The Trainer #127: What to do when the ECM reports a crime (turns the MIL on)

Diagnosing the cause of an illuminated MIL – or more commonly, the Check Engine light – is comparable to what investigators do to catch a criminal. It starts with someone reporting that a crime has been committed. For us, that can be the customer concern and/or the Engine Control Module. One makes a phone call, the other turns on the MIL light. 

Then an investigation begins. That’s us – we’re the detectives assigned to the case!

In the case of a criminal investigation, detectives are taught that there are two elements to consider, the investigative tasks and investigative thinking.

Investigative tasks relate to identifying physical evidence, gathering information, evidence collection, evidence protection, witness interviewing, and suspect interviewing and interrogation.

Investigative thinking, just like our own diagnostic thinking process, is aimed at analyzing the information collected, developing theories of what happened, the way an event occurred, and establishing reasonable grounds to believe. Those reasonable grounds to believe will identify suspects and lead to arrest and charges. Investigative thinking is the process of analyzing evidence and information, considering alternate possibilities to establish the way an event occurred and to determine if they are reasonable.

Isn’t that true for us as well? We have to analyze the information we collect and, based on that information, perform the appropriate tests to begin narrowing down the pool of suspects – adjusting as we go – until we ultimately identify THE ONE AND ONLY cause of the fault.

To learn more about the tools used in today's video, be sure to visit www.Autel.com.