Thingamabobs and Dohickeys

[James Espey <james@xxxx>]

A good example of this happened just recently in the shop. A customer 
came in with malfunctioning door locks, and wanted to know if he 
needed a Lockzilla. We suggested that first we should examine the 
cause of the problem, and upon investigation - HE ALREADY HAD A 
LOCKZILLA. He had recently purchased the car and didn't know the 
Lockzilla was installed. We reset the integrated circuit breaker on 
the Lockzilla and all was well...for a few days, and then the problem 
came back. We had shown him how to reset it, so he reset it and all 
was well well again...for a few days. After tiring of resetting the 
circuit breaker, he brought the car back in. After some 
troubleshooting and further investigation, we diagnosed the ROOT of 
the problem and corrected it properly. He still has the Lockzilla, 
but doesn't need to reset the circuit breaker at all anymore.

James Espey
DeLorean Motor Company
Houston, Texas

281/568-9573
800/USA-DMC1
http://www.delorean.com



In response to a posting, Knut Grimsrud wrote:

> This touches on a theme that is fairly common on the reflector that I
> thought I would share my thoughts on. I call the theme "my thingymabob does
> not work, should I upgrade the system with a dohicky."

(SNIP)

> My simplified three-step DMC repair process is:
>
> 1) Diagnose the source of the problem
> 2) Replace the defective component or otherwise conduct repairs to correct
> the problem
> 3) Verify that the repair corrected the problem
>
> All too often, step #1 is skipped and owners proceed directly to #2. My
> apologies to Roger for using his post as the catalyst for my message -- his
> question is a good one and not one to gloss over. I just wanted to increase
> awareness and focus with the group on diagnostic procedures as an essential
> first step to making DMC repairs. In the case of the cooling fans staying on
> all the time, this can be caused by many different problems including the
> car's wiring having been modified by the previous owner. Before installing
> the FanZilla (which I recommend as a great improvement -- I'm really happy
> with mine), I recommend that the current fan malfunction be first diagnosed
> and corrected. The FanZilla is a great product but it will not conduct
> repairs to other malfunctions in the system.
>
> 	Knut