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Workshop Tester 3
Who would have thought, just ten years ago, that when changing the brake-pads, a computer, or to be more precise, a 'diagnostic control device' would be essential. However, if one doesn't want the brakes to close
up during he installation, one has to accept the deactivation of this function. Anybody who was seen, kneeling in front of the wheel concerned, with a small diagnostic device, would have been thought to be a bit daft.
Nowadays, we know what he's doing, he's reading out the data of the tyre pressure sensor.
There's no point in arguing, we have to face reality. The question for the workshop is: How many devices do they need to be able to take care of our computers on wheels? Next to the large, sophisticated and
expensive scanner with any number of testing functions, there is also the smaller, less powerful device. The most simple device, is suitable for reading out errors by plugging it into the OBD-jack. That can also, at
least with add-ons, read out the tyre pressure directly from the sensor.
More important in this case, is the testing of the battery in the tyre. How much charge does it still have? Must the tyre be taken off simply because pretty soon the battery will be flat? Can the sensor, which costs
between €80 and €180 still be used, or must it also be replaced? Difficult questions, the answers to which cost money, the workshop is well advised to give this information to the customers in writing. In addition, the
smaller device has the advantage of being more manageable, it costs less and is ready for work in 10 to 15 seconds.
| Tyre pressure sensors have to be re-calibrated after every tyre- and/or wheel-change. |
The tyres have become so important, because every model appearing on the market, from November 2012 onwards, must have a tyre pressure supervision system, which reports when the tyre has lost more than
15% compared with the normal pressure. At the moment, the systems are having a hard time determining the inside pressure from the rolling circumference. They certainly do have fewer problems and completely
avoid the above mentioned expenses, the question is still open to discussion however, whether or not they can fulfil the legal requirements.
As we mentioned, this is only an additional function of the small device. When discussing the On-board-Diagnostics, it should be clear, that it's all about functions relevant to the exhaust-gas emission with a number
of universal errors built in. The device knows these error-codes and can, with petrol engines from 2001 and Diesel engines from 2004, read them out, decode them and of course, also delete them. In the meantime
apparently, there are already more than 20.000. The acquired Readiness-Code determines, e.g., which testing-steps with the OBD are still necessary.
If errors do occur, the values over and above the error codes, are of course very important. In the near future, efforts are being made to encompass sensors made by the other companies as well, not only those made
by Siemens and Continental. Besides, the device now has more memory than it's predecessor and an interface to the standard PC, which is also used to download the respective software-updates for the diagnostic
device. At least it won't, one day, switch itself off if the software is not updated. 04/13
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