There’s a growing trend in the automotive repair business: More and more people are turning to DIY repairs to save money on vehicle maintenance. It makes sense too.
Today, automotive DIYers have numerous resources available at their fingertips, like online diagnostic guides and step-by-step replacement instructions. That’s why a DIYer with minimal car repair experience can realistically diagnose a problem, buy a replacement part online, and then replace it himself – without ever having to visit an auto parts store or mechanic’s shop.
But automotive maintenance is a science. Costs can skyrocket due to misdiagnoses. It’s common for DIYers to end up replacing a couple different parts before finding the underlying problem. Fortunately, this common problem is avoidable. A few tricks can help you to better diagnose car troubles online.
Where can you start? Let’s say your vehicle’s ABS indicator light turned on or started beeping. Typing “ABS indicator light” and the make and model into Google will return millions of results; your problem could be anything. Bottom line, you need to narrow your search results.
Tips for Diagnosing Car Problems with Google Search
Google is a powerful tool for diagnosing car maintenance problems. But, like any tool, you’ll just waste time if you’re not using correctly. How can DIYers use Google search for diagnosing car troubles?
Every DIY mechanic needs to know two Google tricks: the “INTITLE:” and “INTEXT:” tags. Adding both these search operators to your Google auto repair queries will refine your results and eliminate the irrelevant results. So what does each search operator do?
- INTITLE – The INTITLE tag looks for specific keywords in the page’s title.
- INTEXT – The INTEXT tag searches for keywords in the body of the page.
How can search operators help you diagnose your vehicle’s symptoms? Let’s go back to that ABS indicator light and say you’re seeing that problem in an Audi A4. Using the INTITLE and INTEXT tags you can narrow results to those specific symptoms in only the Audi A4. Here’s how it would look:
- In the Google search bar type: intitle:“Audi A4” intitle:“ABS” intext:“beeping” intext:“Dashboard”
This example query only shows pages that have both “Audi A4” and “ABS” in the title, as well as both “beeping” and “dashboard” in the body text. In other words, you’ll quickly increase your chances of finding information related to ABS beeping or the dashboard indicator light in the Audi A4.
Most of your results will likely be forums and blogs written by people with similar issues. Jot down some notes, and create an elimination list to help you narrow down the cause until you land on the exact part you need.
Buying Replacement Parts Online from Automotive Scientific
So you’ve determined you need a component repaired. If it’s an electrical auto part, visit Automotive Scientific.
For nearly 25 years, Automotive Scientific, or AutoEcu.com, has been a distributor of automotive control module replacement parts. Automotive Scientific offers some of the most competitive pricing in the business and can help you with your DIY auto repairs in a few ways:
- Logic Controller Repair: Automotive Scientific utilizes the latest software to repair and remanufacture logic controllers and other electronic modules. This cuts replacement costs significantly, especially compared to brand-new replacement parts.
- Comprehensive Instructions: Removing parts requires precision, and that’s why Automotive Scientific has developed step-by-step removal instructions for a range of parts they offer. In many cases, instructional videos are available as well.
- High-quality Remanufactured Parts: If you need to buy electrical components for your vehicle, Automotive Scientific can help. You can find ABS modules, Climate Control modules, Chassis Control modules, Electronic Control Units (ECU) and much more for a range of makes and models. Better prices, higher quality parts – it’s a win-win for you.
Today’s DIY mechanics are lucky. They don’t have to spend hours searching through manuals for instructions or to diagnose their vehicle’s symptoms. A quick, properly refined Google search can help them uncover the problem in seconds. Then, it’s only a matter of sourcing the right part online at a site like Automotive Scientific. Bottom line, DIY repairs have never been easier.
