Professional_Tool_And_Equipment_News_August_2020 - 50

Electronic services, modules,
programming, and security
With such a wide range of vehicle platforms and modules requiring reprogramming,
consider alternative solutions when it comes to module replacement.
By Scott Brown,
Technical Editor

he average age of vehicles on
the road today is approaching
12 years, which means there's
a good chance that a portion
of the vehicles passing through your
bays are often 15 to 20 years old. If
you're operating outside of the rust belt
regions, then you're likely to encounter
much older vehicles at times. My shop is
in Southern California and we encounter
30+ year-old vehicles populated with
electronics quite often.
While electronic control modules have
inhabited vehicles for over four decades
or so, I believe most technicians have a
basic understanding of how electronic
circuits work. This article will discuss
options for module board level repairs
versus replacement.
According to my research, there are
no federal regulations that require automakers to provide parts support for a
specific period of time. I reached out
to my good friend and retired General
Motors colleague, Dan Dryke, for any
information to support my findings, and
this is what he shared with me:
"During my time with GM, I recall
that in many cases GM chose to own the
tooling required to build parts, regardless
of who the supplier was. Therefore, they
had the ability to build parts as needed.
Regarding the policies dictating how
long they would support replacement
parts, GM used several metrics collected through various studies in order to
estimate the replacement parts market
timelines. Often, these timelines would
be adjusted as a result of updated studies
of market demands."

PTEN

AUGUST 2020

As a technician, it is likely that you
will begin to see (or have already witnessed) reduced electronic control
module availability through the original vehicle manufacturer. Given that scenario, the next step would be to attempt
to source a rebuilt or salvaged module
through one of their suppliers. However,
some used modules cannot simply be
refitted to another vehicle due to security challenges. With such a wide range
of vehicle platforms and modules requiring reprogramming, one might want to
look to alternative solutions regarding
module replacement.
During my conversation with Dryke,
he commented that back when he was an
instructor for GM he would often remind
the technicians that they're selling labor;
why would they give away labor to a
rebuilder when they could take apart that
"fill in the blank" unit and rebuild it to
like-new condition? At that time, many

www.VehicleServicePros.com

While electronic control modules have inhabited
vehicles for decades, many technicians have
only a basic understanding of how electronic
circuits work.

technicians felt there was less risk installing a replacement part.

CASE STUDY

Your diagnostic process may take you
inside the module to have a look to see
if there are any clues to support your
hypothesis. I know that when I suspect
a fault within the module, I like to take
it apart for inspection. There is always a
possibility that you may be able to identify the failure and possess the ability to
repair the deficiency. Just think about
how this might benefit your shop and
increase profits.
About 30 years ago we had an early
80's Volvo in for a replacement engine
harness. My technician informed me that

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Professional_Tool_And_Equipment_News_August_2020

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