26 September 2000

BY THE EDITORS OF MOTORBY THE EDITORS OF MOTOR

BEST of the BESTBEST of the BEST

All right, so we got pastthe seven-year itch andthe eight-year blues.This is the ninth year ofour Top 20 Tools com-petition—the first in the

new millennium—and the future looksonly brighter. The world’s toolmakersare coming up with ever more-impres-sive stuff, from the simplest real-worlddiagnostic tips manual to full-bore diag-nostic gear and everything in between.And as cars get more complex and hy-brid in nature, so will the tools—even ifthey’re modern variations of past brain-storms. And MOTOR will be right herereporting on all of it, as we have for thepast nine years.

So, we thank all those tool companiesthat submitted candidates, and the 20that won a Top 20 award for 2000. Asusual, our criteria were very simple:The tool had to be introduced betweenJuly 1, 1999 and June 30, 2000, and ithad to make us stop and say, “Wow!How come no one ever thought of thisbefore?” Beyond that, the sky’s the limit.

Congratulations to all our winners.Here, in no particular order, are thebest of the best for 2000.

Silver BulletsDiagnostic Tips Manual by AutomotiveService TrainingHow can we give a “tools” award to abook? Because this is like no other bookwe’ve ever seen on automotive service.Silver Bullets is full of hundreds of in-the-trenches jobs, the kind you en-counter every day. But it’s the way theproblems and solutions are presentedthat makes this an award-winner. Thereare three to four complaints with simpleanswers on each of the 120 or so pages.The tips are to the point and give youonly the information you need—rightnow. You could literally take this soft-cover book to the car you’re working on,flip to the appropriate GM, Ford orChrysler/Dodge/Jeep section and matchthe problem the car is having with theexplanation on the page. It’s that good.The book also has sections on AllMakes, Charging Systems and CoolTools, as well as a thorough index, tofind stuff quick.

The book is written by technicians

for technicians. John Forro is a journey-man CMAT who does training throughhis own company, Automotive ServiceTraining. He’s also worked as a contracttrainer for Snap-on. The tips and tricksin this book are mostly the result of hisexperiences over the years turningwrenches and probing circuits. RalphBirnbaum is the former Editor of Im-port Service magazine and a formerwrench-turner in his own right. The twohave produced a hard-to-beat diagnos-tic manual. This is the kind of stuff younormally just keep in your head. Nowyou can keep some of it on paper, andleave room in your brain for otherthings, like your family.

BDM Diagnostic Monitorby Blue Streak ElectronicsMultidimensional diagnostic tools madea big impact on this year’s Top 20 selec-tions, and this little dynamo from BlueStreak Electronics is a perfect example.

The BDM is a full-function scanner(with onboard graphing capabilities), aDSO and a multimeter, all packaged ina compact, lightweight platform. Butdon’t let its diminutive size fool you; thisthing is one serious diagnostic warrior.Check out these features: large, high-resolution backlit LCD screen capableof displaying 16 parameters or up tofour data graphs at a clip; dual-tracescope with adjustable or automatic trig-ger functions; four fully programmableLEDs to monitor on/off status of keyactuators or switches; 12-button keypadwith backlighting (you read it right, the

keypad is backlit!); RS-232 port forprinter and PC communication; plus aninfrared port, if you prefer wirelesscommunication.

Of course, a scanner is only as goodas its software, and Blue Streak has thisangle covered quite nicely with just twocartridges. The Domestic 1 offers fullcoverage for all OBD I Ford, Chryslerand GM products back to 1981. TheMastermind gives you generic OBD IIfor all domestics and imports, plus en-hanced data for GMs, Fords andChryslers. In addition, you get hun-dreds of bidirectional controls for en-gine and transmission testing, the mostcomprehensive in the industry, saysBlue Streak. By the way, both cartridgesare reprogrammable, which allowsreuse after flashing. This helps keepBlue Streak’s costs in check and shouldresult in lower costs to you for yearlyupdates.

