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I know I said this on another comment but dealing with the frustrations is what separates the good from the great mechanics/technicians. Three elements are the know how of what to do, the ability to do it, and just as important, the ability to keep a cool head when it happens.
Even though I work at a Nissan dealer, somehow I got blessed with this Jaguar engine replacement. The engine is locked up solid, doesn’t move any at all. First step is to remove the transmission, but I can’t turn the engine to get the torque converter bolts off so the transmission is going to have to come out without the torque converter. No-go, not enough clearance to get around the torque converter. So I have to take the engine out with the torque converter attached, but there is barely enough room even without the converter. 6″ extra inside a jag engine compartment might as well be a mile. Had to remove more stuff. Oh, and there isn’t anything to hook onto, you need these expensive specialty tools to get the engine out. I managed to rig up something but that took a lot of headache. Finally got it out with some help from my co-workers. Fanageling to say the least. I had to almost completely dissasemble the engine to get the torque converter off. How I handled the frustration is I got my boss over there (because this is an internal repair the dealership is paying for) and told him I need more hours on it because that’s not included in the normal repairs. So, I get more hours out of the job. So there is no need to get upset.
I was surprised that things went so well considering the rust. A seized, crossthreaded, stripped, or God forbid a spinner can make a simple job into an ordeal. One thing that separates the great mechanics from the average is the ability to deal with these things. It’s also improtant to be able to keep your cool when these things happen, and they do.
About the OE vs Aftermarket. One advantage of working at a dealership over independent is not having to deal with the problems with aftermarket parts. The OE part has been engineered for that application, the aftermarket is a “one size fits all” part that has been modified to fit the application. Of course there are the gray areas where it’s the factory part with another name stamped on it. It’s like a taylored suit vs. one that you buy off a shelf. My Chevy Silverado has 274K miles on it and I only use OE parts and it drives really good for a vehicle of it’s age and miles.
The only thing I kind of disagree with Eric is the Alignment issue. There is a good chance the toe is way off now. If the steering wheel is off after doing this type of thing, it’s definately off. If it’s in the same position, you might have lucked out, but watch the tire wear.
Sorry, reference to “overnight parts shipped directly from japan”
On a more serious note, they sound like some neat pliars, the kind you don’t need often but when you do, you’re glad you have them. Kind of like most of the tools I have.
Having experience with this, I would say that dealerships give you a much better path for advancement.
2 shops I worked for that failed, and now that I work at a dealer, I can see why.
They were franchises of a tire brand but we did everything. Major stuff, but minor factors as well. For one thing, the owners were not involved enough. Hiring incompetent managers that cooked the books and ended up robbing the place or the owner didn’t know how bad it was until it was too late. Always digging out of the hole. Some of these managers all out robbed the place. Hiring incompetent technicians and not holding them accountable for their mistakes. People were hired and paid more on who they were and who they knew than their actual abilities.Some techs just guess and throw parts at the car, it just means a larger repair bill so more money for the shop, right? Trying to suck people dry with crazy upsells. Attitudes galore. Guys smoking while working on people’s cars, even smoking in the customer’s cars. Dirty, filthy shop. Failure to adapt to changing trends. I worked for these chains from the late 90’s to about 2011 and during that time they never really let me advance, but most of all, the business model never changed.
A service manager I knew said once “It take a lot of hard work and time to build up a customer base, it takes a short time to lose it”
This kind of thing is what makes me so hesitant about doing side work. People see others getting paid as them being greedy, as though I’m just trying to make money off them. They seem to think that mechanics just work on cars, like we have nothing better to do with our time. I have to explain that I could be at home walking my dog, spending time with my girlfriend, going hiking, which I’d rather do than bust my knuckles on their car so they can drive around.
I’m even hesitant about helping friends with their cars. More than once I’ve tried to help someone and then their car did something else odd afterwards and they expect me to come make it right. Like recently, friend’s Yukon was having a throttle code turning on his CEL. I came out, found debris and carbon buildup in the throttle, cleaned it and everything was fine. Next day it would hardly accelerate, so I had to get the scanner and drive all the way out there and do a throttle relearn. I did it before the first time but I think the engine wasn’t warm enough. Anyways, he has throttle body issues, honestly probably needs a new TB. BUT I try to make it work for him to save him some money and it cost me time and gasoline.
[quote=”AusTac” post=142298]Here By law you have to have attended some type of recognized training organization to be a professional Tech
Also the dealer pays for the training roughly 25,000 AUD ish…
I’ll forever be learning on the job but school gives you the basic support and knowledge to know what your actually playing[/quote]
I wish it was this way here in the US. For one thing it would make it so that companies can’t just hire and guy to be a grease monkey. Another thing is it would bring integrity and respect to the profession. All too often I have worked places where they hired guys off the street that had never touched a car before. They didn’t even know how to properly torque lug nuts correctly and I try to show them and get this dirty “don’t tell me what to do” look and they continue to do the wrong thing, to people cars, until something would happen. So many guys that can put parts on a car but they don’t truely know what they are doing, they do not know the science behind it and it results in lower quality.
Standard education or at least certification would weed out these idiots that tarnish a potentially very respectable profession.
