"Clare Snyder" wrote in message
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On Sat, 27 Feb 2021 08:42:12 +1100, "Fred" wrote:



"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in message
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On 2/26/2021 1:12 PM, Fred wrote:


Yes, I know many states do not regulate automotive technicians
with a mandatory licensing system - but they SHOULD.

That's completely mad. Anyone with real mechanical skills doesn't
need 4 years of study to do a decent job on modern cars.

And I know quite a few "mechanics" with university degrees
who went "back to school" to get a trade after their university
degrees didn't get them a "job"

And I know quite a few mechanics that never need to go back to
school to turn a pile of rusting metal into a fully restored vintage
car.

I know people like that too. Some could not change the radio on a new
car
though, an a lot of the other electronics.

That stuff is normally left to car radio specialists.

You don't need 4 years but you need more than the old days.

That's very arguable indeed given that there is very little
to do on modern cars now, just change the oil, redo the
brake pads etc as required, change the plugs etc. Even
with fault finding, its much easier to do now with the
OBD2 telling you which sensor has failed quite a bit
of the time and no timing etc to do anymore.

Makes no sense to require formal qualifications.

I'lL call you on your BS

We'll see...

The OBDII tells you what reading is
out of spec. That is ALL it tells you.

Bull**** with plenty of cars.

It takes an educated professional to know what can cause that
reading to be wrong and how to test and PROVE what the problem is

More bull****. Plenty of the best mechanics can do that,
they don't need to be educated to do that and never have.

instead of throwing half a dozeh expensive components at the car, then
cross their fingers and hope they didn't STILL miss the real problem.

The best mechanics don't operate like that.

That's why the "pinpoint tests" in the factory manual for a given
error code can cover 7 pages in the factory manual - and why the
print version of a typical factory manual con be over 6 inches thick.

And the best mechanics are free to use that.

(and cost several hundred dollars

Not anymore now that they are often trivially downloadable.

- and why they are virtually all now in electronic
format indexed 7 ways to sunday) Many won't fit on
a CD any more - and some require double layer DVDs.

And the best mechanics don't need them for most faults.

Servicing variable valve timing and gasoline direct injection,
not to mention computer controlled transmissions and
turbocharged engines and anti-lock brakes, and active
colission avoidance, and traction control - and canbus
controlled door locking systems - and even tail-lights
with computers in them -

Good luck sucker of you don't have
a well trained mechanic working on it.

Mate of mine that fixes Mercs has no formal training
and always works out what the problem is. That's
why so many get him to do the curly stuff.

Just the electrical wiring will blow the mind of most "mr fixits"
- whenthe doors lockand unlock by themselves driving down
the road - or the alarm goes off in the middle of the night -
or the windows go up or down by themselves (or don't when
you want them to) or the car won't start or the doors won't
unlock (or lock) from the FOB - or the airbag light comes on
- and particularly when the problems are intermittent - - -.

Those faults arent common at all.

There are no "adjustments" any more - sure. They require
less scheduled maintenance - for sure - but those are the
SIMPLE jobs that the uneducated guy with grease under
his fingers and a $50 tool kit could do.

So those individuals are fine in the service stations
that still do more than just pump gas. No need for
the state to require 4 years of formal education
before they are allowed to do that stuff.

Also, Today's cars , on the whole - have a LOT more miles on them.

That's very arguable with the cars most of us drive.

A car with 10000 miles on it is just nicely broken
in and you are not going to scrap it just because
there is one small problem that you can't fix

But plenty still get a new car every couple of years.

(but you would be surprised how many cars end up scrapped for
what would have amounted to a "simple" problem 15 years ago )
because you don't have a properly trained mechanic to fix it.

Yep, that's why that mate of mine buys those turbo Mercs off
ebay, fixes the problem, and flogs them for twice what he paid
for the original and the parts. With no formal training at all.

ANd just for the safety and liability reasons untrained
people should NOT be screwing around with safety
related stuff - even "simple" stuff like brakes

Bull****. Any decent mechanic can replace brake pads etc.

We've all seen the posts from guys (possibly even guys like you)
asking what to do next to fix whatever small problem on their car
after replacing half a dozen or more parts - at a cost of several
hundred dollars - that an educated mechanic could have told
you in 10 seconds, without seeing the car, were NOT going to
be the problem just from how you describe the problem - - - - .

Just as true of any decent uneducated mechanic and
anyone that can do some research using google too.

Its no news that most don't have decent diagnostic skills
but that's an entirely separate matter to whether 4 years
of formal education is needed by the best mechanics.

Many times it's "my mechanic has replaced all
these parts and it still has the problem" or "I've
haf 4 mechanics look at it and they don't have a clue"

Its no news that many mechanics don't have
a clue with all but the most basic routine stuff.

Right - they are noit properlyt trained -
and they LITERALLY don't have a clue.

Plenty were properly trained and still don't have
any real diagnostic skills, because most don't.