How Do I Become a Mechanic?

[Mike N]

What needs to be done, is that we need to bring credibility to the trade. Why is it that electricians, plumbers and contractors need to be licensed and not mechanics? Any Joe Schmo can walk into a sears, walk out with a toolbox, and call themselves a mechanic. It's like me buying a stethoscope and calling myself the head of pediatrics at Mt Sinai. I've worked next to guys that can't grasp the concept of ohm's law and yet they're working on the fully loaded dump truck cruising next to you at 70mph. Just hope he didn't forget to tighten the wheels on that bad boy....oh did I mention I have seen them fall off at highway speeds? Not Cool.

I've said this for years. Sadly in NY you need a license to cut hair, but not to be a tech. Can't remember the last time I saw anyone die from a bad haircut.

I work next to a guy that honestly doesn't have a clue how an engine works, but can do gravy work like there's no tomorrow. Hand him an involved job and he'll tell you "it's over my head, yo" and he'll have the dispatcher give it to someone else. He's the SM's golden boy as well, since they're roughly the same age and they hang out after hours.

 

[Mike N]

I have what I call a five lugnut rule. If it's got over five lugnut's per wheel I don't want to work on it. This keeps my sockets down to about 21mm/13/16's or so. LOL. Doesn't allways work but I can try.

Somehow the 8 lug stuff always winds up in my stalls. I really don't mind it, I used to build lifted trucks and am very familiar with Dana 60's, 14 Bolt full floaters and the like. Most of the other guys run the other direction when something lifted and/or wearing Super Swampers comes in , but I don't really mind them.

I also have a a following among drag racers. Somehow word got out that I do racecar alignments (which most local shops won't touch) and I get them all. I've aligned anything from a 12 second Mustang to a 6 second blown alcohol Camaro.

I'll also mount racing slicks and 44" mud tires, which seems to scare everyone else away.

I like doing different stuff like this. It breaks up the monotony of working on the same 4 cylinder ****box day after day after day.........

Funny thing is the bigshots have absolutely no problem with this.

 

[mike phillips]

12 sec. mustang? the only way to get a 12 sec. mustang is to push it down a really steep hill.

 

[68Goldfish]

I work next to a guy that honestly doesn't have a clue how an engine works, but can do gravy work like there's no tomorrow. Hand him an involved job and he'll tell you "it's over my head, yo" and he'll have the dispatcher give it to someone else. He's the SM's golden boy as well, since they're roughly the same age and they hang out after hours.

Ah, that's BS! We used to have a lube tech/ turned pro wrench like that in the shop. Actually it was a girl. The only thing she could do was maintenence work. Anything more involved then a coolent flush, diff, trans, Tcase services etc. and she didn't want anything to do with it. There was a time when our dealer group was trying to come up with a system to catagorize techs so they could come up with a pay scale. They ended up with like five differant catagories, from level D which is a lube kid all the way to level A which would be the guys that can do everything. Anyway, everybody was just about fed up with her at this point. She came up to me one day and wanted to know how to adjust a clutch. I'm like "in what kind of vehicle and why do you want to know" Well she said that learning how to adjust a clutch was the only thing, in her mind, that was keeping her from being a B tech. Well, she didn't like it when I said that's not the only thing keeping you from bieng a B tech. Ever after we called here a Wanna B tech. Thankfully she finally quit. Luckily I don't have anybody on my team that can only do this or can only do that. There's some guys that are happier doing stuff, and that's cool with me. I can hand them all the diesel work and all the front end truck work and be left allone with the CEL's and body electrical.

 

[Mike N]

12 sec. mustang? the only way to get a 12 sec. mustang is to push it down a really steep hill.

At least it will go straight down the hill after I align it.

Most of the cars I'm aligning are 8 and 9 second Camaros and Chevelles.

 

[Mike N]

Ah, that's BS! We used to have a lube tech/ turned pro wrench like that in the shop. Actually it was a girl. The only thing she could do was maintenence work. Anything more involved then a coolent flush, diff, trans, Tcase services etc. and she didn't want anything to do with it. There was a time when our dealer group was trying to come up with a system to catagorize techs so they could come up with a pay scale. They ended up with like five differant catagories, from level D which is a lube kid all the way to level A which would be the guys that can do everything. Anyway, everybody was just about fed up with her at this point. She came up to me one day and wanted to know how to adjust a clutch. I'm like "in what kind of vehicle and why do you want to know" Well she said that learning how to adjust a clutch was the only thing, in her mind, that was keeping her from being a B tech. Well, she didn't like it when I said that's not the only thing keeping you from bieng a B tech. Ever after we called here a Wanna B tech. Thankfully she finally quit. Luckily I don't have anybody on my team that can only do this or can only do that. There's some guys that are happier doing stuff, and that's cool with me. I can hand them all the diesel work and all the front end truck work and be left allone with the CEL's and body electrical.