Two final points: If you’re satisfiedwith your present scope and multime-

ter, Blue Streak will sell you the BDMwith just the scanner capability. Second-ly, if you’re a little leery of purchasing anew product with this kind of sophisti-cation, consider that this exact platformhas been used for a number of years asthe Subaru factory tool. And it’s beenbulletproof!

Intake Snake by Run-RiteTired of trying to clean throttle bodyand intake deposits with a toothbrush orScotch Brite pad? Concerned aboutscratching or removing coated throttlebores or damaging sensors or IAC sole-

27September 2000

noids? Have we got a nifty gadget foryou!

It’s the Intake Snake, and it’s a greatway to clean the throttle body, throttleplate and intake without an armful ofsprays, brushes and scrubbers.

The tool consists of a handle with along, flexible shaft to provide easy ac-cess to difficult-to-clean bores. At theend of the shaft is a replaceable clean-ing pod, or “Snake Head,” that’s pre-soaked in Run-Rite’s exclusive deter-gent “venom,” which “eats up throttledeposits,” says the company. The non-flammable, noncorrosive detergent isclaimed to be safe for all coated andsensitive components.

The spongelike head is locked inplace until it needs replacing. A simpleunlocking procedure allows the head tobe removed and a new one to be put inplace. The heads can be disposed of inordinary containers, requiring no haz-ardous materials handling. Replace-ment Snake Heads come two to a tube,six tubes to a case. The Snake—wethink ’s’neat!

Discus RotorMeasuring System by Pro-Cut InternationalIf the company name sounds familiar,it’s because Pro-Cut is a former Top 20Tools award winner, for its PFM900 on-car brake lathe. This time around,though, Pro-Cut has developed aunique tool that consolidates all of thosebrake spec manuals and charts you havearound the shop. The Discus RotorMeasuring System is a two-piece tool.One part gets mounted on a flexiblearm so its fingers can straddle and mea-sure rotor thickness and runout. The re-sults are then sent via infrared signal toa separate hand-held second compo-nent, which compares the readings toOE specs and prints the values for cus-tomer verification.

What’s great about this tool is thatthere’s no interpretation necessary. Youdon’t have to read a mic or look up thespecs for comparison. It’s no longer ahassle to do a quick disc brake evalua-tion, before or after machining the ro-tors. What’s even better, though, is thatyou don’t have to squabble with the cus-tomer. Now you have tangible proofabout the condition of the rotors...and anice computer-generated printout fromthe Discus to reinforce it. Any tool that

makes your life that easy is definitely aTop 20 Tool of the year.

kV SecondaryIgnition Module by Snap-on DiagnosticsSnap-on’s at it again, with yet anothersoftware upgrade and a slick new prod-uct for its groundbreaking VantagePower Graphing Meter. Dubbed the kVSecondary Ignition Module, this little

box piggybacks on the Vantage and al-lows the meter to analyze the secondaryignition waveforms—more specifically,the firing section of waveforms—ofconventional, DIS, coil-in-cap and coil-on-plug systems.

Notice we said analyze. That’s be-cause you won’t see actual waveformson the Vantage’s screen. Rather, you’llget a histograph (data plotted over time)of firing kV, spark kV or burn time, allyours for the taking with a simple spinof the thumb wheel.

Getting down to business with the kVmodule is a piece of cake. On conven-tional ignitions, for example, just con-nect the module’s main pickup to thecoil wire, select Power kV, start the en-gine and you’re looking at all cylindersin unison. What you want is a relativelystable graph, with no obvious high orlow spikes. See a problem? Connect thetrigger lead, then move it from one wireto another to isolate the problem cylin-der(s). For more in-depth analysis, sim-ply invoke the spark kV or burn timefunctions.

The Vantage’s dual-screen capabilityreally shines for more complicated igni-tions like DIS and coil-on-plug. WithDIS, for instance, just hook up yourmain pickup and trigger, turn thethumb wheel, push a button and you’llget both power and waste spark kV dis-played simultaneously for comparativeanalysis. Or, look at burn time and pow-er kV on individual COP setups. Talkabout versatility, this little sucker has it,with a capital “V.”

