Great diagnostic videos... but...

[AutoMechanic]

Well, best of luck to you. I'm sure you'll land a decent gig soon. I don't know your education or back ground but I know several guys who work on trailers and fuel trucks at the local WalMart distribution center. They make very good money, so it might be worth looking into WalMart, Schwans, FedEx, etc if you have any medium truck background.

Fleet maintenance is where I'd be if I had a do over on my career path. I tried my hardest as a younger man to get on at the local highway patrol headquarters for vehicle maintenance. I recently had an opportunity to work for the county in vehicle and building maintenance but did not take it due to a scheduling conflict with my wife's job.

That’s great. I do have experience with cars and heavy duty trucks my dad is a truck driver so I do all the work to his truck. Don’t really have experience with medium duty except fixing the box truck at school. I was offered a job with the county here fixing fire trucks, police cars and ambulances but they wanted someone who could drive all of them and I can’t drive any of those cause I’m not 21 yet.

 

[wtd]

I follow him as well and he does have a lot of very good videos. For diagnostics, this is the guy I follow the most. He seems to really know his stuff. I have his "Engine Performance Diagnostics" book and subscribe to his premium channel. I have learned a ton from him just watching his YT videos and his book.
ScannerDanner - YouTube

 

[mk378]

If you can reach the fan motor connections, turn key on set switch to high and measure voltage across the motor. If there's 12 volts but it doesn't spin, it's a bad motor. Other than a few models which are known for other problems, it's almost always a bad motor so go there first.

 

[mattd]

That’s great. I do have experience with cars and heavy duty trucks my dad is a truck driver so I do all the work to his truck. Don’t really have experience with medium duty except fixing the box truck at school. I was offered a job with the county here fixing fire trucks, police cars and ambulances but they wanted someone who could drive all of them and I can’t drive any of those cause I’m not 21 yet.

Reapply once you have your CDL. It is well worth it. That is what i work on every day for the biggest city in my state but they do require LOTS of certifications including ASE, EVT, state inspection license and a class B CDL

 

[AutoMechanic]

Reapply once you have your CDL. It is well worth it. That is what i work on every day for the biggest city in my state but they do require LOTS of certifications including ASE, EVT, state inspection license and a class B CDL

Yeah I’m just scared of driving something that big. I’ve still got a few years before I can get it I think.

 

[mattd]

Yeah I’m just scared of driving something that big. I’ve still got a few years before I can get it I think.

After you drive something over 40 feet long and over 80K lbs around city streets, you learn fast. It’s not as bad as you think. Intimidating at first yes, but after doing it for a while it’s just second nature.

 

[The Critic]

I'm the complete opposite. I'd still be a tech if I could just determine what is wrong with a vehicle and then let someone else tear in and do the repair. I enjoyed the chase of finding a problem, especially when it had been to multiple other shops beforehand. I just don't have the desire to drop engines and trans, tear into differentials, etc.

Agreed. Ability to replace components (nuts and bolts work) is gained thru experience, often repetitive experience. It is arguably unskilled labor.
Diag on the other hand, involves a strong understanding of component operation and being able to think critically.

 

[zzyzzx]

Diagnose Dan is really much better.

 

[zzyzzx]

If you can reach the fan motor connections, turn key on set switch to high and measure voltage across the motor. If there's 12 volts but it doesn't spin, it's a bad motor. Other than a few models which are known for other problems, it's almost always a bad motor so go there first.

My preforence is to bench test blower motors, assuming that thye are easy enough to remove or otherwise wire up directly to the battery.

 

[clinebarger]

@14Accent

A proper mechanic is supposed to follow the procedures for figuring out issues. Jumping to conclusions in the repair environment often times leads to a misdiagnosis and failure to fix the problem. Rampant in our world today are “parts changers” who do nothing more than swap parts without any diagnosis at all. Most dealership technicians are parts changers and do nothing more. The same with the big chain repair shops, if you have a complicated issue good luck getting it repaired by any of the big chain shops. Their business model relies on fast, in and out repairs.

Manufacturer diagnostic information can leave a lot to be desired, Of course it depends if you're familiar with the system being diagnosed & Tools at your disposal.

The whole Ohming circuits thing is a pet peeve of mine.....If the people writing that crap had ANY skin in the game....I bet things would change real fast!!

 

[clinebarger]

My preforence is to bench test blower motors, assuming that thye are easy enough to remove or otherwise wire up directly to the battery.

It's called a Power Probe....Apply ground to the Blower. (Most all blower motors are Ground side switched these days)

 

[4WD]

Manufacturer diagnostic information can leave a lot to be desired, Of course it depends if you're familiar with the system being diagnosed & Tools at your disposal.

The whole Ohming circuits thing is a pet peeve of mine.....If the people writing that crap have ANY skin in the game....I bet things would change real fast!!

Subject Matter Experts (SME) are like a Tomcat the vet has fixed … thinks he still knows how it’s done …only just does not do it anymore

 

[Trav]

Manufacturer diagnostic information can leave a lot to be desired, Of course it depends if you're familiar with the system being diagnosed & Tools at your disposal.

The whole Ohming circuits thing is a pet peeve of mine.....If the people writing that crap had ANY skin in the game....I bet things would change real fast!!

It is pretty useless except for speakers or a dead open or short on the injectors but on those I use current draw on them also to determine their electrical condition. Many times they ohm fine but current draw is way off eg 7 of the 12 ohm injectors drawing 1.2 A and one drawing 0.2 identifies it as a defect right off the hop.
Going by ohms alone a diy with no other diagnostic tools would believe they are all good and not find the problem.

 

[willbur]

Diagnose Dan is really much better.

Yep- imo definitely more professional wo talk , stories, etc. or being a little scattered.