Denver--A host of technical and management training courses drew more than 250 attendees at the recent Automotive Service Association of Colorado (ASA-CO) spring expo, from as far as Nebraska and New Mexico.
The event, held April 5 at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, featured 17 half-hour training courses set up in a "speed dating" format, designed to give shop owners and personnel access to a lot of information in a short period of time, said Donny Seyfer, ASA-CO board chairman.
Between classes attendees were able to visit with 27 tabletop exhibitors, who showcased wares from shop management software to shop equipment. Two technical classes highlighted the event, he said, one on noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) diagnosis and the other on mass airflow sensors.
NVH diagnosis
Bob Pattengale, Bosch's western region technical account representative, taught the segment on diagnosing NVH, Seyfer said, adding that the course featured diagnostic techniques with Bosch's MTS 4100 NVH Analyzer.
As vehicles continue to get more sophisticated, proper diagnosis is critical, Pattengale said. "Are you fixing the symptom or the cause?"
The analyzer, combined with critical-thinking skills, can pinpoint many engine and undercar vibrations by determining rotational speeds of several vehicle components, from driveshafts to tires, he said. "The key is understanding the range," he said. "Every component has different vibrations."
If the sensor on the tool detects vibrations outside the component's data range, that indicates a problem, Pattengale said, pointing to a tire as an example.
Using a spreadsheet with data calculations such as tire size and speed, a data range for appropriate hertz is then displayed, he said. For example, he said, if the speed of the vehicle is 30 MPH, it should read 6.5 hertz. "If I have a lump on a tire, it can be detected every time it rotates," he said.
Mass air flow sensors
Keff Kimes and Woody Carroll of K&N Engineering captured the attention of many attendees with their presentation on mass air flow sensors, Seyfer said.
The pair dispelled the notion that oil from a filter causes a mass air flow sensor to malfunction. The culprit is usually dirt, grime, or engine oil blowoff, the pair said, reminding the audience that the sensor functions in a dirty environment. To prove their point, K&N recently conducted a study on a 2000 Chevy Tahoe.
The sensor on the SUV was sprayed directly with K&N filter oil, Kimes said. "Even with the oil on the sensor, there were no DTCs detected." This was after the Tahoe was driven under normal driving conditions for a week, he pointed out.
Dwyer urged the audience never to clean a filter with compressed shop air. It destroys the integrity of the filter, he said, ruining the weave structure.
The audience questioned the pair about the OE filters for some import automakers, comparing them to the K&N brand.
"There are three characteristics of a filter," Carroll said, "efficiency, flow, and capacity. "If you make one of them really good, the others suffer."
More than 34 collision repair shop attendees had the opportunity to attend the Lean Process Management presentation during the expo, Seyfer said, adding that Bob Redding's presentation on EPA's new paint regulations and a course on waterborne paints also garnered interest, he said.
Seventy-five attendees took advantage of the free museum tickets sponsored by Zurich Financial Services, Seyfer said, which proved to be popular with spouses and children. The ASA-CO expo is scheduled to be held every two years, he said, adding that the venue for the 2010 expo is yet to be determined.