Welcome to Technicians Only/ Introduce yourself

[EricTheCarGuy]

This forum is started by suggestion from one of the forum members, SpawnedX. The idea behind it is to have a place where technicians can talk about their experiences and ideas concerning their careers and profession. Think of it as sort of an extension to ETCG1 were we talk about things that concern us and the automotive industry. This is for technicians only so please don’t post automotive questions here. If you are a technician welcome to this forum, if not please stay behind the yellow line. Perhaps we can start by introducing ourselves.

I’m Eric Cook aka EricTheCarGuy. I’ve worked as a professional technician since 1996 and have been an ASE master technician for the past 15 years. I worked for Acura at the dealer for about 8 years and spent the rest of my time working at aftermarket shops on both imports and domestics. I’m also an Acura certified master technician which I got as a result of my training at Acura. For a brief time I ran a Carx after I lost my job at Acura, that was interesting and challenging in many ways but I did work with some good people there and learned a lot about running an automotive business as a result of that experience. Now I have a successful auto repair show on the internet as well as a successful website and forum. To be honest my favorite job so far has been working as ETCG, it seems my entire career including my termination from Acura has led me to this place and I could not be happier with the result. I suppose that just goes to show you never know where you’re going to end up.

Welcome to the Technicians Only forum, I look forward to getting to know you and your work better.

ETCG

Topic

[Rodrigo Flores Faena]

Hi guys, my name is Rodrigo and i am a Rookie Technician, i mostly deal with electrical diagnosis, specially on domestic brands.

This used to be my hobbie but a couple of years ago, i was going through a very difficult time, financial problems and such, so i decided to use my hobbie as a way to make some money on my spare time.

I am not a certified technician btw, but that´s just how life is, i work hard and i love my job, i always do my best and research a lot, i learned this craft with an uncle, he was an old school mechanic (pretty good one).

I learn everything i can, do my homework, never ever take something for granted and i like to do the things the right way.

[Matt]

My name is Matt and I am 27 years old. I have been professionally working on cars for 8 years now and I currently work for a large national chain store in Indiana.

I am ASE Automobile Master Certified and I am currently signed up to take the L1 this fall. Found this channel on youtube and I am pleased because not only is ETCG great, but the people that seem to follow him seem to be great as well.

[Steven Rorrer]

Hey all,
Name’s Steven and am currently 6 months in professionally at a national chain store but have a few years experience wrenching on cars and power sports.

I’ve learned so much from watching Eric’s videos and probably wouldn’t be half as good/knowledgeable as I am today if it weren’t for his videos. Can’t thank you enough Eric

[Jake Butler’]

Hey folks! My name is Jake and I am a technician at a garage in the United Kingdom that specializes in Volvo’s (But also other makes) I started in the automotive business about two years ago after becoming interested in it at college and swiftly got a ”apprentiship” in the field which turned into being a low paid full time mechanic more than a apprentice. Ive had a few jobs in shops and clay pigeon shooting grounds (which I still work at) and for me, being a technician has being the most enjoyable. I currently own a Seat Leon 2004, something that I don’t think is available in the US.
If anyone has any questions about Volvo’s, Volkswagen and Seat’s give me a shout!

– Jakey

[Joe]

Hey I’m Joe live in northern Colorado. Been a tech since 2010 worked for a used car dealership mostly repairing ford diesels . so if you have anything that is stumping you I maybe able to help you out.

[Tom Markert]

Hey all, names Tom
Been working on cars since 1982 in my grandfathers garage. He passed while I was in the Navy and the shop was given to an uncle who took everything and ran after selling the shop.
So after the Navy I went into working at independent shops. One was mostly fleet work (which sucked because you go in when called at 3am) and I worked at a garage where they also did starter/alternator rebuilding and repair as well as Radiator, intercooler repair and rebuilding and customizations including street rod fabrications.
I am back in the normal M-F type garage that sort of specializes in Euopean. Been at this shop since November 2004. But the experience with fabrication pays off well when the owners of a $70K plus car dont want a normal car.
I hold ASE in Brakes, suspension and steering, MACS certified heating and AC, and several other little certs for training classes.
And another car related thing is my wife and I have a demolition derby hobby, she drives and helps me build them. ( I wont get in them, too many aches and pains these days )
It’s a RUSH to help someone 60 minutes before a race starts, to yank a cylinder head and drop in a new gasket and set up all the valves, or one year, 5 of us all ganged up on an older mid 80’s Chevy caprice and did a full on engine swap in the gravel parking lot using the tracks front end loader as a hoist. That was a fun 2 1/2 hours. Like mechanical ballet.
Currently working on a 1985 GMC Cabalerro (ElCamino for the bowtie lovers) for the wifes “Hot Rod Custom Grocery Getter” using a 350 and 5 speed. Lots of shaving / chopping/ dropping / and other goodies planned for the next 3-5 years