The kV module comes in a kit thatincludes the module, a main pickup,

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A/C Valve CoreRemover/Installer Kit by Mastercool

R-12 is expensive, and R-134a isn’t thatfar behind, so the less refrigerant wewaste during testing and service, thebetter. But sometimes we have nochoice but to let a little refrigerant gowhile trying to find a tough leak. Take apinhole penetration in a service valve.The core is bad. By the time you’ve ac-tually nailed the leak conclusively—af-ter several unsuccessful tries—you’velost some refrigerant. So now you’vegot, say, an hour into the job already,

and you’ve got to waste moretime recovering the little bitthat’s left in order to legally

replace the valve core.Think about the time you could

save replacing that core if you didn’thave to empty the system first. Buthow is that possible? With Master-cool’s new Universal A/C Valve CoreRemover/Installer Kit, that’s how.This tool allows you to do the job witha completely charged system and notlose an ounce of refrigerant from ei-ther an R-12 or R-134a system.

It’s a concentric de-vice that works like this:You set up the tool forthe application andconnect it to the serviceport with the ball valve

open. Then push in the shaftand loosen the core. Pull theshaft back until it stops, thenclose the ball valve. You’ve

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a trigger lead and a GM HEI adapter.Adapters for coil-in-cap imports, pluscoil-on-plug Fords, Chryslers, VWs,Acuras, Audis, Hondas, Isuzus andVolvos, are available.

Service CompressorSuction Screen Kitby AirseptWhen an a/c compressor fails, debris in-evitably settles in the suction side of thesystem. And even after a thoroughflushing, some is likely to remain. That’swhy so many replacement compressorsget trashed. Don’t you wish there was a

way to reduce those costly comebacks?Enter Airsept, with another nifty lit-

tle device to save the sweat and anguishcaused by leftover system debris conta-minating a new compressor. The Ser-vice Compressor Suction Screen Kitcontains a small screen that helps trapdebris before it can harm the compres-sor. The screen gets pressed into thesuction line manifold, and, unlike an in-line filter, you won’t have to cut a hoseor remove the muffler assembly, so in-stallation is a snap. Airsept says thescreen restricts refrigerant flow lessthan 1% at idle, and the fine meshhelps disperse oil, as well. The ServiceCompressor Suction Screen Kit in-cludes four screens each for 3⁄4- and 5⁄8-inch-size systems, a mini insertion pressand a tool for quickly removing a screenif it clogs up and needs to be replaced.

Twinn-Lift Tech-Centre by Chart IndustriesChart Industries won a Top 20 lastyear for its single-post Twinn-Lifttwo-bay behemoth. This year, the

company has improved on that ideawith the Tech-Centre, which consistsof an overhead crane, a tool table, acompressed-air slave cylinder andelectrical service—all mounted righton the lift.

No more walking back to your tool-box, tripping over the next guy’s airratchet to get that 11⁄16 wrench. Nomore air lines stretched from the farwall to the end bay. Tech-Centre’sslave cylinder provides “continuousmaximum airflow volume” to workyour ratchets and impact guns right inyour work area. Need to plug in ablack light? The Tech-Centre canhandle it. Now you can leave that100-foot extension in the storeroomand, instead, just plug into the Tech-Centre ’s convenience receptaclemounted right on the Twinn-Lift post.

The real kicker, though, is the1500-pound-capacity overhead crane,also mounted right on the Twinn-Liftpost. What a convenience! You don’thave to drag the boom crane over tothe car anymore. Or clean up thefloor so that the crane can actually berolled under the front bumper. Don’tdo enough engine work to justify acrane? Forget about engines. Justthink of all the times you need to sup-port a powertrain to do a clutch, or acradle or motor mount, or even a tim-ing belt on those applications thatrequire motor-mount re-moval to access thefront cover. Yes,Tech-Centre is abeautiful thing.

just sealed off the system but can stillwork on the core. Now, loosen andpull the shaft nut, remove the shaftand replace the valve core. Reversethe steps for a complete, leak-free re-pair.