This dude went from luber goober to tech after another tech was fired for stealing. He's a pretty good kid with some talent, but he's only out for his own wallet. Every car that rolls into his stall needs an alignment, rear brake clean and adjust, fuel filter and whatever flush he can dream up. I swear he could have a rubber stamp of recommendations for every ro he gets. And since these services are all what they want to see us pushing, he's immediately seen as the golden boy, while I'm a cranky old prick that's trying to do the best for the customer. I have more customers that request me to service their vehicle than any other tech in the shop, and this is something management fails to notice. You'd think they'd want to know why Mike has so much repeat business since this is the kind of thing that generates good csi scores (which translates into profit), but this goes unnoticed. They just recognize the gravy grabbing flush queen, because according to them this is where the gross margin is. They expect us to ream the customers every time they come in, and I ain't going for it. I told one of the bigshots that you can shear a sheep a dozen times, but you can only skin him once. When you get done screwing people, don't come to me wondering why car count is down.

 

[greekorican]

I've got a question about alignments. I've noticed that my Riviera will go to the left if I take my hands off the wheel. Its nothing bad, but a little annoying (yes, I know I should have my hands on the wheel). I've noticed acceleration and braking seem to make it more noticeable, it will still do it when I'm just coasting. Is this torque steer, or do I need an alignment? I think torque steer only comes from acceleration, because of FWD, but I'm not a mechanic. Also, do these guys diagnose that a car needs an alignment without driving it? Can it be done without a test drive just by looking at the car?

I had my first day of work today at Aamco, I made a good first impression. I didn't touch any cars, but that doesn't surprise me. My boss says that when I get some more time to work, I'll get to start doing oil changes, etc. I'm excited. I cleaned up around the shop, and hustled my ass off of course. I got to talk to some of the mechanics there. All three guys I talked to agreed that Lincoln Tech was the place to go, and that it was more reputable than UTI was. What do you guys think? I was actually surprised how friendly these guys were. I didn't want to interrupt what they were doing, so i just watched them at first. When they saw me watching they explained what they were doing, and were more than happy to answer some questions.

One more question I thought of. What is tuition like for places like Lincoln Tech or UTI? I can't seem to find it on their website. Tuition is definitely a concern, for college or for a trade school. My parents haven't been doing so well, with the economy and all. I'm gonna have to pay for the bulk of my tuition, if not all of it.

One thing I should let you all know: I may be stubborn, but I'm not stupid. As much as I think I want to work on cars, I also want to be stable. I'd like to move out ASAP, but I don't want to do it until I can take care of myself. My older sister made that mistake for me. When I move out, I don't want to have to rely on my parents to bail me out all the time. Even my boss told me that he will teach me whatever he can, but he is going to try to convince me not to pursue this every step of the way. Yes, I'm hell bent on being a mechanic at this point, but if the money really isn't there, I suppose I'll pass it up. You gotta understand that this is a huge decision to be making, I'm just trying to find something I've got some interest in.

I just want to thank everyone that's contributed so far. I'm being a pain in the ass about this, thanks for putting up with me. I really appreciate the advice.

 

[Truktek2]

As long as we're trading war stories, I think I may have you guys beat. Years ago we had a guy that was in charge of new car preps. Checking the air in tires, taking the plastic off the seats, checking fluids etc. After a while, we began getting vehicles back with tranny fluid in the radiators, so guys started swapping out radiators thinking they were leaking internally and thinking we were getting ready for a recall. Well lo and behold one of the techs noticed him prepping a new car and saw him adding ATF to the coolant overflow tank. When he was asked what the hell he was doing, he turned around kind of annoyed, and without batting an eye said I'm topping off the anti-freeze and said A----T----F--- An Ti Freeze!!!

 

[Mike N]

First thing I'd do with the Riviera is make sure the front end is tight, the brakes and strut bearing plates aren't binding. If all that checks out, cross rotate the front tires and see if the pull changes direction- you may have a radial tire causing the pull. If it still pulls left, set it up on an alignment machine and see what the readings are, specifically the caster angle. If it's lower on the left (by a degree or more) this could cause a pull.

Get all the knowledge you can from the guys at the shop if they're willing to share it. As far as a technical school I'd still look into a program from your local community college. Far cheaper than UTI and the like, and you'll probably learn something.

The money may not be there at first. You're not going to jump right in any shop as an A tech, no matter how many diplomas from UTI you may have. Hands on real world experience is alot different than classroom experience. You're going to have to work your way up the ladder,and for some it's a longer climb than others. Not trying to burst your bubble, just prepping you for the real world.

