Happy New Year Reader!

Welcome to your weekly boost of inspiration from the shop floor. Torque Authority is not your average industry blog. It's a spark that’s 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 career—on your terms. Find out how in our Skool Community Torque Authority Hub!

Happy New Year Torque Authority!

I hope y’all had a pleasant end of 2025 and a refreshing start to 2026.

My family and I got sick with the flu just after Christmas, so our start to 2026 wasn’t very refreshing! But, I’m grateful we’re all just about over with this sickness.

The new year always gets me excited. I love the feeling of a fresh start, new goals, and the feeling that I can accomplish whatever I put my mind to.

I recently heard something very inspiring from Chris Koerner, which reminded me of those new year feelings. If you don’t know who he is, seriously, go check him out!

In a recent video he posted on YouTube, he shared his GRIT framework.

And man, it hit me SO hard.

I watched the video multiple times while using my phone as a flashlight in the early morning hours when I stumbled across it, so I could quickly write down his genius insights.

Chris describes himself as a Serial Entrepreneur (he’s started like 80+ businesses over the years), so this video was aimed at entrepreneurs and business owners. However, I see the principles applying just as appropriately in the world of Automotive Service.

His GRIT framework describes what it is really like to start and run a business:

I feel that the same is true being an automotive service technician.

Whether you’re a mobile tech, a one-man-band or if you’re isolated in a toxic shop where everyone is out for their own interests and pays you no attention, it’s a grind, man. It’s a grind, every day is risky, you feel isolated, and the turbulence is real.

But Chris gives a matching solution or antidote to each of these problems. He explains:

I aim to follow this GRIT framework throughout 2026. I invite you to do the same! Every day is a grind, but man, that’s a blessing! Sometimes I have to remind myself that having problems is a good thing—because the only ones without any problems are the ones buried six feet down. Remember that when you feel bogged down by the weight of your problems.

In the grind, through the risk, in the isolation or the turbulence, remember you’ve got a group you can turn to for cheering you on. If you haven’t already joined, I invite you to get in the Torque Authority Hub (Skool Community) while it’s still free to join!

Oh, and by the way, be on the lookout for the Torque Authority Podcast. Starting next week, I’ll be dropping episode 1. More info to come, stay tuned!

It all began with a tow—and not the kind sticking out of your holey socks.

A 2025 Silverado EV rolled in stone dead. No propulsion mode. No cooperation. Just a 12-volt battery that had clearly decided it had seen enough of this world.

The battery was replaced, the vehicle was released, and the shop briefly enjoyed the illusion that the problem was solved.

Two days later, the Silverado was back.

Same concern. Same refusal to enter propulsion mode. This time, however, it brought friends—lots of friends. Pages of diagnostic trouble codes. Communication faults everywhere. Modules ghosting each other like a bad group text.

After following the prescribed ritual and consulting the modern-day oracle (TAC), the BCM was replaced. Because when in doubt, replace a module and pray.

Then came the test drive.

Halfway across town, the vehicle decided to remind the technician who was in charge. Power reduced to 25 MPH. Turn signals gone. Heater gone. And—just to be thorough—over three pages of brand-new DTCs.

Progress… Right?

When I got involved, the Silverado was in one of those states that makes technicians uneasy. Intermittent. Unpredictable. Just functional enough to lure you into trusting it… until you come back to your senses.

I connected a scan tool and confirmed the chaos: multiple U-codes indicating loss of communication across CAN 9 and CAN 2. Most notable among them was U0078: CAN 9 Bus Off—which is the network’s polite way of saying, “I’m done talking.”

Key-on behavior was equally suspicious. The radio sat blank for an uncomfortable amount of time, as if thinking deeply about its life choices. After about 20 seconds, the dash finally woke up, propulsion mode engaged, and the truck moved under its own power.

Intermittent problems are great like that. They’ll work just long enough to make you doubt yourself.

We did what any irrational technicians would do: break out the oscilloscope.

Working alongside the shop tech, we connected the Picoscope at X403 under the front trunk, monitoring CAN 9 and CAN 2 waveforms at pins 40, 39, 37, and 36.

The waveforms looked… fine.

No obvious distortion. No dropouts. No smoking gun. The kind of result that makes you squint at the screen and think, “That can’t be right.”

So we changed our angle.

Up on the hoist the Silverado went, shields and covers coming off like layers of denial. Accessing the harnesses under the rear drive motor wasn’t exactly quick or glamorous, but intermittent network faults rarely live in convenient places.

