The Road to a Great Diagnostician
As a mobile diagnostic technician, I get many questions, how did you get started, how do you get the knowledge to do this, can you teach me? The one question I get asked the most is, how did you get into diagnostics?
Tanner Brandt is an industry-leading diagnostics specialist and the CEO of Autodiag Clinic. By trade, he is an automotive diagnostic technician and technical trainer.
The answer to that is simple, I enjoyed that side of the business more than I enjoyed the mechanical side. I knew that if I could find a way to get paid for my knowledge and expertise that I would be happier and likely healthier. I started networking and found there were many people in the industry already doing just that. Mobile diagnostic technicians, technical trainers, factory technical specialists, etc. This was the direction I knew I wanted to head so next I had to devise a plan to get there!
I realized immediately that although I enjoyed diagnosing vehicles, if I was going to make it into a career, I needed much more knowledge than I had. I started looking at ways I could gain knowledge beyond what I was able to in tech school or in college. I had been a long-time reader of IATN and knew that there were training conferences that happened around the country, but I had never been able to afford to go. I was extremely fortunate that during this time I was working at a shop that gave me a monthly tool allowance that I had worked into my pay plan when I was hired. I asked the shop owner if he were willing to let me use that money for training instead of tools and I would just pay the travel out of my pocket. He loved the idea and that gave me the opportunity to start traveling more and attending conferences.
The first conference I ever attended was the TST Big Event in NY hosted by Jerry “G” Truglia. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s a great event and you would be doing yourself a favor to look it up! What I didn’t know at the time of attending this event is I would meet some great new friends and mentors there. I was introduced to my now boss Mark Warren during that first event years before I became a training manager for Worldpac, I’m not sure if he remembers this interaction but it was a staple in my career. I realized that at these events there were like-minded individuals and even the smartest of them was as humble as the day is long. No one bad mouthed each other and everyone was willing to help you learn. I met several mobile diagnostic technicians that day as well. One of them let me go for a ride along years later to show me how he ran his business and has been a huge help to me ever sense.
Why did I give you this whole back story? Because without getting involved in attending training conferences and building a network no one can accel to a high degree in diagnostics. No one can know everything and having a network helps you to have a much greater pool of knowledge. Maybe one person in your group is a transmission specialist, electrical specialist, or a programming guru, you can call them when your stumped and learn from them, just like they will call you when they are stumped to learn from you. Everyone in my network attends 100’s of hours of training a year and we still call each other for help now and then and that’s okay!
To summarize, part one in becoming a great diagnostic technician is to get out there and attend conferences and build a network. Don’t be afraid to spend money to gain knowledge, if you focus and work hard it will pay off in the end. In part 2 we will discuss choosing training classes, attending them and learn how to get the most knowledge possible out of the class.
“The automotive industry is changing so rapidly, the only way to survive is to work together and share our knowledge with everyone.”
Tanner Brandt
The biggest mistake I see technicians make when it comes to training is, they choose classes that they are comfortable with. For example, maybe a Honda technician comes to an event and they sign up for all Honda specific classes on subjects they already have vast knowledge on. At the end of an event, they say they didn’t learn anything, and the classes were rudimentary. The problem is they forgot how to learn, in order to gain knowledge, you have to take classes on things you don’t already know or are unfamiliar with. Let’s use an example for the hypothetical student above, two weeks ago Bill Technician was working on a 2009 Ford Van for the used car department. The van exhibited an extended crank. He performed a system scan, what he found was code P0340 camshaft position sensor circuit malfunction. Bill pulled the sensor out, inspected it and determined it was bad, so he installed a new sensor. Upon starting the vehicle, the code immediately returned, and the vehicle still had an extended crank. Next Bill checked for voltage and ground at the sensor and decided the PCM must be bad. The PCM was replaced and low and behold the code returned and the symptom persisted. Long story short there was a problem with the reluctor on the camshaft because someone had installed the wrong engine in this vehicle a year prior. The technician is made up, the scenario is not. Bill has attended classes in the past but focuses on areas he is already comfortable with therefore his knowledge is never expanded.
So, the question becomes what should Bill do different in the future? He should attend diagnostic classes or electrical classes to help further his knowledge of how the sensors work and how to test them, so he doesn’t have to go through this a second time. If this scenario sounds familiar to you, you are not alone, do not feel embarrassed about this at all, its an easy fix. Next time something like this happens to you take notes on what happened and write down the system or component you had a problem diagnosing. Next time you are able to attend a training conference, look for classes that pertain to the problem you struggled with. I personally keep a running list of subjects I struggled to diagnose or felt took me too long to fix and therefore I must not have a good grasp on the system or how to diagnose it. If you do this your knowledge will grow ten-fold in a short amount of time.
Lastly when you take that class take as many notes as possible. Show up early and talk to the instructor ahead of time about the problem you encountered in the past. That way when the topic is covered, he/she can go over that part in more detail so you will thoroughly understand it. Take ample notes and if you don’t understand something raise your hand and ask questions. There are no bad questions and no one there is going to make fun of you. Remember in part 1 I told you everyone there is humble and just wants to help others learn. This is one of those examples of that.
written by
Leaders Lodge Member
Tanner Brandt
Automotive Diagnostics Specialist
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