Old school mechanic needs to catch up

1) "sensor technology"? I'm assuming you mean like, the way cars work now, with sensors feeding the computer data so it can properly adjust the a/f mixture? A good evening's worth of reading on wikipedia or some other online resource can certainly give him the basics of how it all works. Lincoln Tech is a pretty decent tech school, that many area mechanics come out of, they also seem to have some online stuff. 2) Well, if he's opening up a shop, he's probably going to have an account with a tool guy (snap-off, matco, etc), they'll have a code reader. 3) Chilton still makes decent repair manuals as they did 10,20 and probably 30 years ago. Although if you're going for a more high-tech solution, all-data does it all electronically.

Really, setting up your own shop is a pretty expensive endeavor. If I were your old man, I would do the following:

1) Get a job at a local mechanic, this will do the following: a) Get him back in to the swing, and up to speed on newer tech. b) Get him a working relationship with area vendors (parts, tools, etc) 2) After a while, if he's feeling like he's up to it, open his own shop.

Good Luck Jason

That's good advice Jason. I will add that Mercedes has made many diesel powered cars. A job with a dealership will likely have some healthcare benefits.

That's true Dealer's will have health benefits. They'll also (in many cases) pay for training. VW also has a quite a few diesel models out there.

Additionally, The electronic stuff is only an overlay managing mechanical systems... The basic stuff is still the same, brakes work due to friction, wheels turn and engines need fuel, compression and spark to run.

Jason

Mercedes also has a _lot_ of older cars still on the road, and folks who can troubleshoot the old-style mechanical fuel injection systems may well still be in demand at a Mercedes shop.

--scott

Where have you seen the decent ones? All the ones I've seen are worthless unless you're rebuilding your engine. Wrong pictures, wrong procedures, missing information, missing procedures, oversimplification, etc. etc.

I concur... Chilton and Haynes manuals aren't even quality enough to use for toilet paper these days.

If that is indeed the case, I take back my recommendation. To be truthful I haven't looked at a new Chilton's manual in a few years....Come to think of it, the last Chilton manual I bought was about

10 years ago, however; it might as well have been a factory workshop manual it was so detailed and accurate... If their quality has suffered between then and now, I'll keep that in mind and stop recommending them. I would never recommend haynes to anyone.

Jason

I bought my first Chilton's manual when I owned my '72 Torino, which I bought new. I bought my last Chilton's manual when I owned my '72 Torino, which I bought new. It had what appeared to be a wonderful set of full instructions on how to rebuild my engine, but not a single useful fact about any other aspect of the car or servicing it. It had a lot of illustrations of parts that hadn't appeared on Fords in ten years, and a lot of useless procedures at a level of sophistication not unlike "1. Remove engine. 2. Replace crankshaft. 3. Reinstall engine." From spot checks in libraries since, it appears to me they've gone downhill from there.

When I first saw a paper Mitchell manual, I thought I was in heaven.

As I was x-mas shopping today, I decided to see for myself. I found a Chilton's manual for an '86 Cherokee. I was surprised to see the current manual for the xj chassis is about 1/5th the size of the one I have collecting dust somewhere (waiting for me to acquire another Cherokee)...very disappointing.

Jason

stuff.http://www.lincolnedu.com/>

tools, etc)

Thank you very much for your advice Jason, I'll pass it on.

Thanks Scott, I think this segment of older car users may be the one my dad should concentrate on

Thanks Chas, that is definitely a possibility to look at.

Never ever seen it or heard of a mechanic who knew about it. I can't say I have known a lot of mechanics, but I know a few really good ones.

I never found Motor to be a big improvement over Chilton's bookstore manuals.

I didn't say that. I would say that they're rare (at least comparatively speaking) and not widely desired, and considering this is the first time I've ever heard of them, not well publicized.

Are you a professional mechanic?

As I said, I'm not, but I know a couple dozen. Whenever manuals come up, the only paper one named in a nice context is Mitchell. If I want to provoke or add humor, I mention Chilton's or Motor.

Paper Mitchell manuals provoke humor.

Hey, whatever greases your creases. I find them accurate, complete and easy to work from. I can get them at the library, where the only Chilton's are the completely worthless ones.

I don't have a problem with Mitchell manuals such as they are, but bound paper manuals take up an awful lot of room.