That’s when we arrived at connector X404, left rear body harness location.

And there it was.

Pin 21.

Or more accurately—there it wasn’t.

We found the absence of any meaningful grip whatsoever.

The terminal tension in pin 21 was so loose that during a gravity drop test, the GM terminal probe fell out like it was late for lunch.

No corrosion. No visible damage. Just a terminal that had quietly decided it no longer wanted to participate in CAN 9 communications.

Intermittent loss of contact. Intermittent loss of network. Intermittent loss of sanity.

Suddenly, everything made sense.

The delayed wake-up at key on.
The bus-off codes.
The random, cascading module failures.
The “it works until it doesn’t” test drives.

All traced back to one loose terminal hiding in the rear of an otherwise very advanced electric truck.

A new terminated lead was ordered. The technician installed it, verified proper terminal tension, and reassembled the vehicle.

After lunch, we took it for a drive.

Then another.

Then the technician drove several more times over the following week.

No propulsion issues. No reduced power. No disappearing turn signals. No DTC novels being written behind our backs.

Just a Silverado EV doing what it was designed to do—silently, obediently, and without drama.

Here’s what this case reinforced for me:

Now that begs the question… Why was that terminal loose to begin with?

Growth teaches you how systems work.
Service is choosing to apply that knowledge until the customer is genuinely taken care of.
Contribution is what happens when you refuse to settle for “good enough,” even when no one would blame you if you did.

And sometimes, contribution looks like crawling under a truck… to fix one loose pin that brought an entire vehicle to its knees.

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.

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

There’s a strange frustration that shows up after years of personal growth.

It shows up after reading the books.
Taking the classes.
Listening to the podcasts.
Taking notes. Refining your goals. Reflecting deeply.

On paper, or through certifications, you’re more capable than you’ve ever been.

And yet… something feels off.

Not burnout.
Not confusion.
More like a quiet pressure you can’t shake.

Growth used to feel exciting. Now it feels heavy.

That’s not a sign you’re doing something wrong.
It’s a sign you’ve outgrown the season you’re in.

For a long time, growth is exactly what’s required. Skill-building. Character development. Learning how the world actually works. Learning how you work.

But growth was never meant to be the destination.

Growth is preparation.

And preparation has an expiration date.

Preparation ceases to be preparation when you are no longer preparing for something.

At some point, continuing to focus only on yourself—your clarity, your readiness, your next level—stops being wisdom and starts becoming avoidance.

Not because growth is bad.
But because what you’ve gained is meant to move outward.

There’s a moment—quiet and uncomfortable—when a technician crosses an invisible line.

He realizes:

And suddenly, staying focused only on his own development feels… small.

That’s the moment growth becomes a responsibility.

Not to scale.
Not to perform.
Not to impress.

But to serve.

Service is what gives growth its meaning.

Without service, growth stunts. Endless improvement with no outlet.

But when growth is offered in service to others, it transforms into contribution.

And contribution changes everything.

Contribution shifts your mindset from:

“Am I ready?” to “Who could this help right now?”

From: “What’s in it for me?” to “What do I have that someone else needs?”

That shift is the beginning of leadership—whether you asked for the title or not.

Here’s the truth most people avoid:

If you’ve been growing for years but haven’t contributed meaningfully to others, the issue usually isn’t clarity.

It’s courage.

Courage to be seen before you feel finished.
Courage to offer help without guarantees.
Courage to accept that your contribution will be imperfect—and still valuable.

Growth feels safe because it stays internal.
Service is risky because it is public.

But fulfillment lives on the other side of risk.

This is the heart of Torque Authority.

Not self-aggrandizement.
Not bigger titles.
Not ego-driven ambition.

But skilled, grounded men who stop hoarding what they’ve learned—and start using it to bless others.

Because authority isn’t claimed.
It’s earned through contribution.

And contribution begins the moment you decide that what you carry isn’t just for you.

This week, don’t focus only on growing (setting goals, New Year’s Resolutions, etc.)

Focus on service.

Ask yourself one simple question:

Then offer it.

A conversation.
A perspective.
A decision.

Not perfectly.
Not publicly if you don’t want to.
Just intentionally.

Because the goal isn’t to build a bigger resume.

The goal is to build a life marked by contribution.

Torque Authority Hub is where technicians rise above the grind. Learn to think like a leader, work with purpose, and earn with confidence — alongside a community that pushes you to lead, not just follow.

T. W. Mulder, Founder of Torque Authority

Helping technicians think sharper, lead stronger, & earn what they’re worth.