But your irritation returns when you see that your search has yielded only titles, numbers and a barely intelligible description of the problem. How can you be certain that you've matched a TSB correctly to your vehicle's symptoms? And how will this confusing bit of information ever be good enough to convince your service advisor to make a repair?

These bulletins differ from recalls in that they are not considered safety or emissions issues and they usually apply only when your vehicle is in its warranty period (whereas a recall is "open" until the work has been performed). TSBs frequently (but not always) address a recurring problem and include illustrated instructions for repair, a list of the parts needed, the warranty status and the labor charge.

If a problem addressed in a TSB is particularly widespread, the manufacturer may decide to send out "Owner Notification" letters - in this case, the manufacturer has a good idea of which vehicles (by VIN) will experience the problem. For example, our staff received such a letter in regard to our long-term Honda Insight. The letter listed two potential problems: (1) difficulty starting the Insight in very cold weather (0° F) due to a faulty engine control module; and (2) AM radio static due to an improperly grounded rear wiper motor. We were instructed to make an appointment at a Honda dealership and to allow half a day for the free repairs. Owner notifications have mileage and time restrictions - these may extend beyond the warranty period.

Service bulletin content varies in severity - you'll find TSBs that cover hard-to-start engines and clunking transmissions alongside those that offer remedies for inoperable cigarette lighters and slight paint imperfections. And some TSBs merely outline updated service procedures and troubleshooting strategies, or offer hints for installing something as simple as a front license plate holder.

And, of course, the best thing about finding a TSB that seems to cover a persistent problem in your vehicle is that dealerships will make the repair for free, provided that

• Your vehicle is under warranty;
  
  

• Your service advisor and/or technicians are able to confirm that the problem exists.

Rather than going into the dealer with the TSB number in hand, it is more effective, according to Chirico, to come to the dealer with a complete description of your vehicle's particular problem - what are the exact symptoms, and when and where did/do they occur. He offered this example: Suppose you have a cold-running concern with your vehicle. Don't drive the vehicle into the dealer before work in the morning and expect technicians to be able to duplicate the problem - the vehicle will be warm. Instead, bring the vehicle into the dealer the evening before and let it sit overnight. In short, someone in the service department has to be able to duplicate the problem, and the TSB number and a brief description of the problem won't always do it. "You don't want to go in there sounding bull-headed - you won't get good service," Chirico said.

If the technicians and your service writer seem to be having trouble resolving a problem with your vehicle and you've already given them the most complete description possible, our road test editor continued, then you might say politely, "Someone suggested that this TSB might cover it." "Did anyone try this TSB?" A customer who makes an effort to sound intelligent (that is, provides a full description of the problem and demonstrates a history of regularly maintaining the vehicle) and to treat service writers (and technicians) with respect is more likely to find resolution for her vehicle's problems.

A further option, he said, is to arrange a meeting with the service manager and then, calmly discuss the matter (bring applicable service receipts). Usually, service managers will respond favorably to customers who ask, "Could you help me out?", rather than ranting. The service manager and writers always have a manufacturer's representative (a field technician) whom they can contact. You might want to suggest that they try this, if they haven't already.

Forging civil ties with a service department over several years may have its benefits when something goes wrong with your car after it is out of warranty. If you know that a particular problem is covered by a TSB and have a reputation of spending money with the dealership, the service writer might be willing to write off all or part of the repair cost.

In these situations, owners might find it helpful to see the full text of the technical service bulletins that cover particular vehicle problems. You see, the NHTSA search engine provides only titles, numbers and summaries, but dealership service departments have access to each TSB in its entirety, as it is sent to them by the manufacturer(s). Another Web site, ALLDATA, like the NHTSA site, allows users to access a list of all service bulletins for their vehicles, but only the number and the title of each TSB is provided.

