August 7th, 2025 — Issue #0007

Blue & White at a Tan-Only Party—How JX250 Killed the Conversation...

A Prison Transport, a DLC Hitchhiker, and the Overlay That Restored the HS GMLAN Network Communication

​

​

Hi Reader,

​

Welcome to your weekly boost of inspiration from the shop floor. Torque Authority is not your average industry blog—it's a spark fired from the shop meant to reignite your drive, your grit, and your purpose.

​

Each edition delivers a hint of humor and a dose of inspiration drawn from real moments under the hood—lessons on leadership, resilience, and persistence.

​

The aim of this newsletter is to help you build a highly skilled, confident, and high-paying automotive future—on your terms.

​

​

Join Torque Authority Hub: Where Automotive Technicians Transform into Diagnostic Daredevils. Embrace your worth, master your craft, and drive towards financial autonomy with a community that gets it.

​

If you haven't already heard, Torque Authority Collective is hosting our first LIVE LAB on Tuesday, August 19th at 1:30PM EST!

​

Experienced Technicians looking to save time, new technicians wanting to build confidence, and shop owners looking for smarter, faster diagnostics, this is for you!
​
Join us in one month for our first LIVE LAB: Diagnose Electrical in 30 minutes or less.
​
We're going to cover the essential tips, tricks, and tools to confidently diagnose automotive electrical faults in no time.

From the Driver's Seat—Featured Story

​

It’s not every day your patient is a prison transport bus with commitment issues.

​

Some mornings it started and ran like a model citizen. Other times it ghosted everyone: no crank, the dash lit up like a Christmas tree, and a scan tool staring back with the same energy as a teenager asked to take out the trash—no communication with any module.

​

We pulled it in when it was behaving. Twenty minutes later, it did what flaky vehicles do best: stalled and refused to restart. Perfect. It takes two to tango.

​

First suspicion: there was a little DLC hitchhiker—an aftermarket GPS tracker piggybacked into the connector (the “hello harness my old friend” of mystery faults).

​

We unplugged it. The bus shrugged. Concern still present.

​

​

The tech mentioned that pressing on the EBCM connector once caused a stall, and they’d already replaced the connector body (reused pins). So we went there first.

​

Terminal tension on all four HS GMLAN wires and the communication enable line? Solid. No green crusties, no loose terminals, nothing to hang a hat on.

​

Time to listen to the network itself.

​

We fired up the Data Bus Diagnostic tool while it ran. It chirped each time there was an intermittent bus fault—enough to make you suspicious—but a PicoScope comparison didn’t show an obvious smoking gun.

​

Pro tip: you can scope a twisted-pair at the wrong point in the network, miss the gremlin, and still have the bus screaming in error frames somewhere else. Ask me how I know.

​

So we hunted through the harness.

​

Under the driver’s dash, we found the telltale signs of prior surgery—an opened loom, re-taped, and a suspiciously taped-back junction block JX250. Aha!

​

Cracking it open, the party theme was clear: HS GMLAN = Tan and Tan/Black wires only (per the published Service Information). But our guest list said otherwise.

​

JX250 had four tan/tan-black wires… and then two party-crashers: one blue and one white wire stuffed where two other tan/tan-black wires should’ve been. Tan-only event, folks. Blue and white did not RSVP.

​

​

​

We chased the uninvited guests upstream: through the bulkhead at X100 and to ECM X1, the circuits correctly returned to tan/tan-black, like nothing was wrong. Going the other direction from JX250, the blue and white wires slithered up into the backside of the dash—not factory, not friendly.

​

At this point, the story wrote itself. The bus didn’t have a single bad actor; it had aftermarket wires spliced in. Those rogue wires turned a tightly-timed conversation into a prison-fight of reflections, stubs, and intermittent silence.

​

We de-pinned the blue and white impostors and laid in a fresh overlay twisted pair from the ECM to JX250, bypassing the tampered section.

​

Key on. Start. Run. Breathe.

​

We let it idle through lunch, then cycled the key about 30 times like we were trying to win a starter endurance contest. Not a single hiccup. The bus went from surly loner to social butterfly—every module back on the net, zero drama.

​

I asked the dealer to monitor the vehicle for a few days, then make the overlay permanent once confidence was high. (They did. Problem solved.)

​

Here's what I learned from this case:

​

1. Aftermarket add-ons leave fingerprints. Even when the DLC gadget isn’t the final boss, it may point to a history of creative wiring nearby. Follow the loom, not your assumptions.
2. Overlays are not defeat. They can be a surgical bypass for compromised sections. When the bus talks after an overlay, you just proved the causality.
3. Color-coded circuits aren’t for decoration. Consistent wiring matching the service information isn’t a suggestion—it’s the law. Blue/white in a tan-only junction is your sign to stop and ask who invited them.

​

Sometimes the hero isn’t a new module, a magic reflash, or a silver-bullet scope capture. Sometimes it’s just escorting two uninvited wires out of a tan-only party—and giving the network its voice back.

