Shotgun Diagnostics

09/29/2026

Excited about these new borescopes from TopDon! The VIS002 and VIS002 UV! The UV unit will be amazing for leak detection!

09/28/2026

So I read a post by someone on LinkedIn who thinks that someone bringing a specific type of coffee to an interview is somehow inappropriate or unprofessional. My goodness folks, if this is what you’re stressing or judging people on in an interview, it’s time to adjust your perspective. Every single job interview should be focused on competency, qualifications,the candidates overall attitude and personality (are they a fit for your culture and team, are they friendly/polite, do they fit the role, etc). If you are judging people based on arbitrary and highly subjective criteria (“I don’t think someone bringing a certain type of coffee to a job interview is professional.”) then your company will be deprived of a very large number of quality personnel simply due to a personal hang up or reaction. This is also something that says a lot about what kind of leader they are. (Although I’d argue this particular attitude makes these people more a boss than a leader). Again, what exactly are you trying to accomplish by assigning arbitrary rules to something as simple as what beverage someone brings to an interview? As long as it’s not cannibis or alcohol, I’m not particularly sure how this is any of your business, nor how it can legitimately negatively affect someone’s qualifications from any other defensible angle. It’s remarkable how many people struggle to realize what’s their own preferences vs what is functionally relevant to determining someone’s qualifications and competency. If there isn’t scientific evidence or a legitimate study backing up the criteria you’re assigning, then let’s be honest with ourselves that this criteria being assigned likely nothing more than a personal preference, arbitrary, and ultimately irrelevant to the value of a person’s qualifications. If you are in charge of that decision, it may be your right to make the choice, but ask yourself if you’re letting your own personal preference get in the way of rational and defensible judgment.

09/18/2026

here's a comparison of a 48v battery starter generator cranking event vs a 12v cranking event on a 2024 Ram 1500 5.7 E-torque system vehicle. These were both taken on the same vehicle. Assuming the engine conditions are similar (temperature, run time, etc), the amount of physical effort needed to crank the engine should be similar. That being said, the calculated energy used to start the engine by each of the 2 systems is similar (we did not measure the voltage on the 48v system directly for safety reasons, so the math used to calculate energy was an estimate). The 48v system accomplishes the starting task in less than 0.5 seconds. The 12v system takes longer (almost twice as long). Higher voltage systems are more efficient and can also achieve higher performance. While this is a mild hybridization, this is a good illustrator of why we see higher voltages targeted in the BEV systems (800v vehicles are now becoming more common).

Mike Blacconiere will be covering a lot about the role of voltage in an electrical circuit and how the increase or decrease in voltage affects the performance. He also explains how undesired variance in available voltage in a circuit leads to the faults we experience in automotive systems. Make sure to check out his electrical foundations class which he teaches live and hands on at his shop!!

09/16/2026

If you’re the last resort for customers, maybe you do see more zebras than most, but if the number feels high, step back and ask yourself: is this because of a weakness in your knowledge or skills? I try to remember to do this regularly.

09/15/2026

All wrapped up teaching technical classes at Christian Brothers Automotive Mastering the Difference event. It continues to amaze me how incredibly well organized and structured this event is. The engagement in the classes is unparalleled, the attendees have incredible positive energy and enthusiasm. I simply cannot say enough great things about the team of people who make the event happen. Special thanks go out to Kyle Krempel Daniel Aldrich Katy Baronitis, CMP for the tireless effort they put in to make this happen. Additional thanks to my colleagues at TOPDON USA who help make this possible Chad Schnitz Scott Hicks and Brian Walker. And as always TOPDON hq for supporting real world professional training for technicians.

09/14/2026

Today I was fortunate to debut my newest class at the Christian Brothers Mastering the Difference event. I cannot describe how awesome the engagement is at these events. Attendees ask such awesome questions and share such valuable insights. It is truly a special event and a privilege to be there as an instructor!

09/12/2026

We are heading to the Christian Brothers Automotive training event this weekend. This will be a great event as it has been previously. It is well organized and filled with wonderful people who are all excited to improve their skills. The positive energy that creates cannot be overstated. Stay tuned for more updates! Thank you to Christian Brothers Automotive Topdon for making it possible to be part of these events! I also get to spend time with two of my best friends who are both teaching there as well. I’d call that an amazing agenda for the weekend.

09/07/2026

If you CREATE or deliberately STOKE controversy just for attention on your social media page, please stop. There are generally only 2 reasons people do this: monetization, or attention seeking (usually trolling). Neither of these are constructive or even respectable. We can do better this. We need to find ways to UNITE and find common ground. This applies inside the automotive industry and also within our society as a whole. Our actions, our character, our choices, these are what define who we are and what we stand for.

When you are pondering doing anything —-> words, actions, posts, etc, ask yourself one simple question before you do it:
Does the activity you are considering have the potential or likelihood to generate positive change, thoughtful reflection and constructive dialogue? If not, please reconsider this decision.

09/02/2026

This was a cool one! We normally don’t work on vehicles this old since they can have a large number of problems happening at the same time (or the diagnosis and repair exceeds the value of the vehicle). https://youtube.com/shorts/GMOFxtgq-6o?si=2BqlKTpDpCVccrAV

In this video we use an oscilloscope and the Topdon CT100 to trace ...