"We collect Technical Service Bulletins to make sure that there is not a safety issue," Tim Hurd, chief of media relations for NHTSA Public Affairs, said. He explained that it would be a "gigantic job," to maintain the site if NHTSA were to list the full text of each TSB. Nor is it the position of NHTSA to instruct customers how to approach service advisors and mechanics with TSB queries: "Our main concern is safety.... We can't offer good advice on how to use [TSBs]," he said.

It is possible to get the full text of a TSB from both of these sites, but you have to pay for this information. The NHTSA site has a search authorization form, on which you enter the information you gathered from the TSB summaries (as exactly as you can). A NHTSA employee makes copies from their microfiche collection of bulletins and mails them to you. The ALLDATA site offers a more attractive option for those who want continuing access to technical service bulletins - $19.95 buys you one year of access for a single vehicle to the ALLDATA DIY^tm database, which in addition to the full text of model-specific TSBs, contains diagnosis and repair procedures with diagrams, maintenance schedules, etc.

We uncovered a third alternative for those seeking complete bulletins. Three mechanics started Bat Auto Technical in July 2000 - the objective of their site is to "get mechanics and people together," and thus "combine those who need information and those who have information to give," site founder Tony Murray said. The Bat Auto site offers several forums, some for vehicle owners and others just for mechanics.

Best of all, if you fill in the site's online request form with the details of a TSB summary, Murray will gladly send you the full text of the TSB at no charge. Donations are optional. While Bat Auto doesn't claim to have complete bulletin holdings for every manufacturer, their resources are rather expansive, Murray said, given that 14 mechanics (some independent, some fleet) contribute to the site.

Murray has worked as a field mechanic for the Oregon Department of Transportation since 1980, so the Bat Auto site is a side project, as it is for the other mechanics. Why then, go to the trouble of providing owners with this kind of information?

"The biggest reason is that this information wasn't available," he said. "A lot of us are fleet mechanics, and it doesn't matter to us if someone makes money off a repair or not."

While people who take their cars to dealerships for service may be able to get by with the meager amounts of information readily available at the NHTSA and ALLDATA sites, this often does not suffice for the large group of people who use independent shops. "Independent mechanics may not have access to all of this information [the full text of every TSB issued by a manufacturer], if they don't pay for continual updates," Murray said.

If you have tried to have a problem repaired numerous times, he continued, you might take the TSB to your mechanic and say, "'Here's a service bulletin, read it and explain to me where I should go from here.' If [consumers] find the TSB, instead of the mechanic spending numerous hours, they will help the mechanic go directly to the problem."

Further, as many Town Hall participants have noted, many dealerships are guarded with the contents of service bulletins. Murray offered this example: "GM has a special policy for vehicles with the 6.5-liter turbodiesel engine (1994-98). They have a special warranty for the injection pumps (11 years/120,000 miles). But [service advisors] might not tell customers.

"... [They] don't make any money off of [TSB repairs]. They are reimbursed for only a percentage [of the actual cost] by the manufacturer.... It's like an HMO.... If a person walks in there and doesn't know about [a service bulletin], they would just as soon not tell the customer. They're not making any money, so they would just as soon nobody knows."

Finally, TSBs often include part numbers, which makes it easy for people to make their own repairs and thus, save money, Murray said. After obtaining the full TSB, owners can visit one of the forums to get advice from one of the mechanics about how to proceed with the repair.

Bat Auto is slowly expanding a trouble code diagnosis section - they currently have information for 15 manufacturers. "We try to take a person step-by-step through trouble code diagnosis," Murray said, "When the 'check engine' light comes on [in a vehicle], the computer stores the trouble code(s). We tried to make it the easiest we could to pull the codes and go down our list to find the description."

While such a procedure may seem unnecessarily arduous to the owner planning to let someone else repair the vehicle, Murray maintains that retrieving the trouble codes strengthens one's position with the mechanic or service advisor.

"This information helps [owners] learn about their vehicles.... they will know what the problem is before going to the mechanic. This [knowledge] gives them ammunition. They can say to the mechanic: 'Here is what my car is doing, and here are the codes.' ... The dealership is not out to protect [unknowledgeable] consumers, it is out to make money. If you have information, you can cover your butt. I see a lot of people go in there without any information other than 'the "check engine" light is on, and it is running crummy.'" Such a customer, he said, is usually surprised to be handed a $1,500 bill - since she hadn't imagined that much could be wrong with her car.

