Automotive tech education

[WARRIORWELDING]

Anyone ever considered going to community college courses in automotive studies for giggles?

Really kicked the idea around for a while and it's fell back into my head.
I know a lot about a little it seems. Done my fair share of this and that over the years. Replaced all the easy stuff and a few jobs like heads and timing belts. Never done a complete engine rebuild. Pulled some trannies and transfer cases. Built the latter and a manual but never a complete auto other then valve body swaps. Charged some ac stuff and passed a half way tonight class long long ago at a Kenworth dealer that gave me "license" to buy refrigerant. Never done much more then charges and one class using a recycling machine. Built some diffs.

I dunno. Maybe confidence or lack of having good OEM manuals some things I want to tackle feel a bit of a stretch. Always felt a few courses may be helpful.

 

[Noel]

Anyone ever considered going to community college courses in automotive studies for giggles?

Really kicked the idea around for a while and it's fell back into my head.
I know a lot about a little it seems. Done my fair share of this and that over the years. Replaced all the easy stuff and a few jobs like heads and timing belts. Never done a complete engine rebuild. Pulled some trannies and transfer cases. Built the latter and a manual but never a complete auto other then valve body swaps. Charged some ac stuff and passed a half way tonight class long long ago at a Kenworth dealer that gave me "license" to buy refrigerant. Never done much more then charges and one class using a recycling machine. Built some diffs.

I dunno. Maybe confidence or lack of having good OEM manuals some things I want to tackle feel a bit of a stretch. Always felt a few courses may be helpful.

I would honestly think it wouldn’t benefit much until you got into some more specific classes. It’s getting so technical now I’m not sure how any school could teach a general knowledge outside of basic mechanics. All manufacturers have similar things but go about them all different ways. I think before long you will even see private shops specialize more often than not. Basically private dealers. Like people who only work on xyz while another shop down the road works on abc. Poke your head into a Oreillys and ask the manager or fleet guy about their classes, usually about every month they do some technical training at their warehouses.

 

[WARRIORWELDING]

I would honestly think it wouldn’t benefit much until you got into some more specific classes. It’s getting so technical now I’m not sure how any school could teach a general knowledge outside of basic mechanics. All manufacturers have similar things but go about them all different ways. I think before long you will even see private shops specialize more often than not. Basically private dealers. Like people who only work on xyz while another shