Techs on Social Media

The cars and trucks have changed quite a bit this century too. I used to be able to pull a straight 6 or V8 out of a GM, Ford, or Chrysler and swap in a new one in a day. Start pulling in the morning, be breaking in the cam and rings before dinner. There is so much stuff in the way and so little space now it takes much longer. So I understand their woe.
 
Pine Hollow Auto Diagnostics is the only one I subscribe to. Ivan is very thorough with his diagnostics. He follows the data and brings you along with him. No distractions, no nonsense, no straying off topic.
I watch others, just not as much as PHAD. I can’t watch the Royalty Auto Service videos, I get lost on it halfway through. (Too much hemming and hawing around the point.)
 
Obligatory Royalty pony tail is a moron:


He insists -- and continues to insist in a follow-up video -- that the "wrong" gear oil destroyed a Bimmer front diff in one day.

But at this point, they don't care they've made themselves a laughing stock -- they're laughing all the way to the bank.

Unfortunately social media looks at and desires a frenzy of activity. They want people arguing because it's attention. Just remember accuracy now matters less than comments, views, watches, likes, more comments, more comments to those comments.

Rainman Ray does the same thing (but tongue in cheek) where he'll make it look like he left paper towels in the intake channels. People see that halfway through the vid and run to the comments. Near the end he shows "the" paper towels blowing out the tailpipe (not possible of course)

Just remember you the viewer are the product, and for social media the most valuable thing in the world is YOUR ATTENTION
 
Also if you want someone who follows the data and takes the time to understand any given system, Watch Wes Work is great. Not uncommon for him to pull out the white board and draw an explanation of EEC-IV ignition or EVAP or engine control logic.

I think people dismiss him because he's more casual and located rurally, but that guy is relatively young and could fix ANYthing mechanical from a hay baler to a vertical mill to an EEC-IV PCM with bad caps to newer vehicles. He'll embrace service data, high end scanners and the scope when appropriate, but he'll pull out good ol' fashioned farm ingenuity and make/borrow/modify parts to make it work.

Apparently in a former life he was a traveling CNC repair guy, so he's not a mouth breather despite his shop being in the middle of a corn field
 
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D60 said:
Also if you want someone who follows the data and takes the time to understand any given system, Watch Wes Work is great. Not uncommon for him to pull out the white board and draw an explanation of EEC-IV ignition or EVAP or engine control logic.

I think people dismiss him because he's more casual and located rurally, but that guy is relatively young and could fix ANYthing mechanical from a hay baler to a vertical mill to an EEC-IV PCM with bad caps to newer vehicles. He'll embrace service data, high end scanners and the scope when appropriate, but he'll pull out good ol' fashioned farm ingenuity and make/borrow/modify parts to make it work.

Apparently in a former life he was a traveling CNC repair guy, so he's not a mouth breather despite his shop being in the middle of a corner field
Click to expand...

I should have mentioned Watch Wes Work. I do enjoy watching his videos. He has a calm demeanor and approach that lends itself to making great content. He's also not afraid to show that he's human and can make a silly mistake. Have you seen the video where he puts a Pontiac Vibe in gear, and it rolls through the lift, almost pinning him between the door and the car? He really beats himself up in that one.

Here's a short from your favorite channel. ;)

After watching this, I couldn't figure out how they could miss the gaping hole staring them in the face. Mistakes happen, but THAT shouldn't have been missed when cleaning the mounting surface and installing the new filter. It was right there! :unsure:

It's a little baffling to me.

 
HemiBenny said:
I should have mentioned Watch Wes Work. I do enjoy watching his videos. He has a calm demeanor and approach that lends itself to making great content. He's also not afraid to show that he's human and can make a silly mistake. Have you seen the video where he puts a Pontiac Vibe in gear, and it rolls through the lift, almost pinning him between the door and the car? He really beats himself up in that one.

Here's a short from your favorite channel. ;)

After watching this, I couldn't figure out how they could miss the gaping hole staring them in the face. Mistakes happen, but THAT shouldn't have been missed when cleaning the mounting surface and installing the new filter. It was right there! :unsure:

It's a little baffling to me.

Click to expand...

Wow never saw that. I'd like to think I'd notice that gaping hole once the filter was off.

