Mechanical Ability

[Rick in PA]

I believe desire has the most to do with it.

If you have a natural inclination towards something, plus desire, that's the formula for a superstar.

The rest of us will have to be satisfied with desire driving us to be competent in what we do.

Desire leads to practice and practice leads to skill.

 

[Rolla07]

Some people have no interest in doing it. Not because they cant but because they have a day job and may not want to do manual labor to fix things on their cars. I do most minor work on my car and enjoy learning about it but if its more complex I just pay someone to do it for me. I work long hours and dont have the time or inclination to do complex stuff that someone experienced can get done in very little time. Everyone is different so you cant assume people just dont have the ability to do it. Maintaining a car is not the only important thing going on in their lives. Friend of mine wouldnt even change his own air filter he likes paying alot to have the dealer. I wont understand it..but different strokes.

 

[Stelth]

Originally Posted By: PhillipM
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
An illustrative artist requires talent


Does it? Or does it just require a lot of hard work, practice, experience, and probably a few hundred poor pieces where they've spent a lot of effort and it's still been naff?


Yes, it does. Tone deaf people can't sing, no matter how many lessons they take. A person like me will never be a good illustrative artist (or any other kind of artist that draws or paints pictures), no matter how hard I try. I recognized this decades ago, and it has saved me a lot of heartache. If I were to put everything I had into it, I might become mediocre, at best.

Skill and talent aren't the same thing. A person who has a good dose of mechanical talent will find it easier to learn the skills. I have worked in a mechanical trade, plumbing, for about 31 years. I've seen the difference in people who have natural talent, and those who don't. Some people pick it up quickly, some are hopeless, and most are in between.

When it comes to working on cars, you find some people who just can't get it right. They're the ones who are always over- or under- tightening things, breaking stuff, and telling you that parts don't fit.

 

[MrHorspwer]

Originally Posted By: Stelth

Skill and talent aren't the same thing. A person who has a good dose of mechanical talent will find it easier to learn the skills. I have worked in a mechanical trade, plumbing, for about 31 years. I've seen the difference in people who have natural talent, and those who don't. Some people pick it up quickly, some are hopeless, and most are in between.


Fantastic description.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
I don't think being an illustrative artist or having an opera voice isn't in the same league as mechanical ability. An illustrative artist requires talent and an opera singer requires a special voice. Mechanical ability is just turning wrenches. I think a lot of people have the mechanical ability to repair their car, but they let fear get in their way.


A therapist or wedding planner just talks and coordinates people, and coaxes them into doing something they'd do anyway. If they're any good at it, they won't recognize their own innate talent and would dismiss it as something anyone can pick up.

 

[PhillipM]

See, I can understand a singer, because the voice is something that is part of your body, you can stretch, refine and enhance your chords, but you have to work with what you have.

But I don't really agree with artistry, I never really had much talent for art but I sat down a few years ago and realised I needed that as much as anything for sketching up things, so I started learning - don't get me wrong, a couple of years doesn't give enough experience to do anything worthy, but I did go from simple beer-mat sketches to where I can do full isotopic or parralex sketches of a car design/part if it comes into my head, and I'm pretty [censored] good at pencil and oil landscapes now as I used techniques from that whilst learning what I wanted.

 

[Lapham3]

I grew up in a 'check writing' white collar environment-folks would wonder 'where this came from' with me as a young guy would 'fix' stuff-hard for me to say. I guess also to enjoy the idea of a challenge to accomplish a task and keep learning thru life.
I think too many parents want the kind of 'success' for their kids that doesn't involve 'dirty hands'=more status in employment and snobby attitudes come into play. My dad had it right tho-'forget the 'big money' ideas and do something of value that you like'.

 

[Number_35]

My mechanical ability, such as it is, has funny roots. I was completely fascinated by car things when I was young - I remember as a young guy (3 or 4 years old) riding in my dad's car (an elderly black '49 Monarch) on a dark road in the rain. We got a flat, and I was delighted to be a 'helper' as Dad changed the tire. We arrived home, and I ran to my mum and told her that we'd had 'good luck'. Dad seemed rather bewildered by my enthusiasm. He hated working on mechanical things, and discouraged me from doing so. He believed that you got a carpenter to build things of wood, and a mechanic to repair your car, and an electrician to wire your house, etc. Fixing your own car must have seemed to him like doing your own dentistry or removing your own appendix.

