STAR Center News
Aug. 2014

August Announcements

The STAR News link has always been
located in TechConnect on the home page
beneath the SEARCH Box as shown in the
graphic below. In addition STAR News will
now be accessible through other
communication channels including:

WHAT’S NEW! STAR
News to be published
Monthly in 2014

STAR Renewed Mission & Objectives:
1. Provide technical repair guidance to
successfully FIX CARS FAST.
2. Our goal is first contact resolution and
we now monitor the time it takes to
resolve every ticket and confirm the
vehicle is repaired.
3. We identify Top Issues to share with
Quality and Engineering for timely
resolution and publication of service
action (STAR On Line, Service Bulletin,
Manual Update, etc.).
4. We are making calls to Technicians and
Service Managers to ensure the vehicle
is successfully repaired prior to closing
tickets.
DID YOU KNOW …
STAR receives on average 1,000 contacts per
day … that’s 300,000 annual contacts for
technical assistance.
This same month last year we had over 40,000
open aged > 5 days tickets. As a result of
focused efforts to verify vehicles are repaired
and close tickets the number is now at just
under 7,000 tickets.

We have reduced average days to close a
ticket by 50% from this same time last year.
Chrysler Group LLC
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No. 85

1. Link on the LMS (Academy Site)
2. Monthly Master Tech
3. Instructor-Led Training will include a
reminder of electronic file location
and hard copies, when possible
4. Via email subscription – details to
follow next month on how to submit
your email to receive a monthly
electronic copy of the STAR News.

Something to say?
Send up your questions, comments,
suggestions, etc…

STAR Center Manager
starmgmt@chrysler.com
STAR News Feedback
starnews@chrysler.com

Future publications will have standard monthly
content sections to include the following topics:

STAR Monthly Publication Contents
1. Letters from Leadership & Editor
2. Technician Confirmed Repairs
3. Service Information Updates
4. ECS Enhancements & Updates
5. wiTECH Updates
6. New Repair Procedure Updates
STAR Center Hours of Operation
M-F 8am-Midnight * Sat 9am-6pm * Open thru Lunch

Monday – Friday
1-800-850-STAR

Saturday
8:00 AM – Midnight

9:00 AM –

STAR Center News
Aug. 2014

experienced (for example: cold start idle
whine, ticking at 25 MPH, etc.).

A/C System Diagnosis – Leak
Detection Dye
All current Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, RAM
and Fiat vehicles are shipped from the
factory with fluorescent refrigerant leak
detection dye installed in the A/C system.
When attempting to diagnose any A/C
system performance problem especially on
any new vehicles, searching for a
refrigerant leak in the A/C system using an
Ultra Violet (UV) light or an approved
electronic refrigerant leak detection device
should be done BEFORE ANY OTHER
TYPE OF DIAGNOSTIC WORK IS
PERFORMED. It is important to use only
high-quality refrigerant leak detection
equipment that is designed for the
refrigerant used in the vehicle you are
working on. The right equipment can be
found in the teamPSE Service Equipment
Catalog. When the use of additional leak
detection dye is required, use only Chrysler
LLC-approved refrigerant leak detection
dye, available through Mopar®.
-----------------------------------------------------

3.2L/3.6L Engine Noise
Recordings
If your dealership receives any 3.2L/3.6L
with an engine noise that can be
duplicated,
Chrysler
Engineering
is
requesting a 10-second cell phone
video/audio
file
be
E-Mailed
to:
cem5@chrysler.com between now and
the end of Dec. 2014. Please include the
last 8 of the VIN, the mileage and a
description of when the noise was
Chrysler Group LLC
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STAR Center

No. 85

Note: The E-Mail file size must be less
than 10 MB in order to get through.

MasterTech Updates
June 2014 MasterTech
Topic: Immobilizer Tips and Air
Suspension Leak Detection

This lesson offers technicians some
diagnostic tips for immobilizer systems,
with
a
heavy
emphasis
on
the
recommended
way
to
approach
immobilizer system diagnosis and key
programming. The first part of the lesson
focuses on terminology, because the use of
several systems over the past few years
has introduced a tremendous number of
acronyms. The lesson continues with an
explanation of the importance of using
TechCONNECT Service Information for
every immobilizer job – some systems look
alike, but function differently.
After
presenting
a
graphically
enhanced
overview of basic immobilizer operation,
the lesson wraps up with a key
programming example.
The second lesson reviews a proven
process to isolate air suspension leaks

Monday – Friday
1-800-850-STAR

Saturday
8:00 AM – Midnight

9:00 AM –

STAR Center News
Aug. 2014

No. 85

efficiently. When a vehicle comes in for air
suspension related service, DTC-based
diagnostics and testing are quite
straightforward. However, some issues,
such as small air leaks, initially may seem

difficult to diagnose. This lesson explores
some of the resources and procedures
available to reduce the time technicians
spend identifying and isolating air
suspension leaks.

Successfully Resolving Customer
Lead/Pull Complaints



Too often, repairs to fix lead/pull complaints
do not address the customer’s concern. It
is important to understand the customer
complaint and follow simple guidelines as
descriptions of the condition can be
misunderstood. Lead/pull conditions can
be described as “the steering wheel is not
centered” and the steering wheel not
centered can be described as a “lead/pull
condition”.
Vehicles are designed with a slight bias to
the left to counteract the effect of a
normally right-crowned (1.7 grade) twolane road. However states with high levels
of precipitation, like those that experience
hurricanes, may have higher road crowns.
This can give a false impression that the
vehicle is pulling to the right. The higher
road crowns allow the rain water to shed
the roadways faster.
Some Important Checks Are Necessary
When Dealing With Lead/Pull
Complaints…
For the vehicle:
 Are the tires at the recommended tire
pressures?
 Is the tire wear even and symmetric?
 Is there signs of suspension component
wear or damage?