I told YT to stop sending me Royalty vids and thus far it has complied, so I don't see their nonsense anymore. Pony tail guy is so vanilla -- somehow he just rubs me the wrong way. I don't want sensationalism, but a mild sense of humor and a little personality would be nice.
 
wtd said:
I watch quite a few of them. South Main Auto, Pine Hollow Auto Diagnostics, Royalty Auto Service, Diagnose Dan, Scanner Danner, Schrodinger's Box, Phillip Bailey, Advanced Level Diagnostics, and some others. I have learned a lot from watching them, especially on the diagnostic side of things.

Of course, I have been working on vehicles since I was about 15 or 16 and so learned a lot of stuff just on my own since this was way before the internet and back then I didn't even have any service manuals to look at. I have always been very mechanically inclined so figuring out how stuff worked was pretty easy for me. These days I try working on as much stuff myself that I can and I have pretty much all of the tools to do so.
Click to expand...
Same experience, I started in 1972 with air cooled VWs and this book, and got involved with US cars too (Chevrolets, Fords, etc) and when I needed a manual I'd go to the public library and photocopy pages out of Motors Repair manual or Chiltons.
vw2.webp
VW1.webp

Also have shop manuals for most cars I have owned dating back to 1980 (Honda, Mazda, Toyota)
and later ones (1998 Jeep, have the FSM and all the supplemental manuals as well)
My 2007 Jeep's manual is on my computer, all 7,800 pages of it.
One of my good friends in HS was great with cars, his dad was the shop manager at the local Ford dealer, and they built a '23 TBucket when we were in high school (1969-1973 time frame). He drove around in a 1956 Ford Crown Vic Wagon with a Flathead V8 and a 1965 Mustang with the little inline 6. Also drove a Harley 883 Sportster to high school. Looked like Fonzy from Happy Days.
 
LouC said:
Same experience, I started in 1972 with air cooled VWs and this book, and got involved with US cars too (Chevrolets, Fords, etc) and when I needed a manual I'd go to the public library and photocopy pages out of Motors Repair manual or Chiltons.
View attachment 327251View attachment 327252
Also have shop manuals for most cars I have owned dating back to 1980 (Honda, Mazda, Toyota)
and later ones (1998 Jeep, have the FSM and all the supplemental manuals as well)
My 2007 Jeep's manual is on my computer, all 7,800 pages of it.
One of my good friends in HS was great with cars, his dad was the shop manager at the local Ford dealer, and they built a '23 TBucket when we were in high school (1969-1973 time frame). He drove around in a 1956 Ford Crown Vic Wagon with a Flathead V8 and a 1965 Mustang with the little inline 6. Also drove a Harley 883 Sportster to high school. Looked like Fonzy from Happy Days.
Click to expand...
I later bought service manuals for all of my vehicles. My 70 Monte Carlo which I still own was my second vehicle that I bought and I bought the Haynes service manual for it and still have the manual today but it's well worn. I later bought a factory service manual for it that I found on Ebay.
I still have the factory four volume Helm manuals that I ordered out of the back of the owner's manual for my 98 Chevy truck that I bought new and still own. I found a factory service manual for my 92 Cavaliers off of Ebay.

I also subscribe to Alldata for all of my vehicles except for the Monte Carlo as well because the wiring diagrams are laid out easier and you can search and find information faster than with the service manual. Having service information for the cars that you own and work on is invaluable, and I highly recommend people have some form of it if you want to fix things correctly. Trying to find free info on the internet can be hit or miss and time consuming as well if you even find it at all.
 
wtd said:
I later bought service manuals for all of my vehicles. My 70 Monte Carlo which I still own was my second vehicle that I bought and I bought the Haynes service manual for it and still have the manual today but it's well worn. I later bought a factory service manual for it that I found on Ebay.
I still have the factory four volume Helm manuals that I ordered out of the back of the owner's manual for my 98 Chevy truck that I bought new and still own. I found a factory service manual for my 92 Cavaliers off of Ebay.

I also subscribe to Alldata for all of my vehicles except for the Monte Carlo as well because the wiring diagrams are laid out easier and you can search and find information faster than with the service manual. Having service information for the cars that you own and work on is invaluable, and I highly recommend people have some form of it if you want to fix things correctly. Trying to find free info on the internet can be hit or miss and time consuming as well if you even find it at all.
Click to expand...
thinking about subscribing to Alldata. I have watched my local mechanic use it and it makes things MUCH easier than trying to use the shop manual.
 