So, I hit my early car-driving years as dumb as a bag of hammers, but with the desire to learn.

Dad was pretty appalled when he arrived home from work one day, and I'd taken the head off my '71 Toyota Corolla. (I was 19 by this time, and had wasted much money at Dad's rip-off garage, and they still hadn't fixed the rough idle and popping exhaust sound.) Dad had no good tools (and certainly nothing metric) so I'd bought a $5 socket set of appalling quality and borrowed a torque wrench form a friend's father. I took the head into the local machine shop, and the old machinist there replaced a burned valve for me. I was pleased to get the car running the next day.

I think I won Dad over when I took the door apart on his beloved '67 Newport and fixed the door handle.

Since then I've made massive numbers of dumb mistakes, but have blundered through removing and replacing the heads on a small-block Chevy, replacing the lifters on the same car ('68 Impala), doing a motor swap on same a couple of years later, doing a motor swap on an old ('79) Mazda GLC, replacing a head gasket on a Mazda 2.6 l engine, and doing almost countless strut replacements, brake jobs, rotors, tie rod ends, and timing belts. And then there are water pumps and alternators and batteries ...

As a side-benefit, I was mystified by the electrical side of auto mechanical work, and did an Electronic Technology diploma course many years ago. That helped with my car hobby of course, but has also provided me a decent living since.

So, in summary, I had the interest but did not grow up in an environment conducive to developing any skills until I had cars of my own. I've developed into a competent backyard mechanic, but wish I knew a lot more. I've become fascinated with the workings of engines - a real 'Aha' moment was drawing out the firing cycle of a typical V8 and realizing why a crossplane V8 can't alternate firing side-to-side through the entire cycle. The 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 firing order makes sense ...

I wish I'd pursued mechanical work professionally and full-time, but that's the road not taken ...

 

[Merkava_4]

There's been some excellent stories told in thread; I'm glad I started it.

 

[Spazdog]

I simply take too long to do it for a living.

I get in and then see something else that might need attention. Then while I'm in there, I might as well take care of that regular maintenance item....

It's like OCD or something.

Never more apparent than when I picked up a $100.00 50cc Chinese scooter. Decided to put an 80cc "big block" on it.

Fool thing was apart for 3 weeks while I made everything right. 3 hour job? 3 weekends.

 

[tom slick]

When I was a turbine engine mechanic in the USAF we had guys that were decent mechanics and some that were not. These people had the same formal training, mentoring, and excellent manuals. Some of them were destined for tool crib duty because they were not cut out for turning wrenches. I was a mechanic long before I was in the USAF.

This video explains a condition I have suffered from my whole life:

 

[Dr_No]

Merkava I'm just going to point out that you sound like an [censored]. Now you are right, to an extent. There are a lot of people who do not feel competent enough to repair their own vehicles because they really have absolutely no understanding of anything that goes on. Many people don't know more than the gas tank, the ignition, and the radio.. To put it in short. Then replacing a part they have no idea what it does, for example an alternator, removing the belt, and understanding the tensioner, and routing, knowing how to use a ratchet and right is tight left is loose, disconnecting the battery (which is scary to some people to think about touching), and putting everything all back together and trusting their own repair? Get a grip. I've dealt with so many people who can't open their hood or figure out how to use a ratchet. How is a white collar who has no mechanical background or expertise supposed to YouTube a repair and just do it with confidence? They're going to pay a few extra bucks and go to a shop and pay someone with that skill set to do it.

 

[Clevy]

My old man;died last week) refused to pay someone to do something he could do himself however he also would pay someone to fix stuff if it cost less than he could do it for.
For instance if it took him a day to fix the car that was a lost day at work. If he could get someone else to fix it for less than he made in a day he would farm it out.
So I learned to fix lots of stuff as a boy but I also learned about money and the importance of coming out ahead.
Rest in peace Dad.

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: Dr_No
Merkava I'm just going to point out that you sound like an [censored].


We were gettin' some real good posts up until that one.

 

[PhillipM]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
My old man;died last week) refused to pay someone to do something he could do himself however he also would pay someone to fix stuff if it cost less than he could do it for.


I don't pay anyone to do a job unless they can do it better than me, and these days just because they do it for a living and I've never done it, doesn't always mean they're better at it than trying yourself - far too many people happy to take money for a job they have no interest in, and no pride in their work for.

