Mechanics Tool Supply

Owners can save money with a simple, inexpensive code reader. Fact is, cars just don’t get to technicians as often as some of us would like in order to keep it running all the time. Hey, it’s expensive and time consuming so it’s understandable. But, that means that when something begins to go wrong, it usually isn’t until much later that car owners know there’s a problem that needs attention. By the time he gets it to his technician, the “patient” is all too often in need of an amputation instead of a couple aspirins and call in the morning.

That’s where a modest investment in a consumer-level code reader can pay off. There’s a number of these units on the market and many are priced in the middle and even lower double digits. They’re easy to use. Just plug the cable into your car’s outlet and let it take a look at all the possible trouble spots that might be lurking in the car’s future.

It makes even more sense in service costs too. Some of the smaller, less-expensive units don’t have all the information that the big diagnostics mechanics tools and scanners that your mechanic has on hand, but they’ll at least alert you to trouble brewing and you can get that car into the shop before major problems have materialized and that’s a cost savings any driver should appreciate.

There’s also a degree of comfort to be had in having a good idea what the problem is “before” the car goes into the shop. Nothing wrong at all with knowing a little about the problem “before” somebody tells you what they want to do.

A good candidate to start looking at for a code scanner is the CP9125 code reader from Actron. It fits into the palm of your hand so that means it fits in the glove box with ease and for the money it does practically anything you could want a scanner to do.

Mechanics tools that make work fast, simple and accurate are the “good stuff” that belongs in the tool boxes of automotive service professionals everwhere. Waekon has exactly one of these automotive tools in their Universal Electronic Fuel Injector Probe (part number WE 76462).

No longer is it necessary to fish around for wires on installed injectors and it also isn’t necessary to take injectors off in order to get a reliable test. The principle of the Universal Electronic Fuel Injector Probe simply that each time an injector fires, it vibrates. This automotive diagnostics tool detects that vibration and flashes its light each time the injector fires. You can tell if the injector is firing; you can tell if the injector is firing sporadically. You can tell if the injector is firing the way it’s supposed to. All you have to do is place the probe on the injector and adjust the thumbwheel on the tool until the light is easily visable and the whole story of that injector is right there in front of you. It’s like taking three seconds to test an injector as opposed to whatever time it generally will take to deal with wires or remove the injector for off vehicle testing.

So - if time is a factor in your work, you need the Waekon 76462 among your tools. Easy, foolproof and quick - now if only the folks at Waekon could devote some time to keeping the neighbor’s dog from barking.

 Here’s a real time saver in the hands of an experienced mechanic and a great diagnostics tool for amateurs.  The WE76562 is a really quick probe from Weakon to determine if coils are working properly on coil-over-plug systems. With little more than a touch of the wand to the coils and you know right away if a coil isn’t doing it’s job.

Just place the antenna probe against the ignition coil and use the thumb-wheel to adjust the sensitivity until the LEDs begin flashing. Each time the unit detects a spark firing it will flash the bright LED strobe indicating sufficient kV and flash the green LED indicating sufficient Arc Duration. Technicians instantly know if the coil is firing the spark plug consistently, intermittently misfiring or not firing at all.

These innovative mechanics tools save an enormous amount of time by identifying a coil problem right now without tedious testing and disassembly.  Since there are four or more coils on coil-over-plug systems, there’s at least four times the likelyhood that a coil will be bad so this diagnostics tool from Waekon saves not just the time it would take to track down one problem, it does it four times. AND since it’s so fast and easy, technicians can check all the coils in moments for weak ones that will soon go out. Stands to reason, that if the first one goes out, the lifetime of the second, third or fourth etc. are expecting a call from the automotive electrical banshee any time and weak ones can be replaced before your customer returns with what appears to be the very same problem you just fixed.  (you know he’s going to think you didn’t fix it right the first time)

When it comes to looking around in tight spots, the people at Tracer Products have come up with an answer that serves automotive air conditioning needs as well as general diagnostics. It can be used to see into difficult to see places as well as inside of cylinders and so on. BUT, in addition to bright white LED lighting, it has UV lighting so it’s value is multiplied many times over.

This multi-purpose borescope (part number TP-9350) features a long 24″ flexible shaft that stays positioned where you put it - no drooping so there’s no constant repositioning neccary in order to get a good look at a difficult to see area. It belongs in every professional technicians selection of mechanics tools. It has a high resolution of 7400 pixels that assures a clear view; it runs on four AA batteries; comes with a clip on mirror for even more visibility and it comes in a protective carrying case with foam insert to protect your tool.

If you’re a serious pro and are looking for a code scanner that fits into the professional class of mechanics tools, something a few steps above the Actron CP9125 Pocket Scanner, take a good look at the 9190 from Actron. It of course, does everything the Pocket Scanner does but the Actron 9190 Elite Auto Scanner Pro adds all the good stuff that takes you beyond the basics.

Right out front you get OBD II of course, but you also get OBD I technology in these scan tools. You can scan that hobby Chevy that’s fast approaching classic status. Additonal upgraded features include the ability to read enhanced codes, graph engine data, record and playback stored vehicle information, and you can print all these automotive diagnostics through your PC.

Cars with tire pressure monitor systems have been on the road for a couple years now and there’s getting to be more and more of them all the time. They’re starting to become a real factor with automotive technicians and tire service shops as wheels are rotated and tires are replaced.

