Recent decades have seen rapid progress in the technology we expect as standard on our cars. Air conditioning, bluetooth connectivity, keyless entry, parking sensors and a host of other hi tech devices have made car ownership easy and convenient. Mercedes Benz have been at the forefront of many of these innovations. One of the most significant developments – though one which is often overlooked – has been in the area of electronic fault diagnostics. Mercedes Benz brand specialists like MB Service Centre Mansfield Ltd use these systems daily in the maintenance and repair of their customers cars. But what do these systems do, and how do they work?
There was a time when the first indication a driver would have of an impending breakdown might be an unexpected and alarming sound from their vehicle. Or maybe there would be a pungent smell, or a sudden drop in performance. If they were lucky, they might limp on to the nearest garage, where they would struggle to describe the symptoms to the bemused mechanics. But all too often, the vehicle would simply grind to a halt and refuse to move any further, leaving the passengers stranded in unfamiliar surroundings and at a loss as to what the problem was. Even when the car was recovered to a garage, diagnostics often seemed to consist of little more than a mechanic rocking the car from side to side on its springs and poking around randomly under the bonnet with a screwdriver. The spotless workshop of a Mercedes Benz specialist like MB Service Centre Mansfield would have been like a scene from a science fiction film.
But as technology progressed, manufacturers like Mercedes Benz were quick to realise the advantages of building integrated diagnostics systems into their vehicles. A warning light on the dash display could highlight a fault to the driver before it became noticeable in any other way, and the vehicle could be booked into a main dealer such as what was then Mercedes Benz of Mansfield for attention. These early warning systems were especially useful in cases of critical breakdown, where to continue to drive the car even as far as the garage could cause irreparable damage.
These days, on board diagnostics are more sophisticated than ever. Often a panel on the dash will not only inform the Mercedes Benz driver that there is a problem, it will also describe the fault in detail and direct the owner to have the car recovered to their local Mansfield specialist in cases of critical failure. Once a Mercedes Benz arrives in the workshop at MB Service Centre Mansfield, the diagnostics procedure continues: the vehicle is plugged in to a dedicated computer terminal, giving the experienced technicians access to a wealth of data recorded by the car’s on board sensors. Often it is possible to determine the exact cause of a breakdown without examining the car at all. These advanced diagnostics techniques are just one reason to choose MB Service Centre Mansfield Ltd to service your Mercedes Benz.
