There are many conditions that can be the cause of vehicle symptoms, all of which may affect a customer’s concern and his/her perception of the car’s functionality, operation or performance. It’s always important to remember that a person’s perception of a condition will vary depending on the individual, and each customer will have his/her own criteria for what actually constitutes a problem. The Vehicle Repair Process should always begin with validating a customer’s concern and doesn’t end until necessary repairs have been completed and quality checked before returning the vehicle to the customer. Fixing a customer’s vehicle correctly during his/her first visit goes without saying. You know that it will help improve customer satisfaction. Nissan/Infiniti service satisfaction drops considerably if the customer has to return a second time for the same problem. On the third visit, a customer’s satisfaction has all but hit bottom.

Identify and Validate Customer’s Concern

It is crucial that the condition(s) contributing to a vehicle’s symptom be understood and captured and the specifics documented. Ask the customer about his/her concerns carefully. If the service advisor/consultant wrote down that the customer’s complaint or description as system or function INOP, that’s not defined well enough. The service advisor/consultant should ask the customer about the incident, MIL, noises, or condition he/she observed. It is important to understand the conditions that could have helped contribute to the the phenomenon or incident on the vehicle. A good way to do this is to systemize all the information prior to the diagnosis by preparing a question sheet referring to the question points. It is important to understand the incident symptom(s) and issue well enough to provide proper note taking and documentation of all of the information to accurately complete a Repair Order. For intermittent electronic problems, use an onboard data recorder during a test drive. It may also be necessary to connect the recorder and have the customer drive the vehicle normally and then have him/her contact the dealer/retailer when the concern recurs.

What, When, Where, and to What Extent

Communication is a two-way process, and effective communication skills are fundamental to finding a successful resolution. Before you can describe, explain or fix a problem, you need to define it. Using good questioning techniques can assist you to identify and understand the conditions contributing to a customer’s concern whether you are a service advisor/consultant, a dealer technician, or a technical specialist. Asking the right question is at the heart of effective communication. A good question is one that helps bring forth a more detailed, descriptive answer. These questions usually begin with what, when, and where. A probing question helps you to find out more details to understand the “why”. Asking for an example or asking “to what extent” helps you to gain more information or clarification.

Skillful questioning needs to be matched with careful listening so that you understand what people really mean with their answers. Always allow enough time for the customer you’re questioning to respond during the write-up process and if possible for the customer to demonstrate the concern. Repeat and paraphrase to make sure that you are both saying the same thing. Good troubleshooting involves asking good questions in a number of areas. To build a complete picture, comparing and contrasting the vehicle’s condition with a known good vehicle also helps. You should ask questions that help you to better understand specifically what the customer feels isn’t operating properly and what the specific symptoms are. Questions about where symptoms were observed are helpful as are questions about when the symptoms were observed. Understanding the extent of the symptoms - how many, size and scale, amount and trends - also helps. Understanding the vehicle’s operational condition before and when an incident was first observed or the chain of events leading up to an incident such as sitting for days, sitting overnight, recently driven, etc., is helpful. You need to ask the customer to describe the driving conditions, such as when, where, and to what extent, in order to help duplicate his/her concern(s):

1. Weather: Cold, wet, hot or rapidly changing weather conditions
2. Road surfaces: City or highway roads, rough surfaces, slick or dry
3. Time of day: Morning, afternoon, evening or night
4. Vehicle speed: Slow driving or at highway speeds, the approximate speed when an incident occurs
5. Engine: Hot or cold
6. Start-up: Short or long drive

• Perform road test (if possible) to help verify the customer’s concern. This is a good way to observe an incident or hear a noise first-hand.
• Perform action test and check the system operation after system diagnosis.

In some cases, multiple conditions or symptoms that appear simultaneously may cause a DTC to be detected.

If an Abnormal Condition is Observed

Document a complete description of the incident with what you’ve observed and as described by the customer. Using the Diagnostic Worksheets available in ASIST will help you in obtaining a complete incident description. These Diagnostic Worksheets are available for lead technicians and service advisors/consultants to use on the service drive. Always allow enough time during the write-up process for the customer to demonstrate the concern. Ask the question: “When did you first observe these symptoms?” Then to confirm, ask: “And did you ever have this concern before?” Be aware of the anxiety the customer may be experiencing and how many repairs have been attempted for the stated concern. If this is a repeat repair attempt, document the customer’s response on the work order and refer to the “Comeback Action Plan.” You or your service advisor should have the customer demonstrate the incident (if possible) under the conditions in which it occurs. For example: a seat trim incident may only require a static inspection. A drivability incident would require that the customer road test the vehicle with the shop lead or technician that will be assigned to the vehicle.

