Learning auto repair

Hi - I'm new to auto repair but have been really getting into it for past couple of months, and was just wondering what you thought about learning auto repair entirely on your own - whether it's possible or just too impractical compared to taking courses. There's this GM AS degree in this community college that I really want to do - the problem is that it's tough to schedule everything (I'm in grad school), and it's also 50 miles away (a lot for my car), which the closest place that has affordable auto repair classes, at least that I know of. There's public technical HSs here which would be great but they only accept HS students. And the tech colleges are too expensive ($20,000+) and besides, scheduling would be even more difficult. So basically, what do you think about learning auto repair entirely on your own? I want the full deal too, not just knowing how to change your oil etc., but being able to do everything a mechanic can do. thanks, dave

Reply to
krem1234
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I think that the community college approach would be the only thing within your budget that would teach all or nearly all aspects of mechanical repair. As far as learning on your own, that's exactly what I did. Starting at age 18 I changed oil for the first time, managed to put a couple (wheel) acorn nuts on backwards, and drop the car off of some homemade jack stands (with less than appropriate base diameter) -- all on my first attempt. Things got betterfrom there. Within the next few years I had owned/fixed about five more cars and poured over countless manuals at the library. By the time I went to community college for a two year program, the only things I really learned there were how to rack a car on a lift and auto transmission theory.

There's no reason that you couldn't also take a similar path: learn the basics from reading and trial and error, buy basic Craftsman tools, a simple code reader or used OTC Monitor 4000, and then see where it takes you. If you were to become confident in your abilities, then you could piecemeal together the classes you need the most help on -- those would likely be air conditioning (best to take before doing any A/C work anyway), transmissions, auto electrical and advanced driveability.

The rest can be managed with common sense, the right tools, patience, and factory service info and/or quality info services like Alldata or Mitchell1. Many libraries offer one or more of these options, as they are priced out of the reach of the DIYer or tech. Autozone sells yearly subscriptions to an Alldata-based repair info on a per car basis for dirt cheap.

Toyota MDT in MO

Reply to
Comboverfish

I learned nearly everything on my own. I read books. GM and Ford sent me to their classes to learn specifics about their new vehicles but I already knew most of it. I still read books.

Reply to
PauL

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