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Welcome to the OnDemand5.com/ShopKey5.com newsletter.
This newsletter is provided to share information about our users, their shops, automotive industry news, things going on at Mitchell 1 as well as tips for using the OnDemand5.com and ShopKey5.com products. If you have questions or comments about this newsletter, or ideas for what you'd like to see in it, please .
In this issue:
Missed a previous edition or want to read an article again? Just go to the Newsletter Archive page for a list of links to past headlines.
Access ProDemand or ShopKey Pro Using Your Existing Login
ProDemand and ShopKey Pro are now available to all OnDemand5.com and ShopKey5.com subscribers using your existing username and password. You no longer need to request an updgrade. It's now easier than ever to start using the new product. Just click the appropriate link below to give the new product a try.
Want to know more about ProDemand or ShopKey Pro?
Join us at one of our training workshops where we show you how the new product works. Workshops are held each week at varying times. You only need to attend one 45 minute session to learn the basics of using the program. There is also a question and answer session at the end to help you with anything else you need to know. Click the appropriate link below to visit our training site and to sign up for a workshop.
Informative ShopConnection blog posts about the new product:
Reserve Your SureTrack™ Username Now
SureTrack adds to the power of ProDemand and ShopKey Pro with an exclusive combination of expert knowledge and detailed parts replacement records, all wrapped in an interactive community. Designed to help automotive shops increase accuracy and efficiency from diagnosis to completed repair, the industry's most comprehensive repair information resource is just a few clicks away.
Since SureTrack is a tool for the individual tech, you will need a separate username and password in order to ask questions, share tips or upload content. It is very easy to set up your SureTrack user account by just launching SureTrack from ProDemand or ShopKey Pro and then clicking the Create Account link at the top of the SureTrack screen. Remember that you can use your existing OnDemand5 or ShopKey5 login to access the new repair programs.
Key Advantages of the SureTrack Community
- Notification system lets you know when someone has replied to your question.
- Easy to find your own content.
- Follow posts and get notified when replies are made.
- Key additional data provided when you search for tips and fixes.
- Ever growing collection of waveform and PID graphs, upload your own too.
- All users who participate must set up a profile. No more anonymous posts.
- Your profile can travel with you if you change shops.
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New Mitchell 1 Shop Connection Blog
Mitchell 1 has a new blog site dedicated to providing the latest updates on our products as well as interesting and informative industry news and stories. Much the same content as you're used to getting here in the OnDemand5/ShopKey5 newsletter but expanded to cover more products.
Contents include:
- Product Highlights
- SureTrack Real Fixes
- Product Update Information
- Product Tips & Tricks
- Quick Product How-To Videos
- Industry News and Insights
- Automotive Repair Articles from Motor Age and Other Sources
- And Much More
Click here to visit the Mitchell 1 Shop Connection blog now.
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Internet Explorer 9 or Newer Compatibility
Before installing or upgrading to Internet Explorer 9 or newer, please read our page of information detailing what to do and issues that may occur with this update. Some users will get Internet Explorer updates automatically from Microsoft.
Click here for more information.
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A New Cruze
GM reenters the passenger car light-diesel market after more than a 35-year absence.
Motor Age -- It's no secret that the U.S. fleet is totally at odds with it's European counterpart in the mixture of diesel to gasoline powered cars and light trucks. And one has to wonder why diesel passenger cars are not as popular here as they are across the pond. After all, diesels are proven more efficient and more durable than their gasoline gobbling cousins, and significantly so. If in doubt, just ask Audi, the World Endurance champions for the past 15 years, running a diesel-powered car.
According to a recent poll sponsored by Audi, 59 percent of American drivers between the ages of 18 and 34 polled said they would buy a light diesel passenger car if the cost of diesel fuel were on par with gasoline. At the end of 2013, diesel fuel (even though it is cheaper to produce) cost almost 60 cents a gallon more. In addition to the disparity in fuel cost, diesel-equipped models carry a higher sticker price than the same model using a more traditional engine. It doesn't take an MIT graduate to figure out that recouping the increased costs involved would take a long time, even with the more efficient powerplant.
