Purpose
Diagnostics & Repair Intelligence is the space for live diagnostic work. This includes active cases, test data, scope captures, and technical reasoning shared between shop professionals working on real vehicles.
What Belongs Here
- Active diagnostic cases with symptom descriptions, test results, and supporting data.
- Technical questions about interpreting scan data, waveforms, or sensor behavior on a specific vehicle.
- Discussion of diagnostic strategy and test sequencing for a confirmed symptom.
- Scanner or scope use tied directly to an active diagnostic case.
- Repair verification questions, including confirming whether a fix held.
What Does Not Belong Here
- Confirmed failure patterns with no active diagnostic question. Post in Common Failures.
- Third-party warranty or insurance claim handling. Post in Extended Warranty & Insurance.
- Scanner or tool buying advice, comparisons, or reviews. Post in Resources.
- Customer communication scripts or advisor language. Post in Effective Communication.
- General shop discussion not tied to an active diagnostic case. Post in General.
- Off-topic, personal, or non-professional content. These are not permitted.
Required Format
Thread Title
Title format:
YEAR MAKE MODEL ENGINE — Symptom
Example:
2014 Ford F-150 3.5L EcoBoost — intermittent stall at idle
Post Body Requirements
- Confirmed symptom.
- Vehicle mileage.
- What you have already tested.
- Test results (freeze-frame data, scope captures, or scan tool output if relevant).
- What you have ruled out.
Attachments and VIN Information
- Attach scan data, waveform captures, or photographs directly to the post.
- Do not link to external file-sharing services.
- Include only the last 8 characters of the VIN if relevant to diagnosis.
- Do not post the full VIN.
Category-Specific Rules
§5.1 — No Paid Service Content
Do not paste procedures, labor operations, or technical text from AllData, Mitchell, ProDemand, OEM service portals, or any equivalent paid service-information source.
Citations and links are permitted. Reproducing their content is not.
§5.2 — VIN Restrictions
Do not post full VINs. Only the last 8 characters may be included when relevant.
§5.3 — No Customer Identifying Information
Do not include customer names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, license plate numbers, or any identifying information. Partial combinations that could identify a customer are also prohibited.
§5.4 — Peer Knowledge, Not Professional Advice
Posts in this category are for peer knowledge sharing. You act on your own shop’s authority and technician’s inspection.
Do not recommend a specific repair on another member’s vehicle unless their technician has physically inspected it.
§5.5 — Show Your Work
Do not post a diagnostic question without showing your work. Your post must include what you have tested, the results, any captured data, and what has been ruled out.
§5.6 — Resolution Required
If your thread reaches a resolution, post the solution as a reply or edit it into the original post.
Threads that go silent after “I’ll check that and report back” may be closed by moderators.
§5.7 — Tool Discussion Scope
Scanner and scope discussion is allowed only when directly tied to an active diagnostic case. Buying advice, comparisons, and reviews belong in Resources.
Enforcement
Edited or Removed by Moderators
- Title does not follow required format.
- Post is in the wrong category.
- Post is missing test results or work details.
Warning and Post Removed
- Pasting OEM or paid service-information content.
- Posting a full VIN or any customer identifying information.
- Posting tool buying advice or reviews instead of using Resources.
- Asking for diagnostic help on a vehicle not personally inspected.
Account Suspended or Banned
- Repeat violations of paid service-information policy after warning.
- Repeat PII violations after warning.
- Recommending repairs without physical inspection by a technician.
- Knowingly posting false diagnostic information.