I went to the technical college and enrolled in the Automotive Technology program and discovered this fact while I was in there.
Yes, you do learn things in classes but you would have learned just as much if not more in the field and dealerships offfer training. Also, instead of paying, you will be getting paid. Win/Win. Yes it will help you get a job at a good dealer, but you can get one without a diploma/degree.
Your employer is going to pay you based on how well you can repair a vehicle.
The shop I work in has one of those, and honestly it’s the only way to do it. Tension makes me tense. When potential energy goes kinetic it can get very ugly. Even on one of those spring compressors it can get sketchy and you still can get hurt.
IF you don’t have access to a machine like that, find someplace that does and have them do it. You can buy the assemblies fully assembled and that way you are getting a new mount as well as a new spring. It’s just not worth getting seriously hurt or killed to save a few bucks or to say you did it yourself.
Great tool Eric. I would not want to do struts without them, and if I had to buy the machine myself as long as I know I could get my money back out of it because I have had a few scary moments involving springs.
You have entered a field where 90% of it is EXPERIENCE. To get experience, you have to go through the learning process of TRIAL AND ERROR. You are going to have to learn mostly from your mistakes, because a key to becoming a good tech is what to do when things go wrong. Then there is the investment in tools. You need a lot of tools. Many tools you don’t use often, but when you need them, you really need them and it can make the difference between can and can’t. Finally there is a lot of comptition. Becaue this field doesn’t require a degree, or really any real education initially, you have to compete with a lot of people. Just when you think you are good, you get humbled and reminded that you still have much to learn.
You sold a kidney? You’ve got to be joking. You could have defaulted, or even declared bankrupcy. Damn……
I was in the same spot. I owed Snap-on over $6K and well, the economy was so rough. I did a buy-back, called their credit center and told them I could not pay the bill and wanted them to do a buy-back. They did, gave me half what I paid for some of the stuff, but I kept most of everything I needed. They won’t finance me now, but oh well, I have learned about debt. In a day I wiped off $6K in debt and it has never showed on my credit report as a repo or anything becaues I did a volontary buy back.
Yeah, one big thing they bought back was my tool box, and well, now I have a Harbor Freight box…. that is paid for.. and it holds my tools very well… and I have both kidneys. Snap-on will never make another $1 of interest off of me again.
NOOOOOO…. get your head up! So many other things in the field where you can use your experience to do great things. How about service writer? Parts? lots of poitions. It is really nice when you have service writers and even parts guys that have professionally turned a real wrench before. One of my favorite service writers had knee problems, the other had back problems, which took them out of the game but it was nice having someone that actually knew what it was to be in the shop up front with your customer.
One door closes, one door opens. Things happen for a reason.
Good advise on here, but I can really relate to OP. Coming from a technician that was stuck as a tire tech/GS for a long time in a similar situation as OP.
First of all, most of these tire shops that do it all, there is such a huge jump between tire tech, and technician, that it is nearly impossible for someone to make that leap there. They kept me back for a while. You need a stairway. Either find a shop where as far as the techs go, they stop at basic work like suspension work, or go to a larger operation like a dealership. That’s what I did.
Some employers are not interested in you moving up. Loyalty means nothing these days. They would rather hire someone else than promote you while you go through the learning curve. They will tell you what you want to hear though. I worked at one shop for 4 years because they promised me when the position opened I would get it… never happened.
Another problem, you might be too good at what you do. This was my problem. Honestly, most guys in the lube tech, tire tech, alignment tech, general service tech, maintenence tech positions are unexperienced and honestly, unreliable and not very good when it comes down to it. Anyone with any real ability is going to want to move up. If they find someone who is willing to take pride in being good at the simpler stuff, they love it, but that love won’t go into your paycheck. I took a lot of pride in what I did. Not trying to brag, but I am one of the best when it comes to making a vehicle drive smooth and straight down the road. It doesn’t go to waste, I still get them at the dealership when the other guys can’t get them right, “help jason” lol.
Good things happen for those who GO FOR IT. Waiters just wait to be disappointed. Go getters get. The Early Bird gets the worm, the worm comes to no bird.
I took a lower position at a dealership, came in as an entry level oil changer, despite my ASE Master status, oh well, I became the best damn oil changer that had. They all liked me because I took care of all the BS that didn’t really pay and the techs didn’t want to deal with. I insisted I wanted to move up, and they were hesitant because I was their go to guy in the lube center. I threatened to quit, either move me up or I quit, and they didn’t want to lose me so they moved me up. I went to RECON, the Used Car Department, basically taking trade ins and making them into sellable cars minus the cleaning aspect. Kind of pissed because I was getting good at that and they moved me to the main service building. I don’t get any of the gravy, or the easy work, haven’t done brakes in I don’t know how long. All I get are check engine lights, electrical problems, and no-starts. I somehow always get through it, I never give up, they put me through the fire and somehow I always make it through, but I’m not going to lie that I get burned a lot. I’m not making that great of money right now, but I’m getting better, and things that were intimidating or hard are getting easy and I don’t mind. If I can keep it up, I’ll be that go to tech, and life will get much easier. 🙂 Just got to keep on keeping on.