Mechanex show 2019

Jeremy Haworth reviews the trade event at Sandown Park, Surrey which for 2020 is the only show in the series.

The last of the 2019 motor trade (although open to all) two-day shows continued the trend of recent years by having fewer major players, while making up for it with far more medium-size firms showing equipment and services of considerable importance to the motor repair field. But a major benefit of such an event is the opportunity to talk face-to-face with specialists and receive straight answers.

As usual, NGK had the first stand in to greet the eyes, with complete catalogues, helpful staff and an ever-greater range of all things electrical. Absent from previous years were the talks on workshop procedures, when the writer became aware of the horrors of carbon debris shed inside a diesel engine during glow plug removal. A warning to all!

The ever-popular Technical Seminars attracted standing-room audiences; two of which heard were by Darren Darling of the DPF Doctor Network, detailing how to take care of these often-neglected, vital parts of the exhaust. Essentially, just look out for any warning lights and take the vehicle for a professional investigation, which involves far more than the advice “Take it for a long, fast drive”. Often it is not the DPF’S fault, but due to something in the complexities of modern engine control or something else in the exhaust system. Until, of course, the DPF really does fill with ash (not soot) when a new one is the best answer.

Another salutary talk was by Steve Coles of the Retail Motor Industry

(RMI) MOT Technical Operations, standing in for a planned speaker from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) who, as a Government official, was not permitted to make public appearances with a General Election looming. Really! This talk dealt with the correct running of a garage’s MOT

operations, which apparently are fraught with errors – accidental or deliberate – enabling the issue of a new MOT.

MOT stations are becoming fullyautomated and computer-linked to

Big Brother. In an attempt by cheating testers to issue a pass using fraudulent results in advance of complete automation, the number of corrupted tests in the first three-quarters of

2019 was up three times on the 2018 total. That meant many thousands of inaccurate applications for a Pass.

Much in evidence at Sandown was the great number of companies producing remanufactured parts, from driveshafts to turbos to braking systems – perhaps gearing up in anticipation of supply difficulties once the ‘B-word’ comes into effect. Yet, it was the sheer complexity of much of the equipment on display which indicated that skill with a computer, rather than a spanner, is increasingly the key to staffing a modern repair shop. And we have not yet really started with hybrid and all-electric vehicle drivetrains being the mainstream.

Word was also going round that, when large numbers of all-electric vehicles begin to need replacement batteries, the disposal and recycling of these batteries will cause immense problems.

A display showing the huge range of diagnostic and test equipment for cars, buses and trucks. As vehicle faults become increasingly impossible to rectify without usually overlapping analytical procedures, a well-equipped garage can out-tech a major hospital. The writer had his own car looked up on the Delphi technical information software, confident of no recalls on it. And yet… on the model year immediately before his 2007 Volkswagen Polo, there was a recall on 443 cars for a mis-routed electrical harness on the front seats, which could chafe and cause a fire. That out of nearly a million made that year.

Various branded polyurethane flexible suspension mounts have been available for many years, but the selection has expanded from basic wishbone inserts to top strut mounts. While markedly more expensive than ‘rubber’ equivalents, they not only last seemingly forever but also perform consistently better. After the writer’s lower wishbone rubbers failed at 45,000 miles and the same replacements failed at 90,000, the polyurethane replacements are still better at 150,000.

On all stands people were able and willing to discuss their products without heavy sales talk. Here could be seen the benefits of quality remanufacturing, obviously to original manufacturing standards – sometimes better, if a design improvement had been incorporated. From steering racks to brake calipers, all looked wonderful.

It is not only uncaring town driving that can scupper a DPF (and catalyst). Even short-term engine malfunctions can result in catastrophic damage to an exhaust system, as can be seen by the mangled remains shown during this talk by DPF Doctor Network.

Seemingly straightforward when introduced nearly 40 years ago, Bailcast rubber boots and covers have progressed to cope with a huge range of applications. The trick is to replace before the cover fails completely, thus saving the joint.

A present nuisance which is destined to become a bain for most motorists is tyre pressure monitoring, as a malfunctioning Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) is an MOT Major Fail. Analysis and hopefully resetting with equipment such as this VDO device will be an answer for many.