[Carlos]

Hello fellow mechanics/technicians! B)
You can call me Carlos.
I’m 23 now and have been working on cars since I was 17. My Daily driver is a 2000 Jetta, 2.slow, five speed. I love the Jetta, it’s a great beater, super comfortable, and the best part, it sips gas. I also love the first generation Mazda Miata, I’ve become an enthusiast of those little cars, they’re a blast to drive.
Dallas has been my domain for over ten years now and I love it. I’ve been attending Brookhaven Community College, which is one of the many awesome Dallas County Community Colleges. I am 4 Credits away from obtaining an Associates in Applied Sciences, my applied science of choice is automotive repair. I’ve been working at this independent shop for almost two years with two owners and myself. Working with the two older weathered mechanics/technicians has been a great asset to my learning curve and pocket full of tips and tricks. I’m doing bumper to bumper, whatever comes in the door they throw at me. I’ve learned a lot, and the experience that I’ve gained here is priceless. I’ve learned about carburetors here and American muscle engines. I rebuilt my first motor here at this shop. A Chevy 350 that we put in a 1933 Ford Coupe 3 window. There are days that I consider choosing a different career, but i just keep on chugging along and at the end of the day I love my job most of the time. I’ve been watching Eric The Car Guy videos on YouTube for a long time now and I enjoy the repair videos and discussion sessions a lot. I want to become the honest mechanic/technician that stands out. I want to better my self in every way possible and I want to continue learning. Thanks Eric for all the time that you put into all the videos.

I hope everyone has a good week! Make all the money!!

(SIDE NOTE) — If you are looking to get your feet wet with an auto school, I really would like to steer you into a community college that offers you an Associates degree because for starters it’s cheaper in the long run, and you walk out with an associates which you can build on if you decide to steer away from the auto business. I’ve heard stories from other students at school, and their dialogue usually starts with F**** so so tech school, they charged me so so much. Sometimes over 20 grand. — (SIDE NOTE OVER)

[Scott Osborne]

Greetings, my name is Scott and I’m the in house tech for a Jelly Stone Resort campground. I maintain our fleet Ford Powerstrokes, Cat, Kubota, And John Deere equipment, various power equipment and construction equipment as well as employee’s and friends vehicles. I mostly specialize in Navistar Diesel motors but fix and rebuild all kinds of diesel motors. We also have a couple gas Chevy trucks that I also fix. So pretty much anything that has bolts I wrench on. I don’t have too much formal training mostly I’m self taught from the Internet and good old fashioned experience. I really enjoy my job, I never know what I’ll be doing next so I have lots of variety. Always very busy as we have a policy of buying used equipment that needs TLC. So just about everything we have I have rebuilt. I also do a bit of fab work because many of the things we use are site specific and need to be custom made. When I’m not wrenching I’m building here. So I’m experienced in all the trades and currently hold a North Carolina General Contractors license and a commercial plumbing license.

I also have a volunteer position at my church as media arts director and have a degree in digital media, and recording arts from Full Sail University

[Andrew Poe]

My name is Andrew Poe. I’m an ASE Master Certified (former) automotive technician that has recently made a career change into web/software development. I’ve spent a couple months now working on an application for automotive technicians called Flat Rate Tracker, but that’s a topic for a different post. I’d like to stay connected to the auto repair world, so that’s why I joined this forum. My work experience primarily consists of 7+ years at a Honda dealership, but I’ve also worked on Ford’s, Mercedes, and an assortment of whatever else rolled in.

[Greg]

Hi my name is Greg. I started in the body shop where I was a painter and then moved to the dark side because I was tired of block, block, spray everyday. I currently work at a independent repair facility where we work on all makes and models.

