Learning Auto's. Who what where when why.
 

I am a young man of 20 and I know very little of cars besides which ones suck for whatever reason, and how an engine basically operates. It's a shame that I'm this old and cannot understand a mechanic, cannot fix my own car and cannot tell when a salesman is trying to bullshit me (I just assume they're always bullshitting me, but I digress). I blame my own, and your parents for not teaching or hugging me as a child.

So I'll ask the internet, who did you learn your cars from? What did you learn? When did you learn? Most importantly, how did you learn it and what would you reccomend someone in my situation do to learn it as well?

Thanks,
Dave

I used to spend my weekends with my father helping him at his garage from as young as I remember. I took any mechanical courses I could in school, and in the near future i am going to an automotive college to learn evn more. If you have a community college nearby, you can try to find out if the offer a begginer automotive course.

I was completely clueless until I bought my first car, and then I bought the Haynes manual for it and started to teach myself as much as I could - but its good to have a very competent mechanic friend around to fix screwups you may make.

Some from books, magazines, etc... A little from self-experimentation on my own poor cars. After I finish my masters this summer, I am going to enroll at the local community college and take some mechanics courses there. Right now, I am only interested in courses that will help me someday build a race car. When I get to the engine building course, I will pull the engine from my 1986 rx7 and rebuild that. The nicething about the community college is that the courses are taught by master mechanics and they have every tool available known to man.

Well, it pretty much started as my dad needing an extra pair of hands when making repairs on our cars (hte minor stuff, brakes, belts, hoses, fuel injectors, etc.). Always had a little interest throughout highschool, but our auto shop wasnt all that great, so it was just a little bit of an interest. Took a class or two my first semester at the community college, and have been taking some ever since. Luckily, the college is like 3 minutes from me, and is, pretty much without doubt, the best auto courses offered in the city/county. Excellent teachers, lots of classes, tons of garage space (and were adding more over the summer), and a half dozen or more of any tool you could want. And if they dont have it, they're probably working on getting it. In fact, it is one of, if not the, largest department at the school, and always has the highest enrollment rates.

If you want just general knowledge on the inner workings of you car, check out the auto section of www.howstuffworks.com Its an invaluable resource of knowledge. If you wanna know stuff specific to the workings of YOUR car, i also reccommend heading to a junkyard, and tearing one apart. 1 buck admittance, and you dont hafta worry about getting it put back together correctly. And if you are serious about wanting to learn, hit up your community college and see if they have an auto program. Its a great way to learn a lot, and get some good hands on practice.

I had a couple of older brothers that worked at a local garage. At age 15, I hired in there to clean, paint, and pump gas. I graduated to oil changes, replacing bulbs and batteries, belts, etc.
I helped the real mechanics with brake jobs, tune ups, and learned from watching and talking to them. Eventually, they put me in a wrecker and I started taking AAA road service calls. This experience, more than any other, helped me identify and fix problems. When I took my first job at a parts store, I realized I like that end of the biz better.

If I were 20 again, and had no background in automotive, I think I'd look to the local community college for a basic maintenence class. Then I'd get the Haynes or Chilton for my car. I'd start changing the oil myself, change my own belts, hoses etc. These are simple tasks that your local parts store can guide you through.

If you think that a mechanic is bullshitting you, don't be afraid to take your car someplace else for a second opinion. find someone you trust and stick with him.

Bought my Firebird when I was 14. From there on, I basically lived at the garage just watching and learning, and my weekends were spent at the racetrack. All of the little details I learned were entirely from reading.

Your not alone, the extent of my parents mechanical knowledge is "righty tighty lefty loosey".

various valve jobs on old slant sixes when i was 15, then complete bare block teardowns on a subaru and an 80's bmw four cylinder when i was 17 and 18 respectively. Plus auto class, but that's just the basics.

www.howstuffworks.com is a very useful site if you ever want to learn about stuff..

I learned a lot from message boards related to my car. Whenever I had a problem, I could search the archives or ask, and find 10+ other people who had the same problem and could tell me exactly what they did to fix it.

And trust me, when you have a 1988 Ford as your sole form of transportation, can't afford a mechanic, and need to get to school/work/etc, you learn a lot about how to diagnose and fix a car pretty quickly. :)

I learned a good bit from my dad too, but most of his knowledge comes from back when cars were carbureted, so I ended up teaching him quite a bit about what I learned when it comes to EFI, all the various sensors that the engine computer uses, etc.

My father wasn't much of a mechanical type beyond oil changes etc., but when I was living near his brother in VA I got to learn a fair amount about car repair. He was a mechanical engineer who was a chief engineer for the navy, so my old Volvo wasn't much of a challenge after fixing subs and aircraft carriers. I think the most important thing I learned was an appreciation for the right tool for the job. He had an extensive collection and it made tough jobs so much easier to have a "special tool." That being said I have more of an understanding of stuff than a wealth of practical application, so I can't wait to get a project car someday and try my luck on it with a Chiltons!

Yeah I've already raped howstuffworks of whatever I felt was relevant in it's knowledge compendium.

I hear a lot of recommendations for the Haynes manual wherever I've asked this question, so I think I'll nab the Haynes for my 93 geo metro and then another haynes/factory manual for whatever I buy at the auction next month.

I'm excited whenever I learn new things like this, lets just hope in all my enthusiasm we don't end up seeing a super riced 93 Geo with tinted windows, sway bars and a super charger.

Or I could just leave it looking like a piece of shit and buy a "Type-R" sticker to piss everyone off.

Metro huh? You oughta take out that little 50horse 3cyl, and put in a 160+ horse Rotary. Makes for one helluva sleeper, and its scary fast.

if you wanna learn how a basic engine works, both rotary and internal combustion, go to www.howstuffworks.com

Here is the link for the internal combustion engine, and here is the link for the rotary engine. They are both complete with flash animations and detailed explanations........feel free to explore other stuff in their auto section, you can learn a lot about what goes on inside your car before you dive in yourself and start working on it...........but when you do decide to do that, definitely buy a haynes manual, they are lifesavers sometimes.

It had a new engine put in it a few years ago. Don't know the specifications, but maybe that's a good project to start on? Then changing the oil, and so on until I've got a mustache, greasy overalls, and refer to people as "meat heads."