In Europe, those factors are almost reversed. Cost of the initial purchase might be relatively equal, but the fuel costs are not. There, diesel fuel (dependent on country) can be significantly less than gasoline. Why? Taxation. Many European countries subsidize diesel fuel with lower tax rates, resulting in a lower pump price while the U.S. tax diesel more. Add in the increased fuel economy typically enjoyed by a diesel owner, and you can understand why diesels are the more popular choice.
German manufacturers want the American trend to change and have serious advertising campaigns in place to educate American consumers about the benefits of modern diesel ownership. In addition to the basic economics, these spots are showing how today's diesels are also quieter and cleaner than the diesels of days past.
"The market for diesel cars in the U.S. is small at present," says Mike Omotoso, powertrain analyst at LMC Automotive. "But it is expected to grow due to Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) requirements and expected increases in gas prices. So far, the German automakers haven't had any real competition in North America." Until now, as at least two of the Big Three announce plans to add diesels to their model lines.
GM Joins The Market
Many of our readers may recall GM's dismal diesel forays back in the mid-1980s. The diesel Chevette and infamous Olds V-8s were well known for their failure rates. But the 2014 model year brings with it a new diesel offering, the Chevrolet Cruze. Not to be confused with its Suzuki cousin, the new Cruze started life as a globally developed platform back in 2008. It replaced the Chevy Cobalt in the North American market with its debut in the 2010 model year.
The North American version of the Cruze is built in GM's Lordstown, Ohio, facility. Its 2.0-liter turbocharged diesel powerplant may be a new offering here, but it is hardly a new design. The basic architecture has been sold in Europe over the last 16 years under the Opel and Chevrolet nameplate and is assembled in Kaiserslautern, Germany. U.S. engineers worked with their European counterparts at GM's Torino, Italy, design center to refine the design and insure it would meet or exceed all U.S. emissions standards.
Source: Motor Age
Finding Misfires On pre-CAN Fords Using Mode $06
Motor Age -- Do you remember the days of OBDI? For those too young to remember, it was an era plagued with vague codes definitions, plenty of "ghost" codes, limited data access and a lack of standardization among the manufacturers. Many scan tools still offer OBDI connectors (there seemed to be hundreds!) but I found it just as easy to retrieve codes manually rather than clog up my toolbox with them. Out of necessity, we found alternative ways to troubleshoot these early systems and used them often enough to keep them fresh in our memories. As OBDII moved onto the scene, many of these same techniques carried over while others did not. And you know what they say, right? A skill learned and not used is a skill soon forgotten.
OBDII brought with it more diagnostic resources and some standardization across the OEMs. "Global OBDII" and its nine (now 10) "modes" provide access to information deemed necessary to troubleshoot and repair any fault that would result in increased emissions. Many of these modes you use on a daily basis. For example, mode $03 (the "$" indicates a hexadecimal number) is where you go to see what turned the Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) on while mode $04 is the mode you use when you clear the codes and reset the MIL. Other commonly used modes you may know by a different name are mode $01 (live data stream), mode $02 (freeze frame data) and mode $07 (pending codes).
The mode we'll be discussing in this edition of the Trainer is mode $06. This mode provides access to the results of all the tests the Engine Control Module (ECM) performs on its non-continuous monitors. Don't worry, we'll explain what that means in the video too! Mode $06 became popular when diagnosing misfires on Ford products that had not misbehaved enough to turn on the light and has since been used by many techs for troubleshooting a variety of complaints. And while the growth of Controller Area Networks (CAN) has made the live scan data more complete, some of the old techniques we used utilizing mode $06 are still worth practicing.
Source: Motor Age
Did you know...
 When you post a tip or question in the OnDemand5/ShopKey5 Live Tips system, there is a spell checker available. It is the right-most button on the tool bar above the text box. Just click the button before you click the post button.
Click here for more hints on using OnDemand5 and ShopKey5.
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SureTrack Real Fixes
Mitchell 1's long running a tip contest ended on July 31, 2013. We will be focusing on the new SureTrack system available in the new ProDemand and ShopKey Pro programs and will probably have a contest there in the future. We would like to express our gratitude to all have participated in the tip contest in the past. If you have not tried the new products and SureTrack, click here request your upgrade.
- Click here for the archive of OnDemand5/ShopKey5 tip contest winners.
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