If I had a dollar for every customer that said they were getting rid of the car so I don’t want to spend a lot to fix it and actually got rid of the car I would be retired by now.

[Joshua Eason]

Hey guys. My name is Josh. I have been a mechanic for a decade and a half. Started in the pit of a lube shop, worked on jets in the navy for 8 years, and since then, have worked at a bike dealership as well as a few independents. I am currently a technical instructor for a mid sized Caterpillar dealership in the Midwest. I teach classes in electronics, hydraulics, transmissions, drivetrains, and HVAC. I am also trained in class 8 trucks, and can work bumper to bumper on anything.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[Matt Conte]

Hello, I hope that I would be welcome here as I am Not a technician professionally now. But I was one in a previous life. I call that live, “The 90s”
I graduated in Jan. 91 from an Automotive tech school in Phoenix az. that out for 3 schools to choose from.(Other two were UTI and AAI and are still going strong) I pick the one that turned out to be on the cusp of going out of business when I started. They managed to stay open long enough for me to get my degree and close a few months later. So much for ever being able to go back for follow up courses.
I took off after graduating to Radford Va to go work for a friend’s buddy that owned a very neat full service shop, with dreams of getting into NASCAR. This shop was where I did my best learning. I was the chassis and brakes guy. I really enjoyed it and was there for 2 years and became close friends with the owner of that shop. I still will talk to him today. He knew so much about chassis suspension and brakes. It was really something that I found so much interest in and got to take it into racing for a time.
I moved back to Phoenix after that 2 years in Va. for a few reasons one being Family. I worked at quite a few shops in the bigger city and it just was never good experiences and very hard to make a decent living. So I moved into being a mechanic in the golf course maintenance equipment area. I really enjoyed that. But I still did quite a bit of automotive side work. By the end of the 90s I had fell onto some health issues that i just could not be a full time wrench anymore and moved into the service manager position at a shop. That shop close and went to another one. then just moved on to other things. That was 2001. So I was full time out of the business at that point. Still doing things on the side at my home and for many years. helping a friend out that ran a shop doing front end alignments and brakes part time. That was about it.
I have tried every now and then to get on at a shop to be a service advisory. but No one will give me a chance. Say I have been out of the business for too long. So whatever.
I do allot at my home. I have a Hunter alignment machine in my garage, as you can see in my avatar.. It is allot of fun. I really enjoy doing alignments. really anything suspension. I would have loved to have had my own Chassis performance shop. But just never could get something like that going.
So I hope I can jump in with you guys.
Happy Motoring

[Gary Ritchie]

Hi, been working as a technician 30+ years. ASE recertified master tech, Bosch certified. Have only had 2 places of employment, both independents, great shops, always busy. (Love working on Euro cars. $1k guaranteed whenever they come in 😆 ) Over these many years, I’ve collected a lot of good experiences and knowledge. I look forward to sharing some of these with you guys.

[Dave]

Hi I am Dave,
I started as a GM Dealer tech for 12 years.
I worked for independents, on school bus and on trucks, and AC specialty shop.
I have now started my own auto repair shop.
I have certifications as an Auto Service Tech and as Truck Coach Tech.
I have diplomas in electronics engineering and in computers as well.

[Larry Bible]

I am Larry. My Army Nickname which many friends use for me is “Doc.” It came from the way I explain things. It could be accurately said about me that if you ask me what time it is, I will tell you how to build a watch.

I grew up in my Dad’s Independent Garage in the fifties. I did my first Chevy Six valve job solo at the age of twelve and had a pretty good handle on automotive A/C by that time.. In the Army in Germany, I was the guy that everyone came to for help keeping their old heaps running. I learned electronics in the Army and earned an ASEET degree in electronics after discharge while working in a truck shop at the same time. I spent my career in many facets of electronics and automation software. I have always kept my hands into cars, and when my niche software industry took a hit in 2002, I got my ASE Master thinking I might need it. It has since expired, and I found a career in a related field from which I retire at the end of May. My retirement funds will be sufficient to live, but I have acquired an expen$ive hobby/addiction, flying. I have an airplane that I don’t want to give up, so I plan on breaking out the wrenches for my extra money. I am working on recertifying for my Master and getting L1, L2 & L3 to show legitimacy for my small country shop.

This looks like a great forum with lots of people with which I have things in common. I look forward to getting to know you all.
Doc

[Author]

Replies