The Service Department I - Michigan State...

The Service DepartmentSTEVE MOORE, NATIONAL MANAGER, TECHNICAL SERVICES, STIHL LIMITED

Iwas in the doctor's office the otherday having him look at my sore arm.When you get a little older and you

still play recreational hockey, your bodystarts to get the odd seizures in the limbs.Now I was a little surprised when hechecked my blood pressure, he listened tomy heart, he looked in my ears, and shonea light in my eyes. "What does all this haveto do with my sore arm," I asked the doc-tor. He said, "Well first I always have tocheck you over to see if anything elsemight have caused the problem in yourarm. Do you think I should have cut yourarm open to see if something was wrong?"Of course he was right. He was just elimi-nating most of the problems that were notcausing the pain so he could then zero inon what was really wrong.

Good power tool technicians also usethis approach. When they first start work-ing on an engine, they don't start takingthe unit apart before they've done a fullanalysis of the problem. They evaluatewhat the customer has said. They inspecteach system of the engine and they elimi-nate components that cannot have contrib-uted to the failure. Once the technician hasdone this, he can professionally advise thecustomer on the cause of the problem andthe cost of the repair.

For years STIHL Ltd. has been promot-ing a simple but thorough troubleshoot-ing method to improve the service youoffer your customers. This procedure isdesigned to give your customer a detailedoutline of what was wrong with the ma-chine and what it's going to cost to fix it.

Normally this inspection only takes 15 to25 minutes and the cost of the inspectionwould be covered in most shop's mini-mum estimate charge. The other nice thingabout this system is that the tools requiredfor the inspection are few in number andrelatively inexpensive. All you need arescrew drivers to loosen the various powertool screws, a block of rubber plate forthe exhaust port, a plate with a nipple forthe intake port, a hook to pull out the fuelfilter, a pressure/vacuum pump, and anignition tester. The total cost for all thesetools is less than one month's repairs, andyour customer will receive a professionaland complete analysis of their power tool.

What's involved? There are- six stepsto STIHL's TOTAL ENGINE CHECKor TECH System.

Stihl's Total Engine Check SystemInspect the condition of the

engine, the piston, cylinder,crankshaft, and bearings. Muchof the condition of the enginecan be determined simply by

removing the muffler and looking fordamage to the piston. Using STIHL's En-gine Failure Analysis Manual, your tech-nician can tell if the engine overheated,dirt was being ingested, or any of manyother defects that were causing problemsin the engine. The worst thing your tech-nician can do is waste time and moneytuning up an engine if the engine itself isdamaged. Who pays for the labour andparts if the engine is not worth repairingafter carb kits and spark plugs were putinto the machine? Inspect first, repairlater!

Ignition systems are the mosttrouble free part of any handheld power tool, yet this is thefirst component that techniciansreplace. The Imrie 625 Ignition

Analyzer is the best ignition inspectiontool on the market. A very simple test us-ing the Imrie 625 will tell you if you havethe correct ignition voltage your enginerequires. If the voltage you get is to speci-

6 • DECEMBER 1999

fication, there is nothing else your techni-cian can do to improve the voltage. If thevoltage is too low, there are only a fewthings that could cause it-normally, thiscan be determined easily by your techni-cian. The Imrie 625 can also tell your tech-nician if something not related to yourignition system is at fault. The workingor running voltage can also be checked.·This can tell you if the engine is usingmore or less than normal voltage. This canmean a problem with the carburetor orseveral other engine components. Con-stant use and experience with the Imrie625 will greatly improve your technician'stroubleshooting skills.

Check the fuel system. Sim-ply removing the fuel filterand pressurizing the fuel linecan tell you a lot about thefuel system. You can check

the quality of the fuel, you can inspect thefuel lines, and you can get a sound idea ifthe carburetor is in good shape simply bypressurizing the fuel line.

A blocked fuel tank vent is asmall problem that can causeexpensive repairs! Again you

can use a pressure tester to make sure thefuel tank vent is venting. If the fuel tankdoes not vent, the engine can run lean,overheat, and seize. If your techniciandoes a major engine repair but forgets tocheck the vent, the unit might seize again... at your expense!

The TECH system also canfind external fuel leaks, ei-ther a crack in the tank or aleaking fuel cap. Leakingfuel can be a fire hazard,especially if the unit you are

repairing is a back pack blower. Here theoperator probably would not realize thatfuel is dripping down his back.

And finally you can do apressure and vacuum testwith this system. As anytwo-cycle repair shopknows, pressure andvacuum testing is probably the most im-portant procedure in two-cycle repair.Pressure and vacuum testing checks seals,

gaskets, intakes, impulse lines, andcrankcase castings. If you do a tuneup and do not pressure test the en-gine, you might overlook a problem

which could damage the engine a few daysafter your customer picks up the unit. Ifthey spent $100 for a tune up, do you thinkthey will want to spend another $300 or$400 repairing a damaged engine a fewdays later?

All dealerships want a profitable repairshop. You cannot have a profitable repairshop if your technicians don't know howto troubleshoot and they don't have thetools to trouble shoot. Do yourself a fa-vour, commit to STIHL's TECH system.Make sure you have the tools and instructyour technicians to use the TECH systemon every unit that comes in for repair.

This is a service that can replace yourold "Our minimum shop charge is $XXX"sign and replace it with "We offer STIHL'sTECH system to completely analyze yourengine's faults for $XXX."·Don't youthink that'll make your shop look moreprofessional and become more profit-able? •

- The Turf Line News, Volume 153,August/September 1999

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