Where did you get your knowledge from?

[Sierra048]

First of all let me give a huge "THANK YOU" to all the knowledgeable posters here on BITOG. I don't post very often as I don't feel I have the knowledge needed to give informed, insightful, helpful information most seem to be searching for. I have leaned so much from this site. My wife jokes about the amount of time I spend here and she thinks that if BITOG was a drug I'd need to be in perpetual rehab.

I'm curious as to how you gained your knowledge. Are you professional mechanics, shade tree mechanics, work in some aspect of the automotive field, etc...? I like to work on my cars to the extent that I can, mostly external to the engine itself (water pumps, alternators, thermostats, general maintenance). Closest I've ever come to the inside of an engine is valve cover gaskets. Are there any books or videos anyone would recommend for a novice, read that to mean easy to understand, to help increase ones knowledge if one was so inclined? Some of you amaze me with your understanding of automobile engines. Thanks again.

 

[bullwinkle]

Shadetree mechanic since 1980, and professional service person since 1982 (although not in the automotive field-I couldn't afford the pay cut!).

 

[Colt45ws]

The internet.
No, really, the only thing I took in high school is small engines. Everything else I learned on the interweb.

 

[Astro14]

Started taking stuff apart at age 5.

Started being able to put it back together at age 10.

First engine rebuild at age 12, by then, I had bought my first motorcycle...been a shadetree mechanic ever since...at age 48, I fly airplanes for a living.

Learned a lot about oil from the guys on BITOG.

 

[Torino]

Working the NW Indiana farm in the daytime and straight 4-12 in the steel mill maintenance dept. at night. John--Las Vegas.

 

[fdcg27]

I am basically a bean counter by trade.
I have been working on my own cars for the past thirty years, long before the internet existed for most of us.
You learn by doing.
Also, a factory service manual is worth its weight in gold for any car you plan on having around for more than a couple of years.
A factory manual gives full detail on how to do things, as well as useful diagnostic help.
You will never go wrong if you take something apart with patience and care, along with an awareness of what might happen when you remove a part.
You don't want anything heavy falling on you, nor do you want a coil spring escaping into your face.
Think, plan, do.
The internet is a great help, with many make-specific sites to guide you in your diagnostic and repair efforts.
As long as you don't damge anything as you take it apart, you can always put it back together, and it will be no worse than it was when you started.

 

[tig1]

I learned a lot from my Dad in the 50s and early 60s. I went to jet engine school in the Navy and served as a jet engine mech for 4 years. As for oil, I learned a lot in my schooling in the Navy and from using M1 oils for the last 33 years in varios engines.

 

[crazyoildude]

i learned a lot from my dad....
I have been rebuilding engines a long long time and now own my own engine shop with my brother

 

[Johnny]

Started at an early age watching my Dad work on his 50-Ford. Was changing oil on my Dad's car when I was 10. By the time I was 15 I was doing complete tune-ups and brake jobs on his 56-Ford. Shop classes in junior high and high school. Worked part-time during the school year and full time during the summer months in a small engine shop overhauling Briggs engines.

Motocross and flat track racing with Bultaco and CZ bikes back in the early 70's.

Worked on the pit crew of the Anderson Brothers who had an automotive shop where I lived and ran a top fuel dragster in the AHRA at Green Valley Raceway NW of Dallas. Late 60's, early 70's.

Maintained my small fleet of Mack gravel trucks in the late 70's, early 80's.

Spent 22-years working for Pennzoil/Pennzoil-Quaker State/Shell Oil. Went to every tech school Pennzoil and Shell had to offer.

 

[Eddie]

Working with my Dad in a machine shop. He/we rebuilt motors from the ground up which included cylinder boring, honing, crankshaft regrinding etc. My electrical knowledge can from school (engineering) and hands on. I worked for several years on a Porsche racing team located in a Chicago suburb.

 

[Chris142]

I started riding a dirt bike at 8yrs old in 1977. Had to do my own maintenance on it.

Took small engines class in 8th grade and 4 yrs of auto shop in HS.

When I was 14 I worked for a friends dads shop doing grunt work. Spark plugs, cleaning parts, changing oil etc.

I worked every for him every summer till I was 18.

When I was 16 I hooked up with the local street racers. They were older than me, had jobs so they paid me to go to the local Pic A part type of places after school and pull parts they needed. This was when 429 Fords, 455 Pontiacs and Camel Hump Chevy heads could still be found.

I made bank off a 428 Cobra Jet I found in Pic-A-Part! I still have the fender emblems from that car.

Needless to say I could spot and I.D. a good engine core faster than any other kids in autoshop.

After HS I worked a couple of years assembling dirt bikes and quads. We took them out of the crate, turned the handle bars up, put air in the tires then delivered them to the dealers.

I then got a job at PepBoys doing mostly brakes and tuneups. Stayed there 3-4 years.

Went to Kragen auto parts for a few years.

Left there, moved to Ohio and got a job there working for U-Haul fixing the trucks.

Only stayed in Ohio about 6 months, came back to Ca and worked for an off road shop. He went out of business so I went to the radiator shop I'm at now. I worked there 2 years then had a chance to get my Class A license.

I drove trucks, hauling powder cement in Pneumatic trailers for 4 years. Got tired of that gig and went back to the radiator shop in 03, still there.

 

[Tom NJ]

Originally Posted By: tig1
I went to jet engine school in the Navy and served as a jet engine mech for 4 years.


Cool. My son was also a jet line mechanic in the Navy, and now maintains private jets for a large utility company. It was a real kick when he was using jet engine oil in the Navy that I formulated.

