Turning a wrench... A dying skill?

I grew up with a dad who built and raced hot rods back in the day. When I told him I wanted to learn how to do stuff, he said something like, "don't bother, soon cars will all be all computers and modular parts, you won't need to learn how to fix them."

Now, he could have said that because he didn't want his alone time ruined by a clumsy kid who drove him crazy. Regardless, he was kinda right.

 

I used to pay mechanics to work on my late model stuff, but poverty forced me to learn when I got laid off several years ago. Once things improved for me financially, I just kept working on my own late model cars and haven't stopped.

I'm currently pulling and rebuilding the transmission on my 2001 Honda Odyssey.

It's not really all that technically challenging if you have a good manual. I guess the worst part of it is how tight all the spaces are under the hood and the multiple electrical connectors and various lines running everywhere.

I do have to admit that I get a kick out of how pretty good hotrod mechanics will go "ooooh and aaahhhh" when you tell them that you've rebuilt a late model automatic transmission.

 

I could not agree with you more ,i have been doing it for 30 years and feel the sameway.most bosses dont understand the commitment it takes let alone the where and tear on your body.Dont forget the dripping wet cold trucks that come in needing brakelines,cold damp shops ,I could go on and on .But anyone who has done it no's.

 

OBDII is good for some things, not so good for others. It tells you a problem, but not always the solution. For example, 4.6 Liter Ford throws P0171 and P0174 codes (lean condition). So, now you know it's lean, but you don't know why. Vacuum leak? Manifold leak? Fuel Starvation from bad fuel pump, clogged filter? Dirty injectors? MAF sensor? Throttle Position Sensor?, Fuel Pressure Regulator?, EGR valve?, etc. etc. My buddy's an ex-Ford tech and he basically confessed that after excluding the basics they just start throwing parts at the problem. Parts that ain't cheap.

Another problem is that you have to remove half the engine components to work on anything. I have a Audi that needs a timing belt soon. Gotta remove the bumper, radiator, AC, etc. just to get near the front of the engine. They got that stuff jammed in there like a 3D jigsaw puzzle.

 

It doesn't help that many cities and laws are geared towards ANTI CAR. Many homowners associations wont let you work on a car outside of your closed garage. I just moved into a new (old) house, and had moved a couple old cars into my fenced back yard that cant be seen from the street or neighbors, and before we were even done moving, recieved a city notice of complaint. Hadn't even turned a wrench there yet.

 

I heard there are Ford pick-up trucks that require lifting the cab off the frame to change the spark plugs! Bet that's not cheap.

 

We just had a big neighborhood block party and I was talking to a guy who's been a Lincoln dealership mechanic for 20 years.

That week was his last week on the job. He was quitting and going into the oil industry because he said it wasn't worth anymore being a dealership mechanic. He said they pushed them too hard to turn things over quickly

Something interesting that he also said was that over the last ten years or so he said he's done less and less real mechanic work (ie....repairing broken things) and has done more and more work that simply involves taking off something broken and plugging in the replacement part.

For example, he said they would never repair a slipping transmission....instead, they would just order up a new one and replace it.

 

Here we go again!! Living in the past! Wasn't this posted about 300 times!
JimV

 

You are correct. Jason, my neighbor and good friend, who usually helps me with the heavy lifting on my 54, has a 2006 diesel Ford truck.

It recently had a problem related to low fuel pressure or some such thing (I don't know, and don't want to know, anything about diesels).

Apparently the issue was located at the back of the engine and they had to LIFT THE FREAKIN CAB OFF OF THE CHASSIS to fix the problem!!! It cost him a few thousand dollars.

 

Custom rebuilt brake components, starters, alternators, transmissions, etc, are normally more expensive than ones done by rebuilders. The shop gets a warranty on a rebuilt part. In court, the shop can blame the rebuilder when someone's brake pedal goes to the floor.

 

If bitching about the world going to hell isn't a traditional topic, then I don't know what is.

 

Yup....And of course back in the good old days everyone worked on their own vehicle...NOT....That's why there was a repair garage on every street corner. to fix the the cars than even when new required a bit of maintenance.

 

A guy at works son could not figure out how to open the hood of his Honda civic,I cant see him ever wanting to get his hands dirty and if that was my son I probably would have have put a bullet in my brain for being such a failure. I am slowly learning about the newer vehicles but for now wont get anything newer then the mid 90s and by the time I get around to buying a new vehicle I will be too old to work on them.