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: Wheel
I think its genetic tendancy. Kind of like how dog breeds have certain behaviors from birth.

You can train yourself to some degree, but it's good to work with your nature.

It's all of the above.

What you're born with is the first draft. It's modified by your environment, parenting, people around you, training, etc. etc.

You could start with no talent at all and end up with greatness, or you could start with all the right ingredients and end up nowhere, although those scenarios are rare. More likely, you're born with some tendency toward talent, and it's shaped over time.

The same is true of any skill: mechanical ability, running, singing, writing software, doing math, etc. Only the extremes are difficult to achieve without baked-in talent -- Navy SEALs, Olympic athletes, Presidents, etc.

The ability to troubleshoot and repair a car is not an extreme talent. Most people can develop it. At the same time, it's not so simple that we ought to look down on others who don't have it. Nor is it so great that we should get a big head about having it ourselves.

 

[doitmyself]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Originally Posted By: Dr_No
Merkava I'm just going to point out that you sound like an [censored].


We were gettin' some real good posts up until that one.

I think he was alluding to your condescending attitude:
Quote:
No big deal, a 10 year old girl could've done it


I don't judge my Phd. boss when he asks me to change his mower spark plug.

He doesn't laugh at me when I ask him to run some data through SAS (statistical analysis). Get it?

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
From reading various posts on this board, it seems like a lot of people don't have the mechanical ability to repair their own cars. Why is that? Is mechanical work that difficult? Is this a skill that some people are just born with? If something is bolted on and needs to be unbolted in order to be replaced, what's so hard about that? I've never considered myself superhuman by possessing some kind of supernatural powers, but maybe I am.

No, I'm pretty sure you don't have any special powers at all.

I can write code using several different programming languages. It's just a matter of typing in the correct syntax. Can you?

Both my wife and I can speak multiple languages. It's just a matter of making the right sounds. Can you?

I can cook healthy and flavorful meals at home at a near-professional level. It's just a matter of combining a few ingredients and throwing them in the oven or on the stove. Can you?

I can rebuild anything or everything on a Ford N series tractor without a book or manual. Can you?

And indeed, I also have the ability to repair just about anything on my vehicles-it doesn't take any special ability or "special" powers.

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4

I once took my Buick to a suspension shop to troubleshoot a noise I was having. I assumed it had something to do with the suspension by the direction the noise was coming from. Come to find out, it was the transmission mount that was allowing the engine to rock over and bump into something under torque that was causing the noise. I paid the shop the $35 diagnostic fee and took the car home. My first step was looking at Alldata for the instructions describing the repair procedure. My second step was seeing if I needed any special tools. My third step was ordering the part. After those preliminary steps were done, I proceeded in changing out the part. No big deal, a 10 year old girl could've done it.

You could swap out the part, but you were completely unable to diagnose the issue to begin with? I'm guessing that 10 year old girl could have figured out what was wrong in the first place.

 

[CourierDriver]

There is not a snow shovel big enough in the world to scoop up the male ego,,,,lol, it just never ends, but it is one of the worlds largest problems, now where is my fishing rod....

 

[HangFire]

This is a favorite topic of mine, and Merkava's bafflement at why people can't do the obvious (to him) is part of the issue. It's the same social maladjustment mentioned in the Dilbert video (thanks for that, Tom, by the way) that often accompanies technical ability. He views it as people who are technically maladjusted. They view it as him being socially maladjusted, putting technical and mechanical things above social priorities.

I could explain, as some here have done well, to Merkava the difficulty that some have just getting started with mechanical work. He might "get it" or not, but that doesn't mean he will sympathize with the non-technical types. That lack of sympathy, to many, is more important than mechanical ability. So while Merkava looks down on their lack of (mechanical) ability, they look down on him and (what they perceive as) his lack of (social) ability.

For example, to the tech, engineer, or mechanic, finding the solution to a problem may involve debate. More social types (say, my wife) are often horrified at the aggressive and dismissive nature of the debate, especially for those who are unable to compete at the level of the rest. In the end when the solution is found, the correct are vindicated and the rest are reviled, the male social pecking order is adjusted accordingly, and everyone gets back to work as if nothing happened. The non-technical on-looker, on the other hand, is permanently traumatized that such an asocial order exists and functions.

So in the end, non-technical socially apt types are just as bewildered at us technical types as we are bewildered with their mechanical inabilities.