The blue gray of the mountains forms a fitting backdrop to the Phoenix, Ariz., campus of the Universal Technical Institute on the last Friday evening of April.
Inside, the cohost of “All Girls Garage” and MAHLE spokeswoman, Bogi Lateiner, is welcoming area technicians and shop owners to the inaugural session of Service-Edu, a unique training event featuring trainers from four major aftermarket companies; MAHLE, NGK, Timken and Gates.
'All Girls Garage’ costar and Phoenix shop owner Bogi Lateiner welcomes techs to the inaugural Service-Edu event.”
Friday night was a short dinner and networking opportunity, and the real work began in earnest the following Saturday morning. While first appearances may lead one to believe the presentations would be highly product oriented (what we techs call a “sales pitch”), the reality was the sharing of very valuable technical information that will go a long way to helping techs perform repairs more effectively and professionally. Topics covered included how coolant contamination and inhibitor package failures can lead to a variety of problems with other engine systems to how to properly preload a replacement hub bearing to avoid premature failure.
With a dozen UTI locations around the country, the plan is to take this event on the road. Since this writing, the trainers have appeared at the Irving, Texas UTI campus and others are planned for later this year. To take advantage of a session near you, log on to http://www.service-edu.com for more information.