A recent post from the Northwest Herald recommends that car owners demand that their auto repair shops have ASE-certified technicians. That’s good advice. ASE is the shortened acronym for the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence. Since 1972, this non-profit organization has worked ensure that auto service technicians have the skills and training to properly repair your car. But, there is more to the consideration when you decide where to bring your vehicle for service.

The answer to that question includes consideration of the tools of the trade that they use in your auto repair shop. Their auto technicians may have the latest in automotive service training but is their automotive service equipment at the cutting edge of technology?

Performance Unlimited is an example an auto repair services provider that is committed to providing its ASE auto service technicians with the tools and equipment necessary to do their job right. To that end, owner Denny Norton recently traveled to an automotive industry event in the Southwest that included opportunities to see the latest in automotive service technology firsthand. When he returned to McHenry County, he arrived with orders for some of the best automotive service equipment available. 

This includes a new batter and charging system tester - the DSS-7000 - that provides substantial benefits to the customer and the auto service technician. For instance, if you replace the battery, in many newer cars, you have to reprogram the on-board computer afterwards. Not with this tester.

It will test the battery, the starter and the charging system and it will give an accurate reading of the battery’s condition even if the battery is nearly dead. Many of the older systems could merely tell whether the battery could hold a charge or not.

The new tester will tell you when the battery will die. It provides information on the life cycle, percentage of cranking amps and reserve efficiency of the battery regardless of the charge. The auto service technician merely scans the vehicles VIN and the tester populates the program with the applicable data.

Many European cars require that the auto service technician ‘reflash’ the computer after checking the charging system; the systems are really finicky. The new tester takes care of all of that.