1.2 ASE Question Formats, Research Items, and Scoring

Why format skill is a scored skill

A9 is a diesel knowledge test written in ASE's A-series house style. A large share of items are Technician A / Technician B stems. A smaller share are EXCEPT stems. The rest are direct four-choice questions. A technician who can explain Duramax rail-pressure control in the bay but collapses two statements into one gut feeling will give away items that were never about brand trivia. This section teaches how to work those formats, how research items sit next to scored items, how criterion-referenced scoring works, and how to read a score report. The practice items here are original teaching items. They are not copied from the ASE Automobile Study Guide sample questions or from any live form.

Direct multiple-choice items

A direct item asks one question and offers four choices. Only one choice is the best answer. Read the stem for the system and the symptom before you look down. On A9 a direct item might ask which test comes first on a no-start 6.7-liter Power Stroke, which smoke color matches oil consumption, or which aftertreatment device uses diesel exhaust fluid (DEF). Cross out choices that belong to the wrong vehicle class—Class 8 tractor-only procedures on a light-vehicle stem—or the wrong ignition type, such as gasoline spark diagnosis on a compression-ignition complaint.

Use a two-pass clock. Answer the items you can reason in under a minute, flag the rest, then return. Seventy-five minutes for about 60 on-screen items is enough if you do not reread a stem four times. If two choices still look plausible, pick the one that matches published diagnostic order: verify the complaint, prove air and low-pressure fuel, then condemn high-pressure parts.

Technician A / Technician B items

A Technician A / Technician B item gives two independent statements. You decide, for each statement, whether it is correct. The four answer choices are almost always:

• Technician A only
• Technician B only
• Both Technician A and Technician B
• Neither Technician A nor Technician B

Evaluate each statement independently. Do not let a confident Technician A drag Technician B along. Do not assume ASE would refuse to write two correct statements—both can be right. Both can also be wrong. The stem is two true/false questions glued together. Your job is to finish those two judgments and then select the choice that matches the pair.

Worked example used only for teaching, not as an official sample: a 2019 Ram 2500 with the 6.7-liter Cummins has a low-power complaint after a charge-air hose was replaced. Technician A says a loose charge-air cooler (CAC) boot can lower boost and reduce power even if the high-pressure fuel system is healthy. Technician B says you should still verify low-pressure fuel supply and air-filter restriction before condemning injectors. Both statements are correct diesel practice, so the matching choice is both technicians. If Technician B had said to skip boost testing and replace the injectors first, only Technician A would be correct.

That bay habit already exists in a good shop. One tech says the diesel particulate filter (DPF) is the cause. Another says the turbocharger is the cause. You test each claim. On the exam, write a mental true or false next to A and next to B, then pick the matching choice. If you cannot decide on one statement, guess on that statement only. Do not throw away the statement you already know.

EXCEPT items

An EXCEPT item is a reverse multiple-choice. The stem says that all of the following are true EXCEPT, or asks which choice is not a cause, not a specification, or not a next step. Three choices are correct statements. The scored answer is the false or does-not-apply statement.

Slow down when you see EXCEPT. Circle the word on the noteboard if Prometric gives you a writable surface. Then mark each option as "true of the stem" or "not true." The "not true" mark is your answer.

A9 EXCEPT items often hide inside diagnosis lists: three valid causes of black smoke and one cause that produces white or blue smoke; three valid no-crank checks and one high-pressure fuel test that does not apply until the engine cranks; three published A9 logistics facts and one invented passing percentage. The trap is reading EXCEPT as a normal "which is true" stem and selecting a correct fact. If the stem is technical, translate each choice into a bay test you have actually run on a Power Stroke, Duramax, Cummins 6.7, EcoDiesel, or TDI. The choice that fails that translation is usually the EXCEPT answer.

Research items versus scored items

On the initial A9 only, ASE includes about 10 unscored research items. They look like real questions. They are not labeled. They can appear anywhere in the form. A comfortable glow-plug item might be research. An unfamiliar injector-coding item might be scored. Recertification A9R does not include that research block. A9R is 25 scored questions in 30 minutes.

Because you cannot see the split, answer every question. ASE does not publish a guessing penalty. A blank cannot be right. A reasoned guess can be. If the clock is almost gone, use the remaining seconds to select a choice on every unanswered item rather than polishing an explanation you cannot type. The computer scores selected answers, not your internal monologue.

Skipping "weird" items is the expensive strategy. Research items exist so ASE can try future tasks. They are not a hint that the topic is unofficial. Treat every stem as live until the score report exists.

Criterion-referenced scoring and the score report

ASE sets a criterion-referenced cut score. You are measured against a standard of competence set by ASE, not against the other people in your window. A hard form does not automatically fail a fixed share of the room. ASE does not publish a single passing percentage for A9. Do not study to "hit 70 percent" as if that number were official. Study to be competent in every published content area.

The score report after a fail—and the diagnostic feedback ASE provides—breaks performance out by content area. Use those rows as a rebuild plan:

A fail that shows weakness in E and F is half the test talking back. A fail that shows weakness only in B and C still matters. Those areas are small, but five missed head or block items can decide a close sitting when Fuel and Air were only average. Do not ignore a small area because it is small. Do not ignore a large area because gasoline A8 work made it feel familiar.

Passing A9 does not publish your exact percentage to the shop floor. Employers see certification status. Your job is to clear ASE's standard and then recertify every five years.

Initial A9 versus A9R on format

A Spanish option is available on A1–A9, and ASE delivers it inside the test rather than as a registration setting. A Leer en español button between the stem and the answer choices splits the screen: a Spanish translation of the question and options on one side, the English version on the other. You select your answer on the English side, and the choices appear in the same order in both versions. No special registration process is needed. Every ASE test also carries a Spanish/English technical-glossary button. Budget reading time for it—the 75-minute clock does not stop while you read two columns.