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Copyright 2001 The Tribune Co. Publishes The Tampa Tribune  
The Tampa Tribune

March 2, 2001, Friday, FINAL EDITION

SECTION: BUSINESS & FINANCE, Pg. 1

LENGTH: 865 words

HEADLINE: Auto technicians fear loss of data for repairs;


BYLINE: JEROME R. STOCKFISCH, of The Tampa Tribune;

BODY:
BRANDON - Independent auto technicians are prepared to do battle over perhaps their most  important tool: information.

Bob Clarke has a team of well-trained and certified auto technicians at his Brandon shop.  They've amassed hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of tools. High-end equipment rings the  garage, from a machine that balances tires electronically to an eco-friendly parts washer.

But Clarke is worried that he may soon be missing something critical to repairing today's cars  and trucks: information.

Clarke will travel to Detroit next week for talks on independent service technicians' access to  repair data held by the world's automakers. It's a sticky issue - after all, independent shops like  Clarke Automotive Systems use that information to compete directly with the automakers' own  dealership service centers.

No problem, say the automakers. The independents get the data they need today, and they will  continue to get it in the future.

Clarke isn't convinced.

"They are destroying competition," he says. "They are destroying a competitive marketplace that by  every measure serves you."

His doomsday scenario envisions the automakers withholding complicated diagnostic information  from independent technicians, offering the data only to their authorized service centers. Or  effectively squeezing out shops like his by pricing the information out of reach.

"They've got their ambition," Clarke says. "Their ambition is to control the whole market."

Clarke isn't the only garage owner concerned.

"There's a lot of fear out there," acknowledges Tony Molla of the National Institute for  Automotive Service Excellence.

The situation demonstrates how far automobile technology has evolved. No longer does the corner  gas station employ a grease monkey who thumbs through a stained Chilton's manual before adjusting a  screw on your car's carburetor.

Today, the automakers like to boast that their vehicles pack more computing power then an Apollo  spacecraft. The people fixing cars today are "technicians," not "mechanics."

Here's how a typical auto repair diagnosis might occur:

It could start with the dreaded "check engine" indicator light on your dashboard. Say your car's  warranty has expired; you might go to your local independent mechanic to get it checked out rather  than an authorized dealership, where repairs are generally more expensive.

The technician likely has the proper connection on hand to plug into your car's on-board  diagnostic system, which sends a data stream on hundreds of operating systems to a personal  computer.

The technician might find an unusual reading from the engine coolant temperature sensor. At that  point, he needs information from the manufacturer.

What are the resistance values of the thermistor? Maybe the sensor is working properly; a wire  might be bad. How about a wiring diagram?

"You're going to need information," says technician John "Zach" Zacheis, a 31-year veteran of the  field now at Clarke Automotive. "Then you're going to need information to confirm your information."

And that information comes from the automaker. Now, independent shops can contract with several  services, AllData and Mitchell's being the most popular, for the data. A garage like Clarke's pays  about $ 140 a month for access to data from virtually all of the world's 40-plus automakers.

Clarke says the information comes "begrudgingly." And in trade publications and Web sites  dedicated to the independents, technicians complain that some needed information just isn't there.

The current distribution arrangement involving the third-party services such as AllData is  likely to come to an end as a California law takes effect that requires automakers to release  diagnostic data on their own.

Automakers are drawing up plans for their individual diagnostic Web sites. They acknowledge that  they will charge for such information. Nobody's saying how much.

But it is "totally erroneous" to say the automakers will withhold the data, says Ford's Mike  Vaughn.

"It is simply not true," he says. "It's a part of our business and it's not going to change. That  relationship, that availability of information, will be available in the future as it is today. For  a price, of course - it is not free."

John Cabaniss of the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers says a series of  meetings of various trade associations - the automakers, the ASE, and the Service Technicians'  Society - should hash out some standards.

"A lot is going on," Cabaniss said. "I personally would characterize it as a positive thing. Until  all these questions are answered, you can understand why people are worried or skeptical about what  will happen."

Clarke is among them. He considers it foreboding that one of the coming Detroit sessions is  titled "Diagnostic Knowledge Management," and an agenda describes that as an "emerging business  strategy."

"I've got a real pessimistic view of their (automakers') ethics and their morality," he says.  Jerome R. Stockfisch can be reached at (813) 259-7850 or jstockfisch@tampatrib.com

GRAPHIC: PHOTO (C),
JIM REED, Tribune photo (C) Brandon technician John "Zach" Zacheis uses a laptop to diagnose an engine problem. Technicians fear that automakers' control over diagnostic information will tighten even more.

LOAD-DATE: March 3, 2001




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