It’s something that the pros have to deal with. No sense having a TPMS system on a car if the right front wheel tells the system it’s on the left rear of the car and needless to say, your customer isn’t going to be happey either.

Along comes Bartec USA with the answer to the delimma. The Bartec 300P supports replacement of sensors when necessary; it reprograms the TPMS system when wheels are moved to another location so that the car’s system reports accurate data and it turns off the warning light so your happy customer is on his way down the road.

In addition to telling technicians where the problem is, information can be easily downloaded to a PC, printed out and shown to the customer so there’s no question everybody understands what needs to be done.

The Bartec TECH300P is a reasonably priced unit and is ideal for shops doing light to moderate work involving tire pressure monitor systems. You’re going to need it and it’s a top quality automotive mechanics tool available at Mechanics Tool Supply.

Shops that do general mechanical service work may determine that to spend upwards of a thousand dollars on tire pressure monitoring systems tools is a greater investment than they really want to make at the moment still need the ability to reprogram position sensors when they rotate tires or replace faulty sensors. There’s more and more of this work coming into shops now that TPMS equipped vehicles are getting to be a few years old. The original warranties are expiring and second owners are finding themselves in need of repairs and tire changes.

K-Tool International has an Activation Tool that meets the needs of shop owners that are just beginning to see this kind of work. It’s the KTIpst and the part number is KTI-71990A. This handy unit will check the validity of the system on any car and reset the TPM system so that information that may be relayed to the customer regarding tire inflation is correct - the tire reported as low is actually the tire that is low.

Obviously this needs to be done or a shop is really opening themselves up to legal problems that could be devasting. Take a close look at these TPMS mechanics tools as the cure for dealing with what will certainly be an increasing concern for automotive repair facilities. It updates online every year with the KTI-71991 programming interface module that can be purchased at the same time or a year or so later when updates are required.

Multiple Uses! That’s the ticket with the UV Leak Detection Kit from Mastercool (part number 53351) It takes care of your air conditioning needs just like you expect from this fine manufacturer but it doesn’t stope there. Like any really top drawer mechanics tools that professional technicians come to rely upon, it takes care of not just A/C, it handles cooling, oil, transmission, and fuel systems just as efficiently. Even in four-season locals, this leak detector is called upon as a valuable diagnostics tool all year around.

It’s just a matter of what dye you select to put into it for injection. It comes with refrigerant dye as well as dye for oil based systems and engine coolant on your customer’s car. If there’s a possibility of a leak someplace you’re going to find it and you’re going to find it quick and easy. Just pop in the cartridge of dye, inject it and shine the light along the path of the fluid.

The powerful 12-Volt, 50-Watt light will make the leak glow in a moment. It also comes with glasses to help even more and it works with both R134a and R12 systems because it has the adaptors right in the kit. It even comes with dye remover.

This unit will pay for itself with one use. Keep it on hand as a primary unit for smaller shops or a backup for larger shops.

Sometimes things are so established and proved over time that’s it’s just difficult to use any other way. If you use UV leak detection dyes to diagnose automotive air conditioning system problems, the EZ-Shot from Tracerline (part number TP9790) is exactly one of those tools. It’s as simple and dependable as anything is ever likely to get. Just hook the hose into the AC system, load the cartridge of dye and push the plunger.  This system has probably been around for centuries and certainly long before there ever was such a thing as air conditioning. The only simpler way to put substance A into substance B is probably to pour it it and since that’s not an option with AC refrigerant, this is the basic and most dependable way.

The EZ-Shot™  comes in a kit and includes an 8-oz cartridge of universal dye from the people at Tracerline and it has been one of the mainstays of this well-established company for a long time.

Yeah, there’s other  automotive A/C diagnostics tools out there and there’s more all the time. Some are clever, some are outright high tech. Some maybe you should be using, depending upon the level of automotive AC work you do and want to do. BUT - having the basic on hand is always a wise idea. Even if you use the most sophisticated electronic leak detection mechanics tools on the market, it’s good to have the basic on hand. Kt’s kind of like having a trusty old screwdriver in your tool box even if you use pneumatic or electric tools all day long.

Professional technicians need mechanics tools that get the job done and get it done as quickly and simply as possible. Performing the cooling system service normally would seem like a mundane task but to make it profitable it requires top quality mechanics tools to be sure it’s done correctly and in the least possible time.

Makers like Mity Vac know this and designed the MV4530 cooling system pressure test kit with exactly that in mind. Everything is there in one custom cast that will take care of cooling service on most US and foreign cars as well as testing the caps. Nothing terrible out of the ordinary; just dependable diagnostics that technicians can rely upon to find a problem and find it right now. The Mity Vac MV4530 is a diagnostics trouble shooter that includes the hand pump with a long 2-foot hose, four system adapters, a cap wrench and user manual in one case.

The opportunities to maximize profitibility and minimize excess time used can be really pushed to the limit with a money saving add-on. Technicians will expand the versatility of standard cooling system pressure testers by adding Mity Vac’s MTY4506 Universal Adapter to their toolbox. They don’t have to waste ten or twenty minutes fishing around the tool box for one of a dozen adapters. This is one, single, adapter that replaces a dozen special adapters that are required by most pressure testers. One adapter in one place - save time, save money, save effort and save space. It just makes life easier and work go faster with service and diagnostics.
Just attach the radiator adapter from most any standard kit to the inlet side of the MV4506 universal adapter and you have a pressure tester that’s compatible with almost all cars, trucks and SUVs.