The Real Deal With Intermittent Issues

By: Bill Mays    (Edited: 11/6/2008)

  

Feel at the end of your rope?
Welcome to one of the most frustrating issues for the consumer and the technician. An intermittent condition is something that only occurs once in a while, and/or without any regularity. When you bring your vehicle in for testing / analysis, some special rules may come up.

What? No guarantee?
No technician can ever guarantee to find and / or fix a problem that is intermittent. First off, the technician NEEDS to be able to duplicate the symptom(s) before he can get a direction to pursue. If your vehicle only shows it's intermittent problem once a month, be prepared to hear that they can't find anything wrong. In a case such as this, you may want to wait until it gets worse. If it happens only 2-3 minutes after first starting it in the morning, don't expect a technician to find a problem if you just drove it in. You may want to make arrangements to leave it overnight and then be there to point out the problem WITH him in the morning.

"Can't you just connect my car to a magic computer that will tell you exactly what is wrong with the vehicle and how to fix it?"
This is a common Myth in the auto repair business. True, the diagnostic equipment has evolved by leaps and bounds, but it still only helps in the diagnostic steps.

Today's modern computer-controlled vehicles are truly into the digital age. There may be as many as 11 computers controlling everything from the transmission to the climate control system. Tracking down a problem and determining the process needed to repair the vehicle are still done the old fashioned way. A technician has to gather data by using his senses to see, feel, hear and smell, then collect the vehicle's stored data, and determine what course of action/repair needs to be done. The vehicles' on-board computers have the capability of recording the codes that caused a check engine light to come on. These codes are used to determine what component or system MAY be affected. That is when the testing is done with the best piece of diagnostic equipment in the shop: The technician's experience !

Information is valuable
Ask for our checklist that you can fill out before you bring your car in for an intermittent repair / analysis. It is easier to have a checklist to follow and note the what / when / hows of the situation, than to wait until a week later after they are no longer fresh in memory. The more information a technician has concerning intermittent problems, the better (and cheaper) it may be for you, but keep in mind, if you want the car checked out, and the technician does not find a problem, don't get angry when it comes time to pay the bill. Would you spend thousands of dollars on equipment and work for free? Don't ask your technician to.