Determine the Possible Cause

It is necessary to diagnose the cause and validate the customer’s concern. An accurate Repair Order, cost estimate, repair process and the best estimate of the time it will take to fix the car won’t be able to be determined if the customer’s concern cannot be verified. Document the possible cause of the concern(s) and what repairs may be necessary in a standardized format that is acceptable and approved by the Service Manager and Nissan/Infiniti. Documentation should always include test results, observations, pictures, or any other evidence necessary to support your conclusion. Occasionally, you may be faced with an intermittent or tricky condition on a customer’s vehicle, and even when you think you’ve tried everything, you’re still stumped. You looked for applicable TSBs in ASIST and looked through various procedures in the ESM to no avail. At that time, with all the diagnostic reports and test results in hand, you should call TECH LINE to see if they can provide a recommendation. You need to be able to communicate the Complaint, Diagnostic Procedure (inspections and action tests performed), Test Results, Possible Root Cause and any corrections you attempted. Based solely on the characteristics of the vehicle incident alone, they’re most likely not going to be able to solve the vehicle’s issues right away unless the issues are duplicated in the Technical Data Base. TECH LINE needs you to give an honest effort in diagnosing the vehicle incident and to provide thorough test results in order for the partnership to work. The more accurate information you can initially provide to a TECH LINE TSS (Technical Support Specialist), the sooner he/she can provide you with the most logical recommendation.

Problem Analysis Roulette Approach

The “roulette approach” for resolving problems is when you take actions before completing a full diagnosis (for example, attempting to solve a problem because it appears to be similar to something you’ve seen in the past or experimenting with hunches.) Skipping steps or taking shortcuts can seem to be a tempting way to buy a bit of time particularly when you’re in the midst of a hectic day, but it’s a false efficiency. Sometimes you may stumble onto the cause of a problem, or sometimes you may make a repair that just happens to correct the symptom but the root cause was never fully discovered. In the latter case, the root cause is still unknown and the repair action taken that solved the problem is one of many actions you performed at the same time. A recurrence of the symptom(s) will mean that all those same repair actions will have to be repeated in order to ensure a correction.

Fixed Right the First Time

Today’s design technology and the digital age have brought an explosion in both vehicle complexity and the amount of technical information available. It’s not always easy to keep track of what resources are available to you and where to find them – but that knowledge is critical to your service success. To help you along every step of the way, Nissan/Infiniti provides a variety of information and training resources that assist in getting the job done right the first time. You can access technical information and constantly updated product information in ASIST.

If we’re going to be another tool in your toolbox, how can we best assist you?

TECH LINE can be a tremendous help to your success, enabling you to make it through even the most confusing vehicle system diagnosis. Time is usually a big factor for everyone, so the more accurate information you can gain from good questioning and observation and the more information you provide to TECH LINE, the sooner they can provide you with the most logical recommendation.

Be Prepared Before You Make the Call

If you have not been able to find a solution to an unusual vehicle incident, your TECH LINE support team is available to provide diagnostic assistance on vehicles that are difficult to repair after all dealer resources have been used. Make sure you’ve tried all your resources and have all your diagnostic findings available prior to calling. This helps us help you.

Before calling, always look up and perform all of the preliminary tests, and follow the test procedures as outlined in ASIST, TSBs and the ESMs first. In order to better assist you, TECH LINE requires any pre-call or authorization forms, trouble codes, freeze frame data, Service Manual results, incident conditions, and comparisons you’ve acquired from a known good vehicle as appropriate. Be ready to present your test results to the TSS when you call. The main objective of the TSS is to form a partnership with you and help you to systematically resolve the vehicle incident. If the vehicle incident remains unresolved after all the original recommendations are completed, renew that partnership again by calling your TSS back.

It is critical to the success of the repair process that any incident correction be confirmed before returning the vehicle to the customer. This check should be completed by someone other than the servicing technician, such as the shop foreman, service manager, or service advisor/consultant.

The same duplication steps should be followed as when the original customer concern was validated, e.g., static test or road test under the same conditions as the validation. Confirmation of a complete repair should keep the vehicle from returning to the dealership for multiple repair attempts for the same incident and improve customer service satisfaction.

