On Friday, February 26, 2021 at 5:59:47 PM UTC-5, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 2/26/2021 4:42 PM, Fred wrote:


"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in message
...
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.
Some won't touch them. Evidently you have not seen the complexity of
these units and everything they control. It isn't just a radio any
more. Navigation, cameras, sat reception, connected services, modems,
and more.

He doesnt know because his vehicle that he uses to feed the kangaroos is
a 1965 pickup.





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

Thats 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.
Without some training and qualifications you probably won't get a job at
a dealership aside from changing tires. Have you looked at some of the
battery connectors? They are not like on your '72 Chevy any more.

Where would you start looking for an error on the Automatic emergency
braking system? or the Lane Keep assist. How about lining up the
cameras after a windshield change? Some of the windshield companies
will send you to the dealer for calibration after they change the glass.
Do you know how to do it?

Exactly. He thinks that because many times it's a simple sensor, that
means you don't need any qualifications. Further, many times those simple
sensors require considerable work and disassembly to get to, where if
you don't know what you're doing, you could easily screw up. And many
times the codes that show up, don't point to a specific sensor, an example
is a lean code. Or take airbags for example. Having a code for the drivers
airbag for example. I see people online immediately saying they need a
new airbag, where to get one cheap, etc. But most times with that code
it's not the airbag that's the problem. It takes some skills and smarts to
know how to diagnose it and also what not to do to screw it up more or even
set the airbag off and kill yourself.

I remember taking a Pontiac that had an AC problem to a place that
specializes in auto AC. They had the car for two days, told me they figured
out it was a bad switch in the panel. When I drove away, the AC worked,
but the check engine light was on. I didn't know what to do, figured they
probably caused it, but would deny it, etc. I already had the service manual
for the car, so I decided to check it out myself. Back then you could short
two pins on the diagnostic connector and it would flash a code sequence on
the instrument panel. The code indicated a problem with the coolant temp
sensor. Seems unrelated, right? So I trace it down, there is no ground coming
from the main engine computer to the sensor. That was very bad news.
But fortunately the module was easy to open up, which I did. Didn't take long
to fine a blown out circuit trace on the PC board. I bridged it with some solder,
put it back together, problem solved.

So, how did this happen? Obviously some incompetent hack trying to diagnose
the AC was jumpering 12V here and there and blew it out. I was very fortunate
to be able to diagnose and fix it. Imagine if I took it back, was the typical customer.
You think they were going to admit what they did and pay for a $700 computer?
The dope that did it may not even realize he did it, but you'd think he must have
seen some spark when he tried to connect this to that.