The 58490 Kit includes five valvecore arbors, high and low R-134a cou-plers, a ball valve assembly and 1⁄4-, 3⁄16-and 1⁄8-inch adapters for R-12 systems.

Spill-Free Coolant Funnel by LisleDid you ever try to fill the radiatorand purge the system of air withoutspilling a drop of coolant? You usuallyspill a little on the ground, making acleanup mandatory. Maybe you evenget a little coolant on the engine, or apainted surface—darn! And just for

good measure, you splash a few dropson the belt. Oh boy, it’s gonna squeak!How can a procedure that sounds soeasy sometimes go so badly?

Those idea guys at Lisle are backagain, this time with their new Spill-Free Coolant Funnel. This dandy lit-tle gizmo keeps the job nice and tidy.To begin, you simply select the prop-er adapter and cap to fit the radiatorfill neck, then place the funnel on theadapter. Next, fill the funnel one-third full with coolant and run the en-gine at idle for a few minutes topurge air from the system. If there’sstill fluid in the funnel, simplysqueeze the upper radiator hosewhile inserting the fluid stopper intothe funnel. Now let go of the hose to

allow fluid to be pulled to the top ofthe filler neck. Finally, remove thefunnel, adapter and cap, then rein-stall the car’s radiator cap—withoutspilling a drop of coolant! It makes asimple job truly simple.

Three different-size adapters andcaps fit most domestic and imported

cars and light trucks, and a 45° neckadapter allows the funnel to be usedon radiators whose filler necks arepositioned at an angle.

The Spill-Free Funnel eliminatestrapped air pockets that can cause er-ratic cooling system and heater per-formance, controls the amount of

31September 2000

coolant entering the system, enablesunattended filling of the cooling sys-tem and eliminates squeaky beltscaused by coolant overflow. Quite anachievement for a simple little ol’funnel.

Genisys Information System by OTCThe Genisys is yet another exampleof where our industry is headed—multidimensional diagnostic capabili-ties from a single platform. This tool

is presently a state-of-the-art scanner,but in the months and years to come,expect lab scope, ignition analyzer,gas analyzer, PCM reflashing andgraphing meter functions via separatemodules that will attach to the baseunit.

The Genisys is the first scanner onthe market with a full-color screen.The easy-to-read display has crystalclear resolution and is large enoughto allow you to graph any three dataparameters of your choosing. You canalso display one graph and eightPIDs, or 12 PIDs minus the graphs—your option. A nice touch is the Zoomfeature, which permits you to zoomin on a particular portion of a graphfor in-depth analysis of a signal.

Users of previous OTC scannersare used to a technician-friendly in-terface. The Genisys doesn’t disap-point here, thanks to its “scroll andclick” navigation system. The direc-tional control button is located rightin the center of the tool, making it in-

credibly simply to view data, selecttests and perform other operations.As an added bonus, the Genisys notonly tells you which hookup cablesyou’ll need for the vehicle in yourstall, but shows you a picture of them,as well.

The Genisys’ software is loaded on-to a compact flash card that getsplugged into a slot on the left side ofthe unit. For owners of previous OTCscanners, there’s also a “cartridgereader” included that allows older di-agnostic cartridges to communicatewith Genisys. (Note: OTC has hadsome compatibility issues to deal withhere, but we’ve been assured they’vebeen rectified. Still, check before youbuy!) Future software updates will beavailable via new flash cards, orthrough electronic files downloadeddirectly from OTC’s bulletin boardservice.

Bidirectional communication be-tween a scanner and other shopequipment will become increasinglyimportant in the years to come. Andthe Genisys provides this flexibility inspades. In addition to a standard seri-al port, the unit has a super-fast USBconnection, plus wireless infraredconnectivity to a shop computer orprinter.

In our opinion, the Genisys is onemind-blowing platform. And we haveevery reason to believe it’ll be one ofthe major diagnostic tools in the af-termarket over the next decade. MacTools and Matco must agree, theyhave their own versions of this tool,dubbed Mentor and Determinator,respectively.