 

[Mike N]

As long as we're trading war stories, I think I may have you guys beat. Years ago we had a guy that was in charge of new car preps. Checking the air in tires, taking the plastic off the seats, checking fluids etc. After a while, we began getting vehicles back with tranny fluid in the radiators, so guys started swapping out radiators thinking they were leaking internally and thinking we were getting ready for a recall. Well lo and behold one of the techs noticed him prepping a new car and saw him adding ATF to the coolant overflow tank. When he was asked what the hell he was doing, he turned around kind of annoyed, and without batting an eye said I'm topping off the anti-freeze and said A----T----F--- An Ti Freeze!!!

We had a guy take a torch under a dashboard to cut out a front parking brake cable.

 

[Truktek2]

We had a guy special order and overnight a tranny for a vehicle that was missing a driveshaft.

 

[Truktek2]

Get all the knowledge you can from the guys at the shop if they're willing to share it. As far as a technical school I'd still look into a program from your local community college. Far cheaper than UTI and the like, and you'll probably learn something.

The money may not be there at first. You're not going to jump right in any shop as an A tech, no matter how many diplomas from UTI you may have. Hands on real world experience is alot different than classroom experience. You're going to have to work your way up the ladder,and for some it's a longer climb than others. Not trying to burst your bubble, just prepping you for the real world.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[mike phillips]

that was then. companies want paper. a diploma from carls school of cars means more than 20 years experiance. we passed on several 25 year mechanics only to hire a flunky slap outta school. reason: he had a diploma.

 

[greekorican]

First thing I'd do with the Riviera is make sure the front end is tight, the brakes and strut bearing plates aren't binding. If all that checks out, cross rotate the front tires and see if the pull changes direction- you may have a radial tire causing the pull. If it still pulls left, set it up on an alignment machine and see what the readings are, specifically the caster angle. If it's lower on the left (by a degree or more) this could cause a pull.

Get all the knowledge you can from the guys at the shop if they're willing to share it. As far as a technical school I'd still look into a program from your local community college. Far cheaper than UTI and the like, and you'll probably learn something.

The money may not be there at first. You're not going to jump right in any shop as an A tech, no matter how many diplomas from UTI you may have. Hands on real world experience is alot different than classroom experience. You're going to have to work your way up the ladder,and for some it's a longer climb than others. Not trying to burst your bubble, just prepping you for the real world.

If the brakes are binding, wouldn't I feel it once I let my foot off the brakes? Or are you saying they're always binding, slowing down the left wheel a hair? I'm gonna need some new tires, I'll take it in then and have them take a look at it. The front shocks feel worn out too (my mom had the rear shocks changed recently, but not the front ones).

I'm willing to go to community college. Truman College has an automotive program, will any community college do? My school has pounded into my head to go to a very reputable school (well, for college anyway). The guys I talked to said Lincoln Tech would make my job search easy. I have to wonder what difference it makes, how different could these programs be?

One more thing. I'm gonna want my ASE Certifications ASAP, right? Would working at Aamco be counted towards that, and does getting my ASE certs sooner make me command a higher pay sooner?

I did look into machining as you guys suggested. Machining can be done by computers now, and with lasers and such. I think its a dying trade because they can be replaced with a computer. It still looks cool, so I'll look into it as well.

 

[68Goldfish]

As long as we're trading war stories, I think I may have you guys beat. Years ago we had a guy that was in charge of new car preps. Checking the air in tires, taking the plastic off the seats, checking fluids etc. After a while, we began getting vehicles back with tranny fluid in the radiators, so guys started swapping out radiators thinking they were leaking internally and thinking we were getting ready for a recall. Well lo and behold one of the techs noticed him prepping a new car and saw him adding ATF to the coolant overflow tank. When he was asked what the hell he was doing, he turned around kind of annoyed, and without batting an eye said I'm topping off the anti-freeze and said A----T----F--- An Ti Freeze!!!

LOL that's funny.
Our PDI's go to the line techs. I use them as filler to keep my guys busy.

 

[Truktek2]

If the brakes are binding, wouldn't I feel it once I let my foot off the brakes? Or are you saying they're always binding, slowing down the left wheel a hair? I'm gonna need some new tires, I'll take it in then and have them take a look at it. The front shocks feel worn out too (my mom had the rear shocks changed recently, but not the front ones).

I'm willing to go to community college. Truman College has an automotive program, will any community college do? My school has pounded into my head to go to a very reputable school (well, for college anyway). The guys I talked to said Lincoln Tech would make my job search easy. I have to wonder what difference it makes, how different could these programs be?

One more thing. I'm gonna want my ASE Certifications ASAP, right? Would working at Aamco be counted towards that, and does getting my ASE certs sooner make me command a higher pay sooner?

I did look into machining as you guys suggested. Machining can be done by computers now, and with lasers and such. I think its a dying trade because they can be replaced with a computer. It still looks cool, so I'll look into it as well.

