Vehicle diagnostic and prognostic methods and systems

A method for predicting impending failures in one or more of a plurality of components or subsystems on a vehicle to prevent a breakdown of the vehicle that could result in an inability to operate the vehicle, comprising:

• mounting sensors on the vehicle, the sensors providing data which is affected by the operation of the components or subsystems, the sensors being selected and arranged such that the data provided by the sensors is different for different operating states of each of the plurality of components and subsystems;
• obtaining data from the sensors during operation of the components or subsystems;
• detecting patterns in the obtained data on the vehicle;
• analyzing, using a processor on the vehicle, the detected patterns to create a prediction of an impending failure of one of the components or subsystems before the predicted failure occurs;
• and
• informing the user, owner, dealer or manufacturer of the vehicle about the predicted failure before the predicted failure occurs to enable corrective action to be taken before the predicted failure occurs,
• whereby a breakdown of the vehicle that might occur if the predicted failure of the component were to occur is thereby avoided.