Looking for a good diagnostic worksheet

ATG (Automotive Training Group) Has a great one on their website you can download for free in PDF format. There's also a checklist you can have your customers fill out to help gather information about their concerns. These work particularly well for intermittents, especially if you proof read it before they leave so you can clear up any uncertainties. There's space to put your logo as well so

I reviewed the one on ATG's website, atgtraining​.​com/wp-content/upl…​.​pdf and this is great for customers. However, I should have specified, I am looking for one that technicians use that will help us narrow down the cause of driveability concerns.

That worksheets is actually for you. There is a similar one that's the customer survey but if you combine this with their documentation worksheet, it gives a great way to plan and organize your diagnosis. Everyone thinks differently though so that's not to say they're a one size fits all approach. Just one way of going about it. I had some others on a flash drive that I got from Wally Mouradian

These are Dave Decourceys Misfire worksheets I have saved and used many times. From what I understand I am one of the few people who still have these. Dave used to say ”Thatbyou will usually find the problem before you get to the end of the second page”. And he is right. Use well

Leslie that's awesome! Thanks for sharing! No such thing as too many weapons in the diagnostic arsenal.

These folks also have some useful documents. tat​.​net​.​au/checklist-%E2…

Good Morning Leslie , thanks for sharing Dave’s misfire sheets he spent hours putting them together. We spent many late nights in the shop gathering misfire data to make sure he put the best info out to techs. I’ve got my copies and reference them all the time.

I loved going to Dave’s classes. Every time you Left one you would think to yourself “this class should’ve taken days no hours”. It is also because of something he said to me that I know wear nitrile gloves for everything. He was a very large influence in my carrer

Leslie -Thanks for sharing I had not seen anything else like it. 😀

The best sheet will be the one stored in your head. Therefore, consider all useful sheets which you find to be inputs which you use as you build your internal one. One of the primary things to instill is to remain rational and in pursuit of understanding, to not be desperate for a final answer. This is a key purpose of using sheets, but doing this without relying on the sheet is more efficient

HI Avery, For me the best way to identify the source of a service fault is to understand how the system works. During the initial inspection, I will look for diagnostic codes in all ecus. I will then pull up wiring diagrams and read up on the system. For instance if you have no communication with the PCM, then looking at the communications network, powers and grounds will help determine why

I agree with Michael. It is important to have a predetermined system of how you approach a diagnostic, but I prefer to treat each diagnostic as if it was first time I see the problem simply because same symptom may have a hundred reasons. The diagnostic charts presented above definitely can help but you still need to have your own approach.

Critical and cognitive thinking skills are the only forward path in automotive diagnostics. There arent enough "checklists" in the world to cover the diag issues....

I call this the "Diagnostic tree". I am now actually writing a training for this very same subject. I call it a tree, as if you draw on a piece of paper your options and actions (and also the possible options and actions) during diagnosis and rectification of the issue, you end up with a tree shaped diagram. I always have as a basis the "if->then" mindset, when i do diagnosis myself, or

That's a great point Paul. Appreciate the input. The mental process is easily the most important, in my opinion. Training your thought process properly allows for handling very complicated issues better than can be condensed into a flow chart on a sheet of paper. A chart has it's place, but thought process dictates even how useful a chart may be.

Something I learned from Eric Ziegler. Take a piece of paper and draw a line down the center and across the middle so you have 4 equal squares. Label them "What I know" What I don't know" "What do I want to know" and "What test do I need to do". This is especially helpful for more difficult problems or if you get pulled off all the time like I do.

Good one.

That's good, i'm going to try that tomorrow.