Personally I wouldn't bother with the ASE certs. They aren't worth the paper they're printed on. Costing (at the time) anywhere between 25 to 50 dollars a test x 20 or so tests gets expensive. I had them, but once I learned nobody requires them let alone gives a rats a@@ if you have them, I let them all expire.

 

[McHaven]

Personally I wouldn't bother with the ASE certs. They aren't worth the paper they're printed on. Costing (at the time) anywhere between 25 to 50 dollars a test x 20 or so tests gets expensive. I had them, but once I learned nobody requires them let alone gives a rats a@@ if you have them, I let them all expire.

I think the ASE certificates are more for customers than mechanics. Customers want to see that the person fixing their car is certified somehow to work on that guy, and for that problem. Its shows you know that system, IMO. My dad and his tech keep all their certificates up to date, in the waiting room of the shop. It helps to build trust between the shop and the customers.

 

[68Goldfish]

I don't see anything wrong with taking them. It tells me that your interested enough to put in the study time to pass the test. That you have a mind to be as profesional as you can right now. And it tells me you can read, understand and retain the information. And that's very important when your working on a problem.....because..... You can't know everything about everything but you can use recources to find the information, learn about it and figure out what's going wrong. I get asked questions all day long by techs that don't have the inclination or the where with all to find out for anything for themselves. Where's the wiring diagram? What components are involved in the system? How's it supposed to work. In other words READ THE BOOK FOR PETE'S SAKE. SHOW ME SOME PERSONAL INITIATIVE. That's what something as simple as studying for and passing a test shows me that you can do. There's more techs that stand around and snivel about this and that than there are techs that do thier best at helping themselves learn to be the best they can be. Trust me, if you've go all your ase certs and you've been to even a collage level tech school and have a couple years of experiance in a shop and showed me a passion for the job I'm going to be very interested in you as a possible hire. Now having said that, I had eight of my ase certs and the L1 engine perf. and even recertified all of them when they expired. They've since expired and I'm not worried about retaking them. I've since been to all manner of chrysler schools, enough so to be level 4 (the highest as far as chysler is concerned) in all catagories besides diesel. I even had a super cool SM that sent me to Detroit, San Francisco and Pheonix for some classes that weren't available in my area at the time. The one thing I would say is Don't bug the techs to much. Stand back and watch and ask questions when appropriate but don't just hang around. I hate it when the lube kid want's to hang around in my stall and small talk when I'm trying to get something done. No, scratch that, when I'm tying to get six things done....at once.

 

[greekorican]

I don't see anything wrong with taking them. It tells me that your interested enough to put in the study time to pass the test. That you have a mind to be as profesional as you can right now. And it tells me you can read, understand and retain the information. And that's very important when your working on a problem.....because..... You can't know everything about everything but you can use recources to find the information, learn about it and figure out what's going wrong. I get asked questions all day long by techs that don't have the inclination or the where with all to find out for anything for themselves. Where's the wiring diagram? What components are involved in the system? How's it supposed to work. In other words READ THE BOOK FOR PETE'S SAKE. SHOW ME SOME PERSONAL INITIATIVE. That's what something as simple as studying for and passing a test shows me that you can do. There's more techs that stand around and snivel about this and that than there are techs that do thier best at helping themselves learn to be the best they can be. Trust me, if you've go all your ase certs and you've been to even a collage level tech school and have a couple years of experiance in a shop and showed me a passion for the job I'm going to be very interested in you as a possible hire. Now having said that, I had eight of my ase certs and the L1 engine perf. and even recertified all of them when they expired. They've since expired and I'm not worried about retaking them. I've since been to all manner of chrysler schools, enough so to be level 4 (the highest as far as chysler is concerned) in all catagories besides diesel. I even had a super cool SM that sent me to Detroit, San Francisco and Pheonix for some classes that weren't available in my area at the time. The one thing I would say is Don't bug the techs to much. Stand back and watch and ask questions when appropriate but don't just hang around. I hate it when the lube kid want's to hang around in my stall and small talk when I'm trying to get something done. No, scratch that, when I'm tying to get six things done....at once.

Why did you go to Chrysler school? I don't understand. Does one decide they like working on x make of cars, and then get certified in that make? Or do you get a job at a dealership, and go to that dealerships school to rise the ranks?

I know of one kid who went to Honda school, but I can't get ahold of him. Do you start out by going to a tech school first, or can you start your education at a dealership school right away?

Invalid Link Removed That is the program I'm looking at. Truman is the local community college. How long does an education at a community college take, and is community college training credible?

 

[68Goldfish]

I went to chrysler classes becuase I started working at a chrysler dealership. Actually the first level were just basic web based classes then it became a combination of web based and classes. Easy stuff realy but like anything you get out of it what you put into it.