Friday’s Advice: How to Help Your Mechanic in Making a Diagnosis

When you bring your vehicle to an auto repair shop because of a problem, the first step to solving that problem would be to determine its cause. And, this is where diagnosis comes in. The mechanic will have to look at all the symptoms of the problem until it can pinpoint its origin. After this, only then can a solution be arrived at.

Diagnosis can be time-consuming. But, as a vehicle owner, you can often help your mechanic during this stage of the repair. By doing so, you reduce the time it will take before you can arrive at a solution.

Now, how can you help your mechanic in diagnosing the problem of your vehicle?

1. If you notice the problem, pay attention to the symptoms. Use your senses to do this. Try to hear any abnormal sound originating from the area where the problem seems to be. Pay attention to weird smells such as burning. Feel any vibrations coming from your vehicle systems. Plus, do some visual inspection to see if there’s any leak somewhere. By telling your mechanic any of your observations, he’ll be able to correlate that fact to his knowledge about automotive problems.
2. If the problem is hard to explain, you can show the problem to your mechanic instead. This is what mechanics called as recreating the problem. You can go on a drive and recreate what you’ve done when the problem occurs (you were navigating a sharp turn, for instance).

Helping your mechanic in the diagnosis of a problem will also be like helping yourself. You will not only shorten the time it will take for the problem to be solved but you will also reduce chances of a misdiagnosis. Besides, participating in the diagnostic process will help you know more about your vehicle.