Tom NJ

 

[doitmyself]

I started tinkering,/ taking things apart (usually breaking them) at an early age. I started doing simple oil changes, tune ups, etc., on my first beater out of high school. I do a fair amount of ag. and grounds equip. maint. at work, but leave the tough stuff for the shops.

I learned some from books, observing/asking others, and sometimes just diving in (school of hard knocks). Now a days, almost anything can be found on the net (IE, replaced an elec. window motor assembly by watching You Tube). I am methodical and "by the book".

I envy "natural mechanics"...those who can do anything without books/pictures, without torque wrenches, etc..

I wish I would develop my diagnostic skills better and hate when I miss the obvious.

Most times I enjoy it. Sometimes I end up cussing. My family says I am the slowest mechanic on earth (true).

 

[sciphi]

Basically by learning from my dad and grandpa who did a lot of it when I was growing up, then trying the simple stuff myself. Later it was reading online and doing. That's when my tool collection started growing, and when my mechanical skill set took off.

My real-world job is completely unrelated to wrenching on cars, so I'm a proud member of the "weekend warrior" class of mechanics.

A lot of model-specific knowledge comes from factory service manuals and the Internet. Most forums are pretty good at figuring out problems, and ways of solving them effectively. If you're really lucky somebody was taking lots of pictures and writing down how to do everything for future reference.

Doitmyself, I think I'd challenge you for "slowest mechanic on earth"!

 

[OVERKILL]

I learned from my grandfather. Wrenching on boats (1930's and 40's woodies as well as 50's/60's Fords and Chryslers... The only GM he owned was on the bottom of the lake mooring a dock), tractors and snowmobiles, as well as the odd ATV. He was an Engineer (Hydro Electric) for GE.

Few books, no Internet. The odd manual to look up the torque specs or parts numbers.

Took two years of Auto Mechanics in High School. Got along very well with the teacher.

And had some very trusting parents that actually let me touch their cars

I wrench on cars, mostly those of friends (like the '85 GT I was working on recently) as well as my own stuff as a hobby. But because it is so far removed from the day job, it makes it relaxing (most of the time).

 

[FL_Rob]

Army,my m.o.s was 63D,but it really started before then.My first magazines that a boy would read and not just look at pictures was Autocraft,4wheel&off road and others.Almost every month I would re-re-read every engine build,troubleshooting tips ,etc.Then came my first car,a '76 Olds Cutlass Supreme 2door,with those sweet double rectangle headlights,velour interior,I could go on and on.Then the'69 Firebird.My point is,we had cars that were fun to work on,and not many in my family actually took their cars to a mechanic,unless it was something like an A/T rebuild.We didn't really have the money.What we did have, was wrenches and a phone. Learning was a necessity if we didn't want to walk everywhere.

 

[Shannow]

Started as a 3 or 4 year old sitting on the fender of Grandad's International flat-top...graduated to maccanno/lego...saved $150 for the lego car chassis set when I was 11 (like 32 years ago).

Car maintenance tech college night school at 15, and was given the role of maintaining family's second car, and started flipping beaters with a neighbour.

After high school, completed a Mechanical Engineering degree, taking every fluid dynamics, thermodynamic and possibly car related , including IC engines, Turines etc. Final year thesis was on air and fuel flow in manifolds, and development of a direct injection test rig to test J-Car global, Cosworth DFV and the AE Bishop rotary valve head.

22 years as a mechanical engineer, the 10 leading up to Feb this year as a Utility turbine engineer.

 

[morris]

in high school (67) i learned auto mech, did learn a lot. but doing work on cars/trucks taught me the most. i did a lot of work on carburetors and distributors. one important thing i learned, not all carburetors are equal, some are better than others. also iam very bias as to car/truck brand. once a guy was telling me how bad my brand was. i told him, STOP i can better tell you how bad my brand is, cause i work on them MUCH more than you. now iam 62 and cant work on them. i have learned a lot, but also i have learned that each brand has good points and not so good points.

 

[volvos_rock]

basics by breaking things when I was very young, better basics from my dad along with common sense. Auto/diesel tech in HS. Books and the internet. As I get older the being able not to rush and/or walk away when needed has helped immensly

 

[Jimmy9190]

My story is a bit different from all of yours. I was always into electronics when I was younger but I grew up in a group home with not much chance to really pursue it. I was always fascinated with audio and video equipment, especially car audio. I taught myself how to install car audio by doing my own and a few friends' systems. When I was 19 years old I worked in a microwave oven factory. One weekend I was doing a system in a boat for one of the engineers at the factory and I went to the local stereo store for a part we needed. The store owner and I got to talking, he offered me a job and I spent over 16 years in car audio after that.

I learned a lot about automotive electronics and went to a lot of training classes and seminars offered by the various car stereo and alarm/phone/navigation manufacturers. I read everything I could get my hands on and learned a lot from the other guys in the various shops where I worked. After hours one of us often had to fix our own car or a friend, wife, girlfriend's car, whether it was the engine, oil change, tune-up, audio system or some other problem. We helped each other out and I learned a lot from that. Sometimes we would have to fix some mistake that one of us made on a customer's car. I found that often the best way to learn was from seeing other people's mistakes.

I still read a lot of automotive sites online and I have a couple of shop manuals for my truck. I retired from car audio in 2000 but still keep up with it a little. I have had to fix my own vehicles, helped out a few friends here and there and I really pick up on a lot of info from the internet. I have learned a lot here on BITOG. No matter what kind of car/truck/boat/chainsaw/lawn mower you have or what problem it is, chances are someone here has seen it before and can help you with it.

The way it was for me when I was younger was "either figure it out and fix it yourself or do without". I am still that way I guess, I will beat my brains out trying to fix a problem before paying someone else to do it for me. I have always had a lot of patience and persistence and a meticulous nature. I will usually keep after a problem until I get it right.