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    Wrench Tales with Brandon Steckler, Ep. 1: Chris Martino

    Feb. 27, 2024
    Water ingress, faulty new components, compatibility issues, and corrupt software made this security system diagnosis one Chris will not soon forget.
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    Welcome to Wrench Tales, a new video series from Motor Age and Technical Editor Brandon Steckler. Each month, Wrench Tales takes a deep dive into perplexing repair stories with technicians from across the country.

    In this very first episode, Motor Age Technical Editor Brandon Steckler speaks with long-time friend and brilliant diagnostician, Chris Martino, over a 2005 Toyota Highlander. This vehicle’s crank, no-start condition gave Martino a run for his money and devoured his lunch over many attempts to draw a diagnosis. Martino runs ADAS LI diagnostic center in Long Island, New York.

    Water ingress, faulty new components, compatibility issues, and corrupt software made this security system diagnosis one Martino will soon not forget. Listen to his logical diagnostic approach to research, technician networking, and implementation of the digital storage oscilloscope to solve this issue once and for all.

    Stay tuned for more Wrench Tales episodes, and if you have a challenging repair or diagnostic story that you'd like to share on the show, email us!

    About the Author

    Brandon Steckler | Technical Editor | Motor Age

    Brandon began his career in Northampton County Community College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he was a student of GM’s Automotive Service Educational program. In 2001, he graduated top of his class and earned the GM Leadership award for his efforts. He later began working as a technician at a Saturn dealership in Reading, Pennsylvania, where he quickly attained Master Technician status. He later transitioned to working with Hondas, where he aggressively worked to attain another Master Technician status.

    Always having a passion for a full understanding of system/component functionality, he rapidly earned a reputation for deciphering strange failures at an efficient pace and became known as an information specialist among the staff and peers at the dealership. In search of new challenges, he transitioned away from the dealership and to the independent world, where he specialized in diagnostics and driveability. 

    Today, he is an instructor with both Carquest Technical Institute and Worldpac Training Institute. Along with beta testing for Automotive Test Solutions, he develops curriculum/submits case studies for educational purposes. Through Steckler Automotive Technical Services, LLC., Brandon also provides telephone and live technical support, as well as private training, for technicians all across the world.

    Brandon holds ASE certifications A1-A9 as well as C1 (Service Consultant). He is certified as an Advanced Level Specialist in L1 (Advanced Engine Performance), L2 (Advanced Diesel Engine Performance), L3 (Hybrid/EV Specialist), L4 (ADAS) and xEV-Level 2 (Technician electrical safety).

    He contributes weekly to Facebook automotive chat groups, has authored several books and classes, and truly enjoys traveling across the globe to help other technicians attain a level of understanding that will serve them well throughout their careers.  

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