Engineering town, engineering approach
Loughborough has been building machines for a long time. Brush Traction makes railway locomotives beside the Midland station, the Falcon works turned out steam locomotives and then motor cars, and Herbert Morris built cranes at the Empress Works on Moor Lane. Nobody in a town like that needs persuading that guessing is a poor way to fix a machine. A modern truck, coach or van is full of sensors, control units and wiring, and one warning light can have half a dozen causes. Swapping parts until the light goes out costs money and often doesn't work.
Reading it, then proving it
We start with what the vehicle reports and then test the system involved. Fault codes point in a direction; they don't confirm a cause. Only once the cause is proven does anything get replaced. That applies to engine faults and limp modes, wiring and charging problems, no-starts and fuel contamination, air and brake warnings, clutch and gearbox symptoms, and overheating.
The fault that only happens on the motorway
Intermittent faults are the hardest to pin down. A light that appears on the M1 between junctions 22 and 24 and has cleared by the time the truck is back in the yard, or a derate that only shows when the vehicle is fully loaded, takes patience. Before you ring, note when it happens, how often, whether the engine was hot or cold, and what the driver heard, smelt or felt. A photo of the dashboard helps, and so does anything that changed recently, such as a refuel, a repair or a different trailer.
Emissions and AdBlue
Many breakdowns these days are emissions faults rather than mechanical ones. AdBlue problems, failed sensors and exhaust after-treatment faults can put a vehicle into reduced power with little warning. Topping up the tank or clearing a code rarely fixes the reason behind it, so we follow the fault back to its source.
Where we diagnose
Our technicians carry diagnostic equipment, so many faults are found and fixed where the vehicle has stopped, whether that is a lay-by on the A6, the hard shoulder or your yard in Loughborough. If a fault needs longer or the vehicle has to go on lifts, it comes into our workshop at Melbourne. If a repair is only temporary, or a fault can't be confirmed, you are told while the technician is still with the vehicle.
Stopping the repeat visit
A good diagnosis also tells you what is coming next. If the cause points to wear elsewhere, we say so, so it can be dealt with at the next service rather than at the roadside. Ring 01332 916028 with the vehicle and what it is doing. If it has gone into limp mode on the road, get somewhere safe first; the line is answered at any hour.