Flex Head Indexable Ratchet by Mac ToolsWe love the simple tools that are in-credibly innovative. And any tool thatallows greater access into a jam-

packed engine compartment is a god-send. With that in mind, we presentMac Tools’ new 3⁄8-inch-drive FlexHead Indexable Ratchet.

What does indexable mean? Well,it has seven flex-handle angles forclearing obstructions, and 24 differ-ent head angles for maneuvering theratchet in, over and around obstacles.It also has a one-hand-accessibleLock/Unlock lever that allows you torelease the indexable head withoutpulling the tool off the fasteneryou’re trying to work on.

This ratchet has an enormousnumber of configurations. There aretwo pivot points in two differentplanes, not to mention the ratchetingaction itself. Not only does this allowyou to attack a buried fastener at bet-ter-than-conventional angles, but itmay eliminate the need to get otherjunk out of the way first. And that’swhere the time-saving lies. It lookslike just the type of tool you’ll want toreach for the next time you’re tack-ling that tough GM four-cylinder wa-ter pump job.

Virtual ViewAlignment Softwareby Hunter EngineeringAlignment software and its associatedtraining aids have gotten really so-phisticated over the past ten years.But no matter how smart the pro-gram was, the user interface tendedto remain a two-dimensional—let’sjust say flat—picture on the screen.Wouldn’t it be great if the view onyour aligner’s screen was a three-di-mensional illustration of the caryou’re working on and its alignmentangles? So the view you get after youturn around and look at the screen isthe same one you had looking underthe front bumper of the car on therack. That’s the idea behind Virtual

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View, a new feature of Hunter’s WinAlign Software for the611 Wheel Alignment System.

The beauty of a computer-generated illustration is thatit can be stretched and altered. For purposes of perform-ing a four-wheel alignment, this is key. Virtual View canexaggerate the images so that a .25° change in caster lookslike a whole lot more. It can also display the front and rearaxles at the same time, so you see—in real time—howeach subtle adjustment affects the other alignment angleswithout having to switch from screen to screen. VirtualView shows camber and toe for both axles, caster for thefront and thrust angle from the rear, adjacent to the ap-propriate wheel in the computer-enhanced illustration.

You can also zoom in on specific angles. Want a view froma different perspective? Yup, Virtual View can do that, too.Mind-boggling!

Ferret 55 EngineLink Diagnostic Analyzer by Ferret InstrumentsIf you’re like us, you welcome portable hand-held test gear.The smaller the better. Down with big boxes. So check outthe Ferret 55 EngineLink Diagnostic Analyzer. Its featuresspeak volumes.

AutoSort Leads: Unlike other engine analyzers, the 55 En-gineLink sorts out DIS coil pairings and polarities for you. It’snot your job to figure them out and tell the machine. All the55 wants to know is how many coils and how many cylindersit needs to analyze. Then it takes over.

Unique Ignition Tests: Whether the engine is cranking, at

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idle or at cruise speed, the 55 EngineLink’s ignition primarytest can diagnose individual coils and modules on DIS cars.And it can separate coil problems from module problems.The secondary test measures exhaust kV as well as traditionalkV to locate misfires.

AutoTest Sequence: The 55 does a complete primary/sec-ondary test, power balance and power contribution tests, anelectronic compression test and a starting/charging historytest—all in 10 minutes. And the results can be printed out.

The analyzer measures 11x13x3 inches. Its 3x9-inch LCDscreen displays numerals and bar graphs. The ergonomicallydesigned keypad is set up for righties and southpaws, and justseven keys manage the whole kit and kaboodle.

Special Forces 3⁄8-Inch Air Ratchetby Matco ToolsMatco is no stranger to MOTOR’s Top 20 Tools, having won anaward last year for its Pro-Swing Ratcheting Wrenches. Thistime around, though, the company wins with an air ratchet.

Now, air ratchets come and go, but this one looks like it hassome staying power. The Special Forces 3⁄8-Inch Air Ratchetwas designed specifically to handle ever-tighter engine bays.With that in mind, Matco’s engineers came up with someunique features:

•This is the first air ratchet we’ve ever heard of that has athru-bolt design. Even when your deepest sockets aren’t deepenough, it doesn’t matter, because the bolt or stud can passright through the head of the ratchet. And the socket justkeeps on a-turnin’.

