MACS Service Reports - 2015 - SEP2

formation links for the GM
website, including 2013-on
material, but not 2013-on wiring diagrams.

Ford issues with Windows
8.1

sandyblogs.com

The Ford site (www.motorcraftservice.com)
requires
Windows 7 and Internet Explorer (version 11 is what we
have) and everything seems
to work, including wiring
diagrams and the diagnostic
manual. You do have to install the SVG 3.0 viewer, for
which there's a link. However,
that link does seem to have a
glitchiness factor, and it may
take several tries to get it installed.
Our Windows 8.1 machine
got almost nowhere with the
Ford site. So unless you have
a Windows 7 computer, you
may end up having problems.

Fiat Chrysler Improvements
We've had complaints with
lack of certain information on
the site, which is www.techauthority.com, and is under new
management. The new management did have problems
with existing subscriptions, but once we could log on, it
seems to work well with Windows 8.1 and IE-11; much better than before. In fact, there was even a service video that
played properly, something new for that OE site. Hopefully
our happiness with www.ta.snapon.com will continue. Note:
our Windows 8.1/ IE 11 system does not have the separate
SVG 3.0 viewer, and instead of Macromedia Flash, it has
Adobe Flash, and can fully access the site.
The site specifies Windows 7, 8 and 8.1, Macromedia Flash
9.0 or above, an SVG 3.0 viewer and Java 1.7.71 or higher.
Check your program files in Control Panel to see if you have
these.

Figure 1: GM's first warning on Windows 10 appeared in this issue of TechLink, the online newsletter. Subsequently, we spoke with tech support, which added that service information itself also might be affected by
Windows 10.

(checking to make sure it showed up in our Control Panel
as an installed program), and the same message kept coming
up despite the installation. Tech support said the issue lies
with IE-11.
If you don't need the GM wiring diagrams on a 2013 model or later, you can use the GM site now, as we found you
could get everything else.
GM also warns against taking the free upgrade from Windows 7 or 8/8.1 to the new Windows 10 (Figure 1). If you do,
the computer will not run certain content on the gmtechinfo.
com website. GM specifically cites TIS2Web, which is the
online subscription for GM vehicle calibrations, the Global
Diagnostic System (GDS) and Tech2WIN, the online version of the Tech 2 scan tool. The regular service information
is not mentioned, but Tech Support said that also would be
affected. So caution would dictate that you do not upgrade.
GM expects to update its website to be compatible with Windows 10 by perhaps the middle of 2016, but promised dates
for system upgrades are often missed.
If you have made a reservation to install Windows 10, GM
recommends that you cancel it by right-clicking on the Get
Windows 10 app or Windows 10 icon on your taskbar. Click
the menu on the right side of the taskbar, select Check your
upgrade status then select View Confirmation. In the lower left,
select Cancel Reservation.
Firefox and Chrome will work on much of the service in-

September 2015

Nissan's Website
The Nissan website has a home page warning that says you
must use Adobe Reader below version 10, along with Windows
7.0, because the shop manuals (which are in PDF format) will
not open (Figure 2). That has been true for some time, and we
assure you we've tried. But as of August 2015, we have been able
to open the manuals (we tried several) with Adobe 11, although
the warning is still on the home page. In fact, we've even been
able to open the manuals with our Windows 8.1 desktop too.
We don't know if all the manuals will open, and we naturally
have to suspect that the reworking of the website for Adobe

MACS Service Reports

http://www.motorcraftservice.com http://www.sandyblogs.com http://www.techauthority.com http://www.ta.snapon.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of MACS Service Reports - 2015