How to Diagnose Problems?

[Edmond Dantes]

Is there any trick to diagnosing a car’s problem short of taking the whole engine apart in a blind search for the worn/broken part? In one of my jobs the customer said the engine was making a banging noise? What does that tell me? ( beyond looking at the engine). Thanks.

[Frek]

If you have not unlocked the diagnostic tools, then you pretty much have to either pull parts off/use examine mode to locate broken parts. If the car is in good shape you can easily identify broken parts as they will appear rusted or black in color. Working on an older car is harder because sometimes the customer only wants to replace parts that are below 50%, this makes it visualy harder to identify broken parts.

Also, make sure to check the order page. At the very least it will tell you how many broken parts there are in total. Just count the "part not identified" list.

[dogwalker1]

Also, Examine mode (the magnifying glass icon) can be your friend. Put your cursor on a part and hold down the LMB - if it the part turns red it's bad. Not all parts can be inspected this way, but you can find a lot of the bad parts with it before removing them.

[Edmond Dantes]

I was hoping there was a more efficient way to predict it based on the customer’s complaint. How does a real mechanic know how to find what’s broken?

[Iceknight]

Comparing diagnostics in this game to a real mechanic is like comparing expectation vs reality, respectively. Doesn't really work for the most part. Real mechanics are trained on how all of the vehicle systems work and how they work together, so if they have a symptom, they can narrow down where to look for the problem. As for CMS diagnosing, best thing you can do is start digging. You know where the problem is based on the customer complaint. Banging noise from engine could be a lot of things. Check cams, timing, and pistons/rod caps. When you figure out where the problem is, you know the fix the next time an order comes in with a similar issue. Knocks, tapping, weird noises, etc. Eventually you know where to look for those issues.