•The entire ratchet head and socket assembly is 30%smaller than conventional air ratchets and sockets, and theprofile is 40% smaller. This, of course, adds to the tool’s use-fulness in tight places.

•Total torque is 60 ft-lb, more than enough for most airratchet chores.

•Both the Forward/Reverse lever and the quick-socket-re-lease button are designed for one-hand operation. The fingertipthrottle, meanwhile, gives you positive control over your work.

35September 2000

What’s not to like? This is an every-day tool that’s been reengineeredwith careful thought to auto repair in2000 and beyond.

Latch-on RatchetingBox Wrenches by Snap-on ToolsYou know that frustrating feeling whenyou’re trying to remove a nut in one ofthose hard-to-get-at locations and theratcheting box wrench you’re usingkeeps sliding off past the nut? It takes aslong to put the wrench back on as itdoes to actually ratchet the nut off.Well, somebody must have said,“enough is enough!”

Snap-on recently introduced two setsof flank drive ratcheting box wrenchesthat eliminate that problem forever.They feature a latch-on head designthat incorporates a flange cap to keepthe wrench from sliding past a nut orbolt head; the threaded portion of thefastener goes through the tool, but that’sit. And a little light pressure keeps thetool securely in place. Problem solved!

Looking much like standard box

wrenches, these new 12-point wrenchesfeature a one-hand reverse and slimheads for work in tight quarters. Criticalcomponents are heat-treated for maxi-mum life and durability, the grip facesare precision-broached for perfect fitand the handle is chrome-plated to pro-tect against corrosion.

Latch-on Ratcheting Box Wrenchesare sold in five-piece sets—in eithermetric or inch sizes. The Metric set in-cludes 7-8, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14 and 15-17mm sizes. You can also purchase 16-18 and 19-21mm wrenches separately.The Inch set consists of 1⁄4-5⁄16, 3⁄8-7⁄16, 1⁄2-9⁄16,5⁄8-11⁄16 and 3⁄4-7⁄8 sizes.

These time-saving and frustration-preventing wrenches could very wellpay for themselves. Check them outnext time the Snap-on wagon rollsaround.

ACR 2000A/C Service Center by Kent-MooreA couple of years ago, General Motorssent out to manufacturers of a/c ser-vice equipment a “wish list” of all the

features GM wanted its dealers tohave in next-generation a/c service sta-tions. The machine that met the mostrequirements is Kent-Moore’s newACR 2000 A/C Service Center. It’s arefrigerant recovery/recycler/recharg-er that includes such features as soft-side cabinet architecture to protectcustomers’ cars, built-in tool trays,continuous air purge and an interac-tive control panel set at the optimumviewing angle for when working un-derhood.

The display shows messages thatlead the user through routine service,right down to indicating when to at-tach service hoses and open valves.

There’s also a sensor to restart recov-ery if the unit doesn’t hold an ade-quate vacuum. A built-in refrigerantidentifier protects the machineagainst rogue refrigerants, and the oildrains automatically after recovery toprotect the oil separator. The refrig-erant tank is internally mounted onan electronic scale with dampeningthat increases accuracy by protectingagainst shock impacts.

It should be noted that this ma-chine is built on the same platform asRobinair’s CoolTech 2K, as both com-panies are part of SPX Service Solu-tions. And you really can’t go wrong

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with either machine. But the realkicker for Kent-Moore, and the rea-son we chose it over the Robinairunit, is its oilless vacuum pump. Intoday’s busy shops that barely haveenough time to get to all the carslined up outside, let alone maintainequipment, an oilless vacuum pumpcan be a real advantage. Put anotherway, the ACR 2000 wins by a “wish.”

Wireless Vehicle Interface by EASE DiagnosticsShades of Buck Rogers—the 21stcentury has arrived. The revolution-ary new Wireless Vehicle Interface(WVI) from EASE Diagnostics is an

interface for EASE scan tool softwarethat eliminates the need for cablesbetween the vehicle being tested andthe PC running the software. Vehi-cles can be diagnosed several hun-dred feet away from the PC. The900MHz wireless interface has a 200-foot indoor range and a 500-foot line-of-sight range.