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Well here’s my thoughts is that warranty times work against the tech in pretty much all cases unless it’s like a certain few select recalls or whatever. As a dealer tech for Toyota I experience this all the time. One job that really kicked my tail which we don’t do anymore because the recall is obsolete but it’s the frames on the older Tundras they were always so rusty that they’d take longer than the 15 hours that each tech gets paid for it. It’s a 30 hour split job. They were always too rusty to come out ahead no matter what. Now Toyota just buys the trucks back and gives the customer the money for them and won’t replace the frames anymore. One job that kicks everyone’s tail at my shop is the new Tundra engine recalls they pay 13 hours but I’ve never seen anyone be able to do it in that time or less they really screw you on those. Now actual book times non warranty are quite decent most of the time not always but most of the time.

The industry would have better luck with techs if they paid well enough and weren’t running a flat rate business with no hours guarantee. I like a lot of the YouTube guys and most of them are pretty good from what I can tell.
 
Sherwood Cooke/Royalty Auto services, Concept 3 performance, Alex, the car doctor, southmain auto (obviously lol), Vinnie Ten racing, Harris Automotive, Parker’s Mobile mechanics are the ones I follow. I WATCH Dave’s auto center but do not follow because I got annoyed when he went on a product pushing spree last year.
 
I like watching this Dodge dealer mechanic in the Detroit area.
JT the car guy.
I don’t own (and will never) a Dodge but enjoy watching his videos and knowledge.

https://www.youtube.com/@OnlineMechanicTips


I could never work Flat Rate knowing I’m getting screwed on warranty work with unrealistic repair times.

And favoritism at dealer with certain techs getting gravy jobs and others getting screwed.
I don’t want $50,000 worth of tools to be able to work.
 
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stanlee said:
Sherwood Cooke/Royalty Auto services, Concept 3 performance, Alex, the car doctor, southmain auto (obviously lol), Vinnie Ten racing, Harris Automotive, Parker’s Mobile mechanics are the ones I follow. I WATCH Dave’s auto center but do not follow because I got annoyed when he went on a product pushing spree last year.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately after a certain amount of subscribers any YouTuber will get bombarded with companies wanting them to push their products and services.

“Enter promo code XYZ123 for 10% discount….”

I do understand it’s very easy $$$$ 💰
 
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Dave Hess said:
I like watching this Dodge dealer mechanic in the Detroit area.
JT the car guy.
I don’t own (and will never) a Dodge but enjoy watching his videos and knowledge.

https://www.youtube.com/@OnlineMechanicTips


I could never work Flat Rate knowing I’m getting screwed on warranty work with unrealistic repair times.

And favoritism at dealer with certain techs getting gravy jobs and others getting screwed.
I don’t want $50,000 worth of tools to be able to work.
Click to expand...

I believe he is in Atlanta, Ga. He works with another guy in Augusta, Ga.
 
If you are into Mopars David Pike is very good too. I think he changed the oil filter housing on a Pentastar blindfolded lol.
"Motor City Mechanic"
 
LouC said:
Same experience, I started in 1972 with air cooled VWs and this book, and got involved with US cars too (Chevrolets, Fords, etc) and when I needed a manual I'd go to the public library and photocopy pages out of Motors Repair manual or Chiltons.
View attachment 327251View attachment 327252
Also have shop manuals for most cars I have owned dating back to 1980 (Honda, Mazda, Toyota)
and later ones (1998 Jeep, have the FSM and all the supplemental manuals as well)
My 2007 Jeep's manual is on my computer, all 7,800 pages of it.
One of my good friends in HS was great with cars, his dad was the shop manager at the local Ford dealer, and they built a '23 TBucket when we were in high school (1969-1973 time frame). He drove around in a 1956 Ford Crown Vic Wagon with a Flathead V8 and a 1965 Mustang with the little inline 6. Also drove a Harley 883 Sportster to high school. Looked like Fonzy from Happy Days.
Click to expand...
I first worked on cars in high school and my dad had a 72 super beetle and this book. With both, I learned to tackle oil changes, spark plugs, points, etc. I got a similar book when I bought a used 78 Rabbit.
 
There's a bunch on YouTubers and similar that I don't care for and some I might watch for entertainment. I've not found one I like more than Eric from South Main Auto. That dude is just plain amazing. Not only in skill level, but how he can explain his logic. Watch Wes Work is/was another amazing tech, but he seems to have fallen off the radar. Ivan from Pine Hollow Diag is exceptional as well.
 
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