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Someone posted a detailed article from one of the camshaft manufacturers (Comp Cams) to a Mustang forum I once belonged to with all of the details about what was and wasn’t in modern oils and which additives and oils to run.
When I built the 308 in my Mustang II I ran a Comp Cam and broke it in with Rotella 15w40 and their break-in additive, and have run the Rotella oil since without issue. The 302 I pulled out of it had pretty nasty cam wear from running an oil without enough ZDDP.
I know this is an old post (7 months, wow), but there is an answer.
If your service manager is a decent sort, see if you can get a sit-down with him to find out why you’re not going to move up even after getting your degree. I worked for a pretty good service manager at a Dodge dealership years ago that I’d sit down with at least every other week for a few minutes because I knew I wasn’t hitting all the targets I was supposed to. That was my first line tech job, and I was taking home just over minimum wage because I was flagging so few hours. It helped a lot, and in the end, we found a path forward for me and addressed my shortcomings. If your service manager tells you that the problem lies on your end, ask what you need to do to fix it (and do it!), if the problem is that the shop is fully staffed, start shopping that resume around, in most markets, there’s a shortage of technicians and someone will bite, but if you’re in an area near a military base or near a GREAT school (like TSTC in Waco, Texas) that turns out top-notch techs every six months, you’re probably going to need to commute to find work and/or more money.
You could also work elsewhere in the industry for a bit. During different times in my 15+ years in the car business, I’ve found myself behind the parts counter or on the showroom floor selling cars. Believe it or not, I strongly feel doing both of those jobs made me a better technician when I got back into the shop. In addition to my A1, A4, A5, and A8 ASEs, I also have my P2 and parts certifications from three different OEMs. Parts guys treat you differently when they know that you have as much or more knowledge of them, and you’ll treat them differently when you know what goes into doing their job. Learning how to sell cars taught me the psychology of why people buy what they do. You can upsell services a lot more effectively if you understand that.
If you’re going to stick with school to learn diesel, learn everything you can, then find a Ford dealership in oil country with a lot of customer pay work; you can damned near write your own check at that point.
I’m Matt.
I’ve been in the car business since 2003, with a little over five years turning wrenches, a little over ten behind a parts counter, and about six months selling cars at one point (some of those overlapped when I worked more than one job, or when I worked for a Hyundai dealership that was chronically short-handed, so I’d be out there in the shop changing oil and helping out our one technician with an apron on over my parts manager uniform).
I have my A5, my A8, my P2, and various parts and service certifications from Ford and Hyundai (including being Master Certified in Parts by Ford and Silver Certified in Parts by Hyundai).
I jumped straight into this out of high school, and never went to tech school or college, working my way up from the go-fer/FNG at an independent shop to what I’m doing now (usually doing the diagnostics or big jobs that other techs in the shop aren’t equipped with the tools/knowledge for) at Carmax.