep a log of all repairs and service.

* Don’t ignore your vehicle’s warning signals. There may be explicit dashboard messages or subtle changes in performance. Make a note of any problems – and under what conditions they occur.

* Inspect your car frequently. Check for unusual sounds, odors, drips, leaks, smoke, warning lights and gauge readings. See if you notice changes in acceleration, engine performance, gas mileage or fluid levels. Also, check for worn tires, belts or hoses, and problems in handling, braking and steering or vibrations.

* Communicate your findings. Be prepared to describe your car’s symptoms. Carry a written list of those symptoms to give to the technician or service consultant. Do not suggest a specific course of repair; let the technician diagnose and recommend a remedy.

* Stay involved. Do not be embarrassed to request simple definitions. Professionally run repair establishments recognize the importance of two-way communication in automotive repairs. However, don’t rush the technician to make an on-the-spot

diagnosis.

* Leave a telephone number where you can be reached. Ask to be called and apprised of the problem, course of action and costs before work begins. Before you leave the shop, be sure you understand all shop policies regarding estimates, guarantees and acceptable methods of payment.

ASE is dedicated to improving the quality of automotive service and repair through the voluntary testing and certification of automotive technicians. ASE-certified technicians wear blue and white ASE shoulder insignia and carry credentials listing their exact areas of certification. Their employers often display the blue and white ASE sign.

Achievements In Ford Car Sales

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The auto business handled assorted hardships this preceding year with considerable outstanding car businesses in the USA acquiring economic funds to preserve business. Ford nonetheless, not only triumphed in executing its business free of any outside negotiation, it in fact obtained a great gain in car sales. Lauded for a magnificent assortment of cars, which promote agreeable gas reduction, Ford intends to preserve its goal of unveiling prime caliber, gas efficient cars to nurture this progression.

Different clever proposals have been adapted by Ford to confirm that its car sales can cope proficiently. The main feature is the importance of buyer desires, amenities and boosting consumer affinity. Ford wants to organize this by offering pivotal preferences in its cars that could really magnify the car owners appreciation and so, improve purchaser dependence with regard to Ford cars. Technologically vanguard preferences will make it more difficult for individuals to switch to diverse cars but will in addition attract different buyers for its car sales.

Gas saving and accuracy have continuously been linked with Ford cars and fresh vehicles appear to be becoming imperceptibly more desirable. Ford adeptly attained a portion of the Hybrid industry, a market essentially prevailed over by Prius, a hybrid automobile fabricated by the planets well-established car company Toyota. In spite of being a comparatively modern technology, Ford hybrid car sales improved by just about thirty percent from the prior year.

An essential perspective of the policy relates to the forward-looking entertainment and transmission amenities in the brand new Ford cars. The acclaimed car company comprehends the compulsion to execute different manual activities in the car connected to mobile phones and entertainment and is targeting to come out with stress-free speech identification attributes that will enable you to broadcast directions without removing your hands off the wheel. In spite of fears because of episodes with comparable preceding technology, Ford warrants that their creation will run nicely.

Various protections have moreover been executed to guarantee that the modern specifications will not curb the operator’s security, an added grounds for satisfactory cars sale in the preceding year. For instance, a consumer will be allowed to accept phone dispatches forwarded to them but will by no means be capable of key in a cell phone message when controlling the vehicle. The online gateway is furthermore opened totally when the car is immobile. Protection checks like those indicated are remarkably meaningful to car buyers and in addition markedly raise Fords safety classification.

A myriad of auxiliary preferences are being launched in a phenomenal selection of imminent vehicles. Ford has affirmed that characteristics associated with one car may be communicated to alternative Ford cars by operating flash or SD appliances. Ford appears to be sticking to an expedient procedure to foster car sales in the forthcoming years and with recent, progressive choices not only might it expand its percentage in the trade but certainly grab unusually faithful car buyers.

How to install throw over saddlebags on your motorcycle

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This article specifically for Harley Davidson Sportster motorcycles it also applies other motorcycles

We sell a great line of quality bargain priced motorcycle saddlebags in various styles that fit a huge number bikes. About once a day I get an email asking about fitting the bags on a specific bike.