And for those who don't have funds for the repair, much less, money to spend at the dealership, Murray advised: "... So do it yourself. If you're inclined, we can walk you through it."

Of course, owners may find other ways of obtaining technical service bulletins and other repair information - we're sure that we haven't assembled an exhaustive list of Web sites. One thing to keep in mind, particularly if you're the owner of a rare vehicle, is that you may be able to find enthusiast sites that attempt to provide all relevant TSBs.

A little help from the manufacturers

If you happen to own a Hyundai, Volkswagen or Audi, you have one further option when you need repair information - you can visit the service Web sites run by the manufacturers. Both sites (Volkswagen and Audi share a site) are accessible to the public (no login required), and all information is free.

The Hyundai site focuses on shop manuals with troubleshooting guides and diagnostic procedures. From the homepage, users select "Service Information" and then, "Web Tech, " which is the database for consumers ("Web Tech Pro" is for dealership service technicians and requires a login name and password). You cannot search for specific TSBs, but you can search by the year, model and the area of concern (steering, suspension, etc.) - and yes, the Web site has shop manuals for every Hyundai ever sold in the U.S. For instance, we ran a shop manual search for a 2000 Hyundai Elantra. We selected the "Steering System" section, and then, "General," and then, selected the "Troubleshooting" heading. We were rewarded with a clean, easy-to-read table with a list of problems, probable causes and remedies. It does take a bit of work to find the information you're seeking, but we think owners will find this site useful.

Hyundai has targeted this Web site toward all of its owners, whether they visit the service department, use an independent mechanic or do the work themselves. "We [expanded] our definition of a Hyundai customer to include anyone who has an interest in driving or servicing a Hyundai product," Pete Egus, manager of service technology, Hyundai Motor America, said. "We wanted to assist [our customers] in diagnosing and repairing Hyundai products, whether they're doing it themselves or [taking it to the dealership]. We wanted to knock down some the obstacles and hurdles of being a smaller franchise."

Although the availability of this information would seem to increase the likelihood that owners might attempt to make their own repairs, Egus said that Hyundai hopes the Web site will strengthen owners' relations with service departments. "Whenever you educate the customer ... the intelligent owner will realize how sophisticated and complicated cars have become [and decide] that they need to go to a repair station."

Hyundai has tried to ensure that its service information will be as current as possible: "The nature of the NHTSA site is such that it takes longer to get the information," he said. "We do nightly uploads."

Future improvements for the site include an icon-based rating system for repair complexity (i.e., if a certain repair has five wrenches next to the description, the customer will know immediately that this is among the most complex repairs), and a series of brief video tutorials for do-it-yourselfers (these will explain the parts required for a particular repair and then walk viewers through the process).

The Volkswagen/Audi site offers technical service bulletins, campaign circulars and service circulars for each brand. The site is more straightforward in its use than Hyundai's site - since there is no search function, you just scroll down the list for each section and click on the items that interest you. The holdings do not seem to be as comprehensive or as organized, though. Still, each technical service bulletin on the site that does cover a significant vehicle problem appears in its entirety. The campaign circulars section may also interest owners, since it includes problem notifications sent by the manufacturer to dealership service departments.

We were unable to obtain an interview with a manufacturer representative regarding the details of this site, so we're not sure why Volkswagen and Audi decided to make TSBs and circulars available to owners. Still, it is certainly a benevolent gesture in a context in which such information is usually withheld from consumers. Both the Hyundai site and the Volkswagen/Audi site require Adobe Acrobat Reader (which you can easily download for free).

Perhaps this guide won't alleviate the ongoing irritation that comes with a stubbornly unreliable vehicle, but at least you might be able to find the full text of a TSB that will guide you and/or your service advisor to a solution for a persistent problem.

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