In-vehicle Diagnostics
Tackling the challenge of vehicle electronics fault diagnosis and repair
Effectively finding and correcting failures in automotive electronics systems requires expertise, a systematic approach and the right tools. The late 1980’s saw the beginning of an explosion of in-vehicle computer systems. This has fundamentally changed how many vehicle faults need to be diagnosed and corrected.
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Since the 2000’s it’s not unusual to find more than 10 computer control modules in the average car. Today this number can reach over 100 in luxury models. These control modules communicate with each other, creating a ‘hive mind’. Manufactures not only use the ‘hive mind’ approach to add features and reduce cost they also use it for theft prevention. In many cases this prevents owners and garages from simply swapping out a defective module with a used part.
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At Motivelectronics we apply electronics design-level expertise and the latest tools to identify the root cause of electronics failures. Our systematic approach has been developed with years of experience in electronics systems design and advanced fault-finding techniques.
Our Autel Maxisys Elite II diagnostics and module programming system. Most vehicle brands covered::
Advanced fault finding using our signal generator and oscilloscope:
Why does this matter?
Time and cost to fix. Garages often lack the tools and the depth of specialist knowledge needed to most effectively find and fix electronics or software related failures. This is in no way a criticism of garage workshops, it’s the result of incredible complexity that demands very specialist skills and tools. We’ve experienced situations where challenging faults have defeated large, established workshops and other cases where attempts to repair a fault have made the situation worse. Avoiding the infamous ‘parts cannon’ can and does save £1,000s!
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If you’re located within 20 miles of Hemel Hempstead (HP2), U.K. we’ll come to you whether you are a private vehicle owner or a garage workshop / repair centre. Please get in touch to find out more.
Going beyond the expected
We use our design level expertise to extend fault finding to inside the control modules. Undertaking one-off repairs of a module is often far more cost effective than module replacement. A lack of replacement modules for older vehicles often means repair is the only viable option. Since starting in early 2021 we’ve grown to serve customers far beyond the United Kingdom. We’re repairing engine ecus, climate control (a/c) units, instrument clusters and more across Europe, the Americas and the Far East.
Badly damaged, non-functional Ferrari 599 instrument cluster repaired and tested in our workshop. For an idea of scale, the round silver components (capacitors) are approximately 6mm in diameter:
Still have questions? Please get in touch.