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    The Trainer #151: GDI Driveability, The Preliminary Approach

    July 31, 2024
    Motor Age Technical Editor Brandon Steckler walks us through an easy and efficient, confidence-building approach to discovering gasoline direct injection (GDI) driveability symptoms.

    He is back again! Technical Editor of Motor Age magazine, Brandon Steckler, walks us through an easy and efficient, confidence-building approach to discovering gasoline direct injection (GDI) driveability symptoms.

    Last month, Brandon showed us his tried-and-true approach to symptoms exhibited in conventional, port fuel injection systems. All those tools and techniques still hold true regarding GDI systems. However, the layers of complexity and system strategies grew and changed with the implementation of the technology.

    Using a process Brandon likes to call “A.F.A.D,” this easy-to-recall acronym helps him to remember what it stands for:

    • Air measurement
    • Fuel delivery
    • Adaptive strategies
    • Default strategies

    As Brandon described in last month’s episode of The Trainer (using graphed PIDs), in this video he evaluates each area of concern one at a time. The point is a lean-condition symptom (on a 2014 BMW V8 engine) seemingly related to a misreporting air mass meter was caused by a lack of fuel supply.

    The PCM protected the vehicle from the lean condition. Not by increasing fuel delivery (via fuel trim) but instead by closing the throttle. The vehicle’s poor performance was not due to the cause of the issue, but the effect of that issue.

    The A.F.A.D systematic approach ruled out what simply could not be wrong with the vehicle. This left only potential faults with the low-side fuel delivery system to be further investigated.

    Stick with Brandon in this episode of The Trainer and learn the same systematic approach Brandon uses in the bay to preliminarily discover what area the fault lies in. All of this is conducted right from the driver’s seat and without any wasted time under the hood or beneath the vehicle.

    So, tune in with Brandon and hang on tight! You can’t afford to miss this episode of The Trainer!

    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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