Before we start let’s make sure they will fit:

Let’s assume you are interested in some of my great leather throw-overs that measure: 14″ WIDE X 7″ THICK X 11″ TALL

This means that each bag is 14 inches long (measured horizontally), seven inches thick and 11 inches tall (measured vertically)

First Measure from the top of your pipes or chain (if the chain is unguarded), whichever is higher, to the bottom of your seat. You need 12 inches, if the dimension is any less don’t buy the bags they are too tall. Don’t worry about the shocks. Throw overs go over the shocks.

INSTALLING YOUR SADDLEBAGS

1. Remove your seat. Most Sportster motorcycle seats are removed by unscrewing the Philips head screw located at the rear of the seat. Slide the seat forward while lifting up slightly to detach the keyhole bracket from the seat post. Then slide the seat to the rear to detach the seat tongue from the rear tank bracket. The process is the same for solo and two-up seats.

2. The yoke is the part of the bags that fits under the seat. Unlace the yoke, position both bags in the location you want them to stay. Overlap one side of the yoke over the other. Using a marker, mark where the yoke lays over any obstructing hardware and the outline of outer edge of the upper yoke where it overlaps the lower wing of the yoke. Note: The saddlebags typically lay over the shocks. Some saddlebags are supplied with an additional yoke extender to be used with extra -wide bikes. This is typically not needed.

3. Lay the bags out flat, place the yoke over a piece of wood, telephone book or something similar. Line the marks up that you made in step 2. The existing holes work for the vast majority of motorcycles.

If the holes don’t line up, use an awl, ice pick or drill and make about six holes through both pieces of the yoke. Use the piece of leather strip to lace them together.

NOTE: On most motorcycles it is not necessary to make new holes. Some combination of the existing holes should fit.

4. Place the saddlebags on your bike. Reinstall the seat. Use the lower tie downs to secure the bottom of the bags.

5. Give your bike a final safety check. Make sure the seat and saddlebags are secure and the bags cannot come in contact with your wheel, spokes, belt or chain.

As always don’t stab, slice, fold, spindle or mutilate yourself while using sharp instruments!

Pick Up The Phone To Increase Your Auto Repair Shop Profits

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You may be surprised to learn just how much financial power rests in the hands of the person who answers the phone at your auto repair shop. As a shop owner, you put a lot of time into getting that phone to ring. The first phone call from a potential customer is your best chance to make a good impression. How is your business first represented to your potential patrons?

Customers needing auto repair have a sense of urgency when they make the call to your auto shop. Transportation is both a necessity and an investment; when they call your business for service, they want to know that their vehicles will be in capable hands. How is that first communicated to your potential clients? If your answering system involves an answering machine or an uninformed receptionist, you may be losing calls and clients by the day.

You may be the best shop with the most skilled mechanics in your local area, but if that is not communicated to your clients on the initial phone call, your business will suffer. The average auto repair ticket is approximately $300. If your phone answering system causes you to lose one call per day, and you are open 5 days per week, your business loses $1500 per week! This adds up to $78,000 annually!

Having a pre-determined script for any type of call that may come into your shop is an ideal way to assure that your receptionist handles inquires in a manner that will convert the call to sales, says Gerry Frank and Keith McCrone, co-owners of Automotive Profit Pro. When this is executed properly, 75% of calls can be converted into appointments.

Customers typically call auto shops for three main reasons:
1.They have a question or problem. This customer usually calls asking if you can fix their air conditioner or if you work on specific types of cars, such as, Do you work on Hondas? They want to know that you can confidently take care of whatever problem or vehicle that they may have.
2.Calling to schedule an appointment. This may be a current customer or a new prospect and they may be calling for either routine service or an emergency. It is important to determine all of the variables of the caller and help them accordingly.
3.To get an estimate. This person is usually labeled as the price shopper. Dont underestimate this caller; more often than not this customer is looking to establish a relationship with you and your auto repair shop.

Each of these phone calls is an opportunity to set an appointment and clinch the sale. Building a relationship with your potential clients as their auto care professional is established through their ability to trust you with their auto maintenance needs.