Don't forget we've created a free online Skool community where fellow troubleshooters, thinkers, and diagnostic detectives can swap stories, wisdom, and wiring diagrams. 'Torque Authority' isn't just a newsletter, it's the start of a movement. Come be a founding member by joining the party here:

​

​

Torque Authority Hub is a Skool community/classroom: an all-in-one online space where learning meets connection. Think of it as a hybrid between a private social group and a structured course platform—built for automotive service enthusiasts to share knowledge, spark discussions, and build relationships around our shared interests.

​

It’s a place where:

• Courses are organized into modules and lessons, making it easy to learn at your own pace
• Community posts where members ask questions, share wins, or troubleshoot together—like a virtual shop floor
• Gamification (points, levels, rewards) which makes learning feel like leveling up
• Calendars and events where we schedule live trainings, Q&As, or meetups

​

We're taking this Torque Authority newsletter and turning it into an interactive pit crew—ready to learn, laugh, and lift each other up. You don't want to miss out on this! Join now—it's free!

​

We're also launching our first course inside the Torque Authority Hub community: Here's a sneak peek!

​

​

Build elite diagnostic skills & unlock your six-figure income future. Tech Authority Accelerator is the ultimate transformation for technicians ready to level-up. Using a proven system designed by and for technicians who demand mastery and command respect, and based on 'Hotwire Your Skills', this program delivers elite diagnostic power, real income growth, and total control under the hood. This is your six-figure future—you can own it, or just keep letting it idle.

​

We hope you enjoyed the story! Please share this article with a friend if you did.

In this section each week we highlight a person—an innovator, subscriber, engineer, or even a business—who has made a positive impact in our industry. This is the place in Torque Authority where their authority in the Automotive Industry is highlighted.

​

This week's highlight is on Enrique Reyes, Professor of Automotive Service Engineering at BYU–Idaho!

​

​

This week we’re tipping the hat to Enrique Reyes, Professor of Automotive Service Engineering at BYU–Idaho—a teacher’s teacher whose classes don’t just explain the work, they feel like the work.

​

He’s on the Automotive faculty roster at BYU–Idaho, where the program leans hard into hands-on labs and real customer vehicles—exactly the kind of environment where his experience shines.

​

Before Rexburg, Enrique stacked a rare blend of industry + classroom reps. At Southwestern Michigan College, he was one of the instructors pictured leading community-facing projects (like vehicle donations to local programs). And earlier at Ivy Tech Community College, he taught transmissions after running his own shop—ER Automotive—bringing bay-floor realism straight into the syllabus. That “I’ve been there” credibility is a big reason his students level up fast.

​

On a personal note: when I was a student at BYU–I, Enrique left a mark—funny, professional, and relentlessly engaging. You walked out of his class with sharper skills and higher standards. Here’s to Brother Reyes for growing techs who can think, test, and communicate like pros—exactly what this industry needs!

One quote of wisdom for you to consider this week...

​

​

A good reminder to stay curious on stubborn electrical repairs—let evidence, not assumptions, lead the way.

This is where we share one practical resource: a tool, app, book, strategy, or event which can have a positive impact in YOUR life.

​

This week’s Toolbox Tip is on: FLIR Thermal Imaging Cameras

​

If you wrench for a living, a thermal imager is basically X-ray vision for heat—no back-probing required. It turns invisible problems into pictures you can point to, save to the RO, and show a customer (or a warranty rep) without a 20-minute monologue.

Why it earns a permanent spot in your cart:

• Parasitic draw hunter: Key-off for 30–60 min, scan the fuse box—the warm fuse is your breadcrumb. Confirm with an ammeter and you’ve just saved an hour of guesswork.
• High-resistance bloodhounds: Loose grounds, corroded terminals, chafed sections—bad connections run hot under load. You’ll see the hotspot before you smell it.
• Brake & bearing truth serum: A dragging caliper or failing hub shows up as a one-wheel sauna.
• Cooling & HVAC clarity: Cold radiator rows, lazy thermostats, plugged heater cores (hot in / cold out), weak condenser airflow—patterns pop instantly.
• Exhaust diagnostics: Compare pre/post-cat temps for quick clues on restriction or efficiency (always confirm with pressure or O2 data).
• Misfire & balance checks: Header/runner temps tell you who’s sleeping on the job.
• Documentation that talks: Before/after shots = fewer comebacks, cleaner approvals, stronger training moments.

Quick-start workflow (90 seconds):

1. Run the system under the condition that fails (load matters).
2. Scan for asymmetry left-to-right or in/out of the same component.
3. Tag a few spot temps and save the image to the RO.
4. Verify electrically (meter/scope) before parts ordering—thermal is your scout, not the judge.

Pro moves so you don’t get fooled:

• Emissivity matters. Shiny metal lies. Stick a bit of matte electrical tape on the spot and read the tape.
• Lock your temperature span when comparing passes; auto-scale can fake “drama.”
• Compare like to like (same load, same ambient) to keep your deltas honest.

If you don’t own one yet, start with a 160×120 resolution or better and you’ll wonder how you ever diagnosed without it. It’s the rare tool that makes you faster, safer, and clearer—with pictures to prove it.

​