Looking For TROUBLE - UAW-Chrysler.com

UAW SAFETY REPRESENTATIVE TODD JACOBS PEERS AT THE WHEEL WELL OF A
Dodge Dakota, looking for air bubbles that aren’t there. The truck on the hoist under
his thoughtful gaze has failed an emissions test, which means there must be a leak
somewhere in its transmission system. The question is where. Jacobs, who specializes
in emissions repair, was hoping that his pressure gauge would find it here, since
he’s already looked in all the obvious places. Now, he’ll spend his time looking in
places that are not so obvious until he finds the trouble, no matter how long it takes.
In other words, it’s just a typical job at the Sterling Heights Vehicle Test
Center, better known as SHVTC, or “Shevtech.” The 15 certified master mechanics
and 34 other UAW employees who work here are the ultimate troubleshooters,
STORY BY NANCY SHEPHERDSON | PHOTOS BY MARK STEELE
dedicated to finding and fixing any
problems put before them. Small but
responsive, with a take-no-prisoners
attitude, that’s SHVTC.
Troubleshooting
Cars and trucks come here for
emissions testing, retrofitting in
large batches from assembly plants
or preparation for executives and the
media. Wherever they come from,
and whatever their condition, they
go away in perfect working order.
No exceptions.
“We never give up on a car. If it
comes in here, it has to be fixed and it
has to be right,” says Jacobs, who is
the health and safety officer of UAW
Local 140, which represents SHVTC
and Warren Truck. “In the 23 years
this plant has been operating, no failures
have been allowed out the door.”
That kind of dedication to perfection
convinced DaimlerChrysler to
give SHVTC one of its most important
new projects. The first “100,000 Mile
Teardown” took place last winter and
gave mountains of competitive information
to engineering that will be used
to improve upcoming models. That’s
what happens when certified master
mechanics tear down four highmileage
Toyota minivans and seven
TOMORROW FALL 2003 11