 

It seems like there's always a putz who has to scold everyone else about how this or that topic has been discussed before.

I guess someone is holding a gun to these folk's head and is making them read every thread on the HAMB.

That must be the case....otherwise they would do the common sense thing and skip the threads that they don't like.

 

these new cars are just full of computers...the ecm, the body control module, the hvac module, and a multitude of sensors connecting everything to the different command centers....it seems to me that aside from required sparkplug changes every 100,000 miles and changing the serpentine belt every 50,000 miles, not much mechanical skill is required to do these common tasks....if any of the engine management controls go awry (highly unlikely) then you get your 13 year old kid "the computer whiz" to plug in the scanner and come bail you out.....new cars are four wheels powered by lots of computers....that's why they run so much better than the old cars.....as for me??...I'd rather be covered in grease using feeler gauges to adjust the valves after adjusting the carburetors.

 

....you're just an old fart clinging to the past....these new cars are not so bad to work on at all.....my other cars are a 2005,2006,2010, and a new 2012....they all came with new vehicle warranties, and I have them serviced regularly and have had no issues with any of them....that's why I like new...not somebody else's headache....I never have to wrench or fix any of the new vehicles.....ever!.....now all my old heaps are another story...always something to wrench on, hammer, weld, or fix....but they are from 1940, 1948, 1950, 1952, 1956, 1974, and 1979.....lots of vehicles and just one guy....me !!

 

That's a bad DPFE sensor.... absofreakinglutely.....

The scanner can't tell you that....years of wrenching for Ford can.....

 

Yep, Never...

 

Aside from the lack of intrest the work ethic of these kids that we raised is not any where to be found!

 

My nephew has a 2008 Chrysler 300 and there is no dipstick to check the transmission fluid. He is very good at turning a wrench but the 300 is just not "DIY" friendly, as well as with other new cars. If I remember correctly, it would cost around 5 grand just to replace the computer unit on the 300.
So, those new cars are pretty much "throw away" cars because it will most likely be cheaper just to buy another car rather than to replace a computer unit or a motor.

 

the same goes for my mom's Mini Cooper. When they bought it new a couple of years ago, I was a little bit excited to check it out. The car doesn't even have a coolant temp gauge.

 

you're right....it all unbolts or unscrews and goes back together....that's the way I approach it anyway.

 

I was a tech at a ford dealer for 18 years, I got sick of fords bottom line affecting mine and went on my own 5 years ago I wish I would have done it years ago.

New stuff is what you make it and I work on anything from a Pete to VW.

Like you said suck, squeeze, bang, fart is all a guy really need's to know at the end of the day!

 

Fuel sending unit code?

 

How things change went to the Napa store for some plastigauge. I got we haven't sold that in years.

 

my wife has the 07 hemi 300, dont look like anything ive seen before!its preety damn quick but boy does it have alot of unkown shit on it.!! lol

 

yuppies belittling mechanics again

 

Hyundai and Nissan, currently. We're just starting to see a bunch of Santa Fe fuel sender problems...Great car, though! My wife drives one too.

 

Yea I have to agree with you on this one . The Real Mechanics are going BUT I do teach anyone anything they want to know . I was taught to Rebuild a part instead of just replacing them . That went from rebuilding carbs , alternators , starters , and even water pumps !
Today there are NO mechanics at all . There are only Parts Swappers as I call them ! All they do is hook up a computer and it tells them what's wrong and what part to change ! What I really don't understand is why they go through all this so called schooling just to hook a computer up to the car and out comes the paper with what the problem is or a code with what is bad on the car to get replaced . What happened to someone using their skills and experience to use their head to figure out what is wrong with a car .
I will be Old Skool till I am gone ! I was brought up to fix what you have and not pay someone else to do it for you . I have always fixed all of my own cars . My wife does have a 2007 car but I can still fix it myself !
I have looked under the hood of these new cars and I can't see the engine for all the crap that is stuck on top of them ! It's CRAZY ! I guess that's why I will never own a new car now . If I can't work on it , I will not buy it !

Retro Jim

 

Quoted for truth. If you want to see more people out there wrenching, quit griping for a minute and teach them something! Everything I know about cars, trucks and cycles I had to learn for myself. A lot of you guys had the opportunity to learn early on from a hotrodder dad/uncle/grandpa/whomever, but not everyone has that type of influence in their life.