The WVI is great for high-volumeshops that need to move customersthrough quickly, as well as fleets. Andby eliminating cables between the ve-hicle and the PC, you minimize thechance of people tripping on cablesand vehicle bodies being damaged bythe cables.

The WVI set consists of a base unitconnected to a PC and a vehicle unitthat connects to the vehicle’s DLC. Itworks on all OBD II-compliant vehi-cles (1996 and later) and currentlysupports OBD II Generic and GM,

Ford, Chrysler and Toyota Enhanceddata in wireless or cabled mode. (Incabled mode, the WVI’s vehicle unitmust be cabled directly from the vehi-cle to the PC.) The WVI works onpre-OBD II GM, Ford and Chryslervehicles, too, but in cabled mode only.

A Windows-based utility is included

that allows the user to check for anyinterfering RF signals operating in thesame frequency band, to assign an IDnumber to each vehicle unit and toload firmware updates. The EASEWireless Vehicle Interface works withall EASE diagnostic software.

The Wireless Vehicle Interface is a

37September 2000

cinch to set up. The base unit con-nects to the PC’s COM port, whilethe vehicle unit is connected to thevehicle’s diagnostic port. Start anyEASE diagnostic software and choosethe WVI vehicle unit ID number youwant to scan. The software automati-cally connects and you can use thescan tool and/or gas analyzer just as ifyou were cabled directly.

Although limited to the use ofEASE software and geared to high-volume facilities, this system por-tends the future of remote diagnos-tics.

Airlift Cooling SystemAir Purgeby UView UltravioletSystemsOpen a hood today and, typically,what do you see? An east-west enginelayout, a radiator fill point lower thanthe heater core and/or intake mani-fold and one nasty headache comingon when you think of what it’ll take toburp the cooling system of air afterrefilling with fresh coolant.

If you’re lucky, the car has bleedscrews somewhere in the system, al-though it may take several attemptsand warmup/cooldown cycles to getout that last, stubborn bubble. Ifyou’re not that fortunate, you’re stuckwith raising up the front of the caruntil the fill neck becomes the highpoint of the system. And on somecars that means way up!

Isn’t there an easier solution? Youbet. And it’s called Airlift. This littlegizmo not only removes trapped airusing a venturi vacuum, but, as anadded bonus, checks for leaks, thendraws fresh coolant into the system—all in one quick sweep!

To set things in motion, just grabthe right adapter, shove it into the fillneck, then install Airlift. Next, con-nect the venturi assembly to the toolusing the quick-connect fitting. Openthe ball valve on Airlift, connect yourshop air hose to the venturi assembly,then wait until the system pulls downto 25 in. Hg. Close the ball valve andremove the air hose. If the gaugereading holds for 20 seconds or so,you know the system is airtight and

you’re ready to refill. So remove theventuri assembly, then install the re-fill hose on to Airlift, once again usingthe handy quick-connect fitting. Putthe screened portion of the hose intoa container with a 50/50 coolant mix,then open the ball valve and watch inamazement as the cooling system fillswithout a trace of an air bubble. Totalelapsed time? About a few tickslonger than it took to read this!

MTS 5100 Engine Analyzer by VetronixIf there’s been one glaring hole inVetronix’ potent product line, it’sbeen a good, hand-held engine ana-lyzer. But that’s allchanged with the in-troduction of theMTS 5100.

Actually, callingthe 5100 just an en-gine analyzer is doingVetronix an injustice.In addition to doing afull battery of auto-mated engine testslike you’d expect, thisthing also functionsas a full-blown igni-tion scope, a four-trace DSO and agraphing multimeter.And you don’t have toswap modules toswitch gears, every-

thing’s self-contained in the unit!Pick up the 5100 and it’s obvious

that Vetronix put lots of moola intothis platform. It features a lightning-fast Power PC processor, resulting ina refresh rate that rivals that of ananalog scope. The large, backlit VGAdisplay is among the best we’ve everseen, providing unbelievable resolu-tion along with touch-screen technol-ogy (if you don’t like touch screens,you can operate the unit with buttonsbelow the display). The platform it-self has two RS-232 ports for inter-facing with other equipment, whilean expansion port provides for futuregrowth.

