ASE C1 Vehicle Systems and Identification

Question 1

A customer is booking a recall check, and the service consultant needs the vehicle's model year. Which VIN position should the consultant look at?

Accepted Answer

10th character

Answer

On VINs used since 1981, the 10th character is the model-year code. For example, "L" in that position means a 2020 model year.

Question 2

A customer reads the VIN to a service consultant over the phone and says one of the characters is the letter "O." What should the consultant conclude?

Accepted Answer

The character is really a zero, because I, O and Q are not used in VINs

Answer

Standard 17-character VINs never use the letters I, O or Q because they are too easy to confuse with the numbers 1 and 0. The character must be the number zero.

Question 3

A warranty claim needs the vehicle's month and year of manufacture. Where is this information most reliably found?

Accepted Answer

The safety certification label on the driver's door jamb or B-pillar

Answer

The FMVSS certification label, usually on the driver's door jamb or B-pillar, shows the month and year of manufacture. The VIN shows the model year, which can differ from the build date.

Question 4

Which VIN character tells a service consultant the country where the vehicle was manufactured?

Accepted Answer

The 1st character

Answer

The first character of the VIN identifies the country or region of manufacture. For example, 1, 4 and 5 mean the United States, 2 means Canada, 3 means Mexico and J means Japan.

Question 5

A hybrid customer asks what the bright orange cables under the hood are. What is the best explanation?

Accepted Answer

They are high-voltage cables that only trained technicians should handle

Answer

Industry practice (SAE J1673) uses orange cables or sheathing to mark high-voltage circuits on hybrid and electric vehicles. They carry dangerous voltage between the battery pack, the inverter and the motor-generators.

ASE C1 Practice Test

ASE C1 Practice Test

ASE C1 Vehicle Systems and Identification