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STAR Center

Does cross switching the front
tire/wheel assemblies correct or
improve the lead/pull complaint?

For the dealership alignment equipment:
 Is the equipment properly calibrated?
Annual calibration is recommended.
Chrysler vehicle alignment values are
100% checked. If dealership equipment
consistently shows values out of
specification for vehicles with less than
1000 miles, your aligner equipment
must be verified immediately.
 Is the latest alignment specification
loaded into the static aligner? It is
available in TechConnect and can be
manually loaded into the dealership
static aligner.
Out of specification cross camber (LH
camber minus RH camber) and cross
caster (LH caster minus RH caster) are the
main sources of lead/pull complaints for
vehicles equipped with hydraulic steering
systems.
However, even if the vehicle alignment
values are within specifications, the tire
characteristics may still cause the vehicle
to pull.
Cross switching the front
tire/wheels assemblies can assist in
addressing this issue.
Cross camber and cross caster effects
combine to increase or decrease lead/pull
complaints. Both a high cross camber and
a low cross caster will cause a vehicle to
pull/lead left. The combined effects also

Monday – Friday
1-800-850-STAR

Saturday
8:00 AM – Midnight

9:00 AM –

STAR Center News
Aug. 2014

No. 85

works the opposite for a low cross camber
and a high cross caster, this will cause a
vehicle to pull/lead right. The combination
of both the cross camber and cross caster
can be visualized in the generic chart
below.

“Lead/Pull” continued on page 4

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STAR Center

Monday – Friday
1-800-850-STAR

Saturday
8:00 AM – Midnight

9:00 AM –

STAR Center News
Aug. 2014
“Lead/Pull” continued from page 3

It is important to make sure the direction of
change in cross camber and/or cross
caster addresses and counteracts the
customer complaint.
An example would be, if a vehicle shows a
left lead/pull condition and the alignment
data (cross-camber, cross-caster) falls into
the second quadrant the repair must move
the alignment setting to the fourth
quadrant. This means that the cross
camber values should decrease and/or the
cross caster values should increase to
counteract the left lead/pull condition.
On the other hand, if a vehicle shows a
right lead/pull condition and the alignment
data (cross-camber, cross-caster) falls into
the forth quadrant the repair must move the
alignment setting to the second quadrant.
This means that the cross camber values
should increase and/or the cross caster
values should decrease to counteract the
right lead/pull condition.
If the vehicle initial cross camber and cross
caster alignment values falls in the first or
third quadrant, the repair should focus
specifically on cross camber or cross
caster adjustment to bring the final
alignment values to the second or fourth
quadrant depending on the customer
complaint.
The key is to properly adjust the alignment
settings to counter the customer’s
complaint.
Having this knowledge will make repairs
easier and prevent repeat visits by the
customers.

No. 85
Reminder – Proper Hoist Pad
Placement On FF - BEV
Ensure proper placment of hoist pads on
FF-BEV vehicles. Improper placment can
cause damage to the sill cladding on these
vehicles.
Front hoist pads (4) should be placed onto
the front floor reinforcements (1) and hoist
arms (3) should not contact body sill or
cladding (2).

----------------------------------------------------------

Your “Ticket” To Success
Believe it or not, proper management of
STAR Tickets can help us help you resolve
problems with customer vehicles faster.
Managing your tickets and closing them in
a timely manner helps us know when a
customer’s vehicle is fixed and what fixed
it. It prevents us from having to spend time
to call you back to find out that information.
Remember, the information we give to you
to repair an issue may likely have come
from another tech that encountered the
same condition.

-------------------------------------------------Chrysler Group LLC
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STAR Center

Monday – Friday
1-800-850-STAR

Saturday
8:00 AM – Midnight

9:00 AM –

STAR Center News
Aug. 2014
The faster we receive that repair info from
them, the faster we can give it to you.
“Ticket” continued on page 5
“Ticket” continued from page 4

No. 85
when the last case was opened. Reescalate the old ticket and save
everyone some time. Again…it helps to
keep pertinent information in one place.

Here are some “best practices” to follow
that should help you better manage your
STAR Tickets:




Don’t allow your tickets to remain open
and not updated for days/weeks. Close
them if they are no longer active and
PROVIDE REPAIR INFORMATION!!!
Incompete/Vague Information. Make
sure your information is complete and
accurate. The better the quality of your
information is, the faster we can help.
Examples include:
o Reporting DTCs with no description,
no Vehicle Scan Report or not
reporting what module they were
found in. Vehicle Scan reports are
great information!!! Send them
when you have codes involved
before even submitting a ticket…and
make sure to tell us you sent Vehicle
Scan reports up to us when you
submit your ticket!
o Reporting a condition found, such as
“low pressure/ low compression/
excessive runout” with no value. We
need the numbers to be more
accurate with our suggestions!



Duplicate/overlapping cases by the
same tech on the same VIN for the
same problem. This is a great way for
vital information to “get lost”.



Creating a new case when a vehicle
returns for the same issue in a
reasonably short period of time from

Chrysler Group LLC