In the early days of EFI, and OBD1, there were no real standards for getting data from the ECU. My brother and I raced a Honda Prelude in the IMSA Firehawk Series for showroom-stock cars that were modified for safety and that's about it. You weren't allowed to make performance modifications outside of the stock specs. But some teams figured out how to skirt the rules and modified the baseline ECU maps by having them reflashed to specific parameters such as removing the rev limiter or advancing the timing for a certain rpm range.
The GM cars that raced in the series had a distinct advantage because they were equipped to connect to a laptop through the ALDL port (the DLC before OBDII). This allowed teams to make adjustments at the racetrack with a few taps on the keyboard; it was mind-boggling at the time. Honda teams banded together to swap ECUs as they were reflashed and worked better than others. However, we were not able to change anything on the fly like GM teams.
My dad, who began racing in the mid-'60s before I was born, was from a different era. In his day, all of the adjustments were mechanical. Need more fuel? Change the jetting and read the weather to get the right air/fuel ratio. You can feel it in your hands. You'd give it a tune-up, as they do in drag racing. But my dad thought that the new electronic code readers and scan tools were like a genie in a box that fixed everything. Not quite. At that time, scan tools were in their infancy and mostly just to read the emissions codes and little else.
Today, the idea of connecting a bidirectional scan tool to diagnose a vehicle and make the repair is the norm. Nearly every shop has a diagnostician on staff to troubleshoot and decode all of the data that is available to technicians. As we move further into what is ostensibly OBD3, technicians, shop owners and service advisors are going to be dealing with more data than ever. But data is only good when you know how to use it.
Next-level diagnostic tools and even connected machines like tire changers, inspection tools and brake lathes can help shop owners deliver higher profits and ROI. Techs can connect remotely to customers' vehicles to do an initial diagnosis before it arrives in the shop. And EVs are starting to creep into service bays across the country. It's as exciting as it is trepidatious.
There is a lot of opportunity for technicians and shop owners alike, but there are many challenges ahead. The technician shortage is real and appears to be getting worse. There are more cars and fewer shops doing the work. We are also seeing a changing of the guard in shops as many owners are at or near retirement.
Yes, the tools today are amazing and complex and require more training. ADAS is going to be mandated on all new cars soon. So, shops must be prepared to invest in the next level of equipment and tooling, but not everyone will make that leap of faith.
When you need $30,000 worth of ADAS equipment to change a windshield or repair a bumper, that tells you what is ahead for the industry. ADAS is somewhat a precursor to EVs and autonomous vehicles. There are far more sensors in vehicles today than a decade ago, and it is only going to increase in the years ahead.
My dad had the right idea about what a scan tool should do, but he was a little ahead of his time. We've certainly come a long way since the '90s.
