New software means today's computerised cars can be repaired on the roadside. John Cassidy reports.
Lobbying by motor organisations on an EU directive may well have opened the way to faster roadside repairs.
Until recently car-makers claimed intellectual property rights on the electronic and diagnostic equipment in their cars, thereby hindering roadside repairers from discovering potential faults quickly.
A provision of the EU Auto Oil Directive, covering technical aspects of the motoring and fuel industries, would have allowed car-makers to protect their own onboard diagnostic systems.
"The practical effect would have been that, for each model of car, there would have been a separate interface to talk to its computer, and separate software codes," explained Conor Faughnan of the AA.
For the roadside mechanic, this would have meant carrying separate software or even different laptops and equipment for several makes and models, in effect forcing them to simply tow the vehicle to the nearest garage.
However, the AA and fellow motoring organisations in Europe challenged the directive over what they saw as a protectionist policy on the part of car-makers.
"Ultimately," says Faughan, "we won the argument, which opened up the independent repair and diagnosis sector and essentially prevented the car-makers from locking it down."
The move has meant that the AA's 70 rescue vehicles in Ireland now carry a single "toughbook" computer, resembling a laptop, with a new diagnostic software, called Vixen, with in-depth data on almost every new car built in the past two years.
The software, developed by the AA in Britain at a cost of €75 million, is regularly updated and a database of problems is available to the AA on the side of the road.
When a rescue vehicle arrives at a breakdown, a small connection is plugged into a socket in its interior. This then communicates with the Vixen software by a radio signal using Bluetooth technology, allowing it to analyse the vehicle's Electronic Control Unit (ECU).
The ECU is the car's "electronic brain" and is responsible for its many onboard electrical functions, such as ignition, engine management and fuel systems. By "talking" to the ECU, the Vixen software can quickly diagnose complex electronic problems. The AA estimates that up to 50 per cent of breakdowns involve some form of electronic problem.
According to the AA's Tony O'Connor, the procedure dramatically speeds up fault-finding, sometimes without even having to lift the bonnet.
The removal of restrictions on car software should also enable independent garages to provide a better service through easier access to information.
"Under the Block Exemption regulations, independent garages will get better technical information on all brands," says Cyril McHugh, chief executive of the Society for the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI).
He also believes that independent developers will be able to produce their own software and diagnostic systems. "I'm aware that other computer systems are being developed by other companies to provide technical information to independent garages," he says.