The ignition scope can test any 2-to 12-cylinder engine, displaying pri-mary and secondary patterns in sin-gle-cylinder, parade, raster or super-imposed modes. You also have theoption of switching to bar charts ornumerical displays for secondary fir-ing kV. On DIS engines, you’ll getpower kV and waste kV displayed si-multaneously on-screen.

The MTS 5100’s four-trace scopehas four separate A/D converters forsuperior signal acquisition, while itsglitch detect mode ensures that youwon’t miss fast-occurring intermit-tents. Included in the software areover 40 component tests that auto-matically preconfigure the scope foroptimum viewing of key sensors andactuators. Also on board is a library of

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known-good waveforms for compara-tive analysis.

The graphing meter can measureand plot AC and DC voltage, current,pulse width, frequency, resistance,rpm and temperature. Numerical val-ues are displayed along with thegraphs to help speed up diagnosis.

Make no mistake, the MTS 5100 isa work in progress. The present soft-ware is good, but future upgrades arealready in the works that promise tomake this tool among the most pow-erful ever introduced. And that has tobe a scary thought for any tool manu-facturer that wants to go toe-to-toewith this diagnostic behemoth.

Coil On Plug-IIIgnition Tester by DATECBeen around a coil-on-plug or coil-near-plug ignition system lately? No-tice something different? No plugwires on one and very short wires onthe other. So how do you hook upyour test gear? If you’re using an igni-tion scope with one of those wandsshaped like a TV-top antenna fromthe ’50s, you might pick up somethingon your screen. But a direct inductive

signal pickup would be better. Sorry,you can’t do that with a coil-on-plugignition. There’s nowhere to attachthe pickup(s). Or is there?

If someone could just figure out away to diagnose the ignition from theprimary side, we’d be in business.Well, someone has. DATEC’s CoilOn Plug-II isolates mechanical en-gine malfunctions from electricalproblems, using just primary-sideprobes. There’s a green LED on thetool that reports DC activity such assystem power and coil triggering

from the module or igniter. It’ll eventell you if it’s necessary to drag outthe scope. There’s also a neon lighton the tool that indicates inductivekicks of more than 70 volts. If none ofthe coils can light the neon, you justassume that’s the design of the sys-tem. But if only one coil can’t lightthe neon, you can start thinking aboutordering one fresh coil. DATEC saysthe neon light also functions as partof the buffering circuit to stabilizescope triggering.

COP-II can do cylinder kills forpower balance testing or emissionsanalysis, but it doesn’t short or bypassany “essential current-limiting” cir-cuits. Nor does it load or alter the pri-mary current, so current-sensing cir-cuits in the computer won’t promptany DTCs. DATEC says the COP-IIcan’t hurt any circuits by accidentallyconnecting to the wrong side of thecoil in kill mode. The conventionalBNC scope connection filters unwant-ed transient voltages for a more stablescope pattern. The banana jack acceptsa variety of probes, and the tool comeswith extension and ground leads, aneedle probe and the scope connec-tion cable. There’s also an optional T-clip available for secondary hookup oncoil-near-plug systems.

40 September 2000

TOP 20 TOOLS

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MOTOR Magazine, 5600 CrooksRd., Troy, MI 48098. Additional

copies are $2 each. Send check or money order.

AirseptCircle #175

Automotive Service TrainingCircle #176

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Chart IndustriesCircle #178

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Hunter EngineeringCircle #182

Kent-MooreCircle #183

LisleCircle #184

Mac ToolsCircle #185

MastercoolCircle #186

MatcoCircle #187

OTCCircle #188

Pro-Cut InternationalCircle #189

Run-RiteCircle #190

Snap-on DiagnosticsCircle #191

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UView Ultraviolet SystemsCircle #193

VetronixCircle #194

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