Regarding customer satisfaction, the customer/client looks to the service department to resolve his/her concerns whether it’s a routine maintenance service or a complex diagnostic procedure. Using good questioning techniques can assist you in identifying and understanding the conditions contributing to a customer’s concern.

Using Good Questioning Techniques

Using good questioning techniques can help you identify and understand the conditions contributing to an intermittent incident prior to repairs. How would you rectify the intermittent air conditioning concern? Asking the right questions is at the heart of effective communication as can be seen in this scenario:

A customer brings in her 2012 Altima with a concern about her HVAC system.

Customer: “My A/C doesn’t work all the time. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t work, or it just quits!”

Technician: “When do you observe this happening?”

Customer: “Well, whenever I drive around town, to the store or take the kids to school or soccer, it works fine.”

Technician: “So, it doesn’t happen with short drives around town?”

Customer: “No. But, it seems like whenever I’ve driven the car to the lake cabin or out of state this summer it stopped working.”

Technician: “So, the A/C always works when you first start driving, but at some point, it stops working when you are on an extended drive or a long trip?”

Customer: “The funny thing is that my husband says that he’s never had any A/C problems in this car when he takes it to work or on business trips! His normal commute is pretty far and sometimes he’s driven it pretty far when he’s traveled to other business locations.”

Technician: “When you say that it has stopped working, do you mean it shuts off? Are the indicators on the buttons still illuminated, and can you see a temperature display?”

Customer: “Well yes, the buttons and display are always still on, and the cold air feels good. But, the air flow decreases way down to where you almost feel nothing coming out of the vents!”

Technician: “So when the cooling stops, the amount of air reduces significantly, but not the temperature at the vents and the A/C light is still ON?”

Customer: “Yes, the A/C light is still ON when it’s not working!”

Technician: “What control settings are you using when you’ve experienced the diminished air flow?”

Customer: ”Well, normally I leave the temperature set to about 75° F and not a lot of fan speed on the DUAL setting control. I usually have the air recirculation button ON because I have allergies. My husband always turns it OFF. When it starts to shut off, I usually try turning up the fan speed and adjusting the temperature colder, but that usually doesn’t help much.”

Technician: “Have you noticed anything else when this has occurred?”

Customer: “Well, yes. Sometimes I’ve seen moisture on the floor. And I’ve seen an excessive puddle of water under the car like it’s leaking after it’s been parked.”

Technician: “So after you’ve had a No Cooling episode and you’ve parked the car for a while you noticed a large pool of water under the car. What do you do to get the A/C working again?”

Customer: “Well, nothing! Usually after we’ve parked the car for a while by the time we get back on the road, it seems to be working again as long as it’s not too hot and I don’t have to drive very far.”

Technician: “So, when the cooling has stopped and you’ve parked the car for a while (shopping, long visit, etc.), the cooling works again when you start on your return trip?”

Customer: “Yes, like I said, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t! I brought it in so you could find out what is wrong and what’s leaking and to get the A/C fixed.”

The technician instructed the customer that her car’s air conditioning should cool all the time that it’s on. If this isn’t happening, the problem could be that the system was freezing up. He suggested a defective thermal expansion valve (TXV) may be the problem, causing the air conditioner to work intermittently. Since it takes awhile for ice to form, it melts after the evaporator has been blocked long enough for the temperature to rise above freezing. He then explained that the evaporator is the part of the HVAC system that gets extremely cold. It takes the high pressure liquid and turns it into high pressure gas by evaporation. This is where the cooling occurs. When it’s operating properly, it will maintain a temperature just above the freezing point. The blower motor, which is located very close to the evaporator, forces air across the heat exchanging fins. This process turns hot humid air into cool dry air by leaving the heat and water on the evaporator coils. During normal operation, gravity removes the water droplets and deposits them outside the vehicle, which is the water she has seen on the ground after running the car’s A/C. When the evaporator gets too cold, the moisture on the coils can freeze around the evaporator coils causing blockage. Instead of air passing through the evaporator, it’s restricted. The air flow through the cooling fins is reduced, causing the low air flow complaint.

The constant use of A/C RECIRC and the longer she used the A/C on hot days on extended drives may be why ice is forming and blocking the evaporator, leading to the symptom of reduced air flow. The excessive pool of water observed under the vehicle occurs after the ice has melted from the system, thus freeing the evaporator after a while. Her husband who prefers to turn the air recirculation OFF while he runs the A/C on his long drives hasn’t experienced the intermittent No Cooling episodes his wife does.