What is a tune up ?

  Modern engines have come a long way since first introduced. No one will argue the fact the old days are gone when it comes to what defines a tune up. Most people wont even know what points are who read this so lets keep it simple and skip them . A tune up use to be spark plugs,distributor cap and rotor,possibly plug wires,fuel filter,check carburetor idle mixture,idle speed,check timing and an air filter. Spark plugs didn't last too long then so roughly every 25,000 miles you were in the ball park of needing a tune up.

  Today however with platinum spark plugs and the lack of a distributor and carburetor, tune ups are not needed as frequently . Some manufactures claim you can get by with a 100,000 mile tune up. I think in ideal conditions that's true but here in Cincinnati AKA the middle of the rust belt spark plugs can seize in the cylinder head  causing major grief. Still however back to the definition of a modern tune up , its restoring secondary ignition components E.I. spark plugs,wires,coils,and triggering devices back to original condition.Throw in a fuel and air filter and you have a tune up. We use an engine analyzer to look at ignition waveforms to make sure every thing looks good. Most tune ups are fairly simple and only require spark plugs and a filter or two. Usually though a simple tune up wont fix an actual running problem! If your car is running bad chances are you need diagnostics of some sort maybe an engine analyze or computer scan.

  Here are couple engine analyzer or scope patterns showing a couple patterns both good and bad, Keep in mind there are pages and pages of training manuals about this so to keep you from closing this page or falling asleep I will only add a few.

  Most shops have a scope now a days or atleast they should. Do they use them?do they know how? We do use them and we have the training certificates and time invested in them. We could just replace everything and hope it fixes your problem but would you want to go to surgery without a few tests first?.........we didnt think so for now lets use our scope.

To wrap it up a TUNE UP IS

SPARK PLUGS

FUEL FILTER (if not a non-service one) )

AIR FILTER (if bad)

ENGINE ANALYZE OR SCOPE CHECK

Click any of pictures above to enlarge