Field notes from the bay, published as I do the work. The diagnostic discipline that keeps a 1973 small-block idling also keeps a 2022 hybrid inverter honest — and the saftey habits that keep you alive on high-voltage systems are the same ones that stopped you shorting a coil years ago. Everything here is grounded in what I've actually tested or torn down.
On the Bench — Current Field Guides
Reading Battery State-of-Health
How I actually judge a hybrid pack without trusting the dashboard: module voltage spread, internal-resistance rise, capacity fade curves — and the equipment that does the judging.
Reference: Li-ion pack teardown + BMS scan data
Format: interactive chart + procedure tables
Hybrid Diagnostic Tool
Step-by-step power/ground/signal tree for common hybrid fault codes. Built for the tech who reads codes before knowing if the part is even fed.
Format: decision-tree worksheet
In the Other Bay — Vintage Small Blocks
1973 Small-Block Resurrection
Scrape, sand, listen. Reading the grain of forty years of carbon and seats before reaching for the reamer — same discipline as reading a DTC.
Next: cylinder head valve job
Shop Principles
"Verify power. Verify ground. Then trace the signal path." — The rule that scales from a dead 1964 points ignition to a hybrid inverter that won't latch. Half the time what's 'dead' was never fed in the first place.
⚠ High-Voltage Safety — Non-Negotiable
- Class-0 insulated gloves, rated and re-tested, before touching any orange connector.
- Disconnect and WAIT — inverter capacitors hold lethal charge for minutes after cutoff.
- HV isolation test with a megohmmeter, not a continuity beep.
- One hand in pocket near the pack. Always.
Films
Diagnostic Logic: Combustion to Electric
A short on the method that crosses the whole shop: verify power, verify ground, trace signal — from points to PMSM.
Reference & Data
The numbers I work from — live facts pulled into this page on every rebuild, plus machine-readable twins of my tools.