Turning a wrench... A dying skill?

But, The government made the laws, so the car companys had to change too. Electronic ignition is cleaner than an engine with points. Fuel injection is cleaner than carbs. If everythings lighter (windows, metal, engine parts,) the car will get better mpg

 

Doctor will charge you just to say yep, its broken.

 

Like any skill. Experience and application always make or break an individual. People are lamenting "days gone by" I would wager that there are people walking around that can: Weld MIG or TIG, Run Mills and lathes CNC controllled or not. Use computer diagnostic equipment. Read and understand blueprints. Use a CAD program on a MAC or PC. In short there are people who can fix many new car issues. They are just older,wiser people that have continued their knowledge base. (Love the Blacksmith analogy.)

 

New cars make me want to retch. Been a gearhead for all my life andits pretty sad when the other day I got a fuel pump for a 289 and its made in Korea. Since when did a piece of Detroit iron need parts from overseas. Let me just say that when our government or some terrorist organization shuts off the electricity, the only people moving about will be the points and carb folks, then maybe someone will get back out in the garage. As for me, the 54 degrees in the man cave suites me just fine.

 

Exactly. Fear no new car or truck. If a bunch of guys built it, you can figure it out. Hot Rod used to mean innovation and improvement. The returning GI's from WW2 did not settle for the factory grinds on their "Bumpsticks." Are you going to let a bunch of "Plasic injection molded disposables" scare you? SEMA and the aftermarket cater to this new stuff. Get real, did your hemi put out 600hp with a blower and stop like the new computer controlled plastic stuff? NO. It was not streetable. It was a rolling metal deathtrap and you were like a fighter pilot tempting fate. Progress gentleman and ladies has a price. Learn or get passed by.

 

Actually the diesel guys or the moonshiners will be the only ones driving. sometimes my RAM smells like hamburgers and fries...Bio-diesel.

 

I am a 37 year old self trained mechanic with an (accidental) degree in business. I own a shop and think about this daily. I would bet the majority of my work involves electronics, and the mechanical portion of it is the "easy" stuff, and seems to be a smaller portion of my time. Diagnosing and troubleshooting is the lion's share.

That said, I attribute my mechanical interest to growing up on a farm, and having access to tools. All the good (skilled) techs I know around my age also grew up on farms, or had a junkyard, or dad owned a shop. This is without exception in my experience. With the disappearance of family farms and small businesses (auto-related and not), I often ponder who will be fixing our rides 20 years from now? I don't have an answer.

To some extent, there is less need as the cars last longer - over 95% of my business is on cars with over 100,000 miles. 100K on a 50s car is like 400K on a newer model - possible, but not much life left in it by then. To beat a dead demographic horse, when the baby boomers retire good techs may be able to command their own price, as there are so few younger guys in the trade. I would say at least around me, more than 1/2 the techs in the workforce are 12-20 years my senior, and probably won't be wreching a lot longer (at least not full time for a career), but there is no one to replace them when they leave.

Not sure how it will play out, but at least I don't fear for my job security...

 

If it cost $1600 for the dealer to replace the ac-heater control on a Durango ( more than it's worth) what would it cost on a ford syc system.

 

Cars are getting to be like television sets. Everything is controlled by modules that cost more than the repaired product is worth. Back in 1979 when they were first using computers in cars, I worked in a Ford Dealership. The top mechanic was a 67 year old who had worked there for 50 years. He as still working because he hadn't made enough money to retire. When he had to work on a Lincoln that wasn't running right, he said that he'd have a better chance of fixing a television set. Those early computers didn't store any error codes so you didn't know what the problem was. The dealers could try replacing expensive parts and were the only ones that had electronic equipment to check the systems but only if they acted up while it was connected.

Once they programmed them to store error codes, it made diagnostics much easier. Still, it only tells you what parameter is not correct. It doesn't tell you why it isn't correct. An oxygen sensor reading might be off because the sensor is bad or because the engine is getting too much fuel. It might be that oil is getting into the exhaust.

People who have the skills to diagnose the systems can get jobs in IT where they can work in a clean air conditioned office and get better pay and benefits. I went to work on heavy equipment and trucks because it paid better than working on cars. Still, I have thousands of dollars worth of tools and bad knees and back from the job. While dealerships charge plenty per hour for repairs, they don't pay the mechanic much. I know a dealer that charges $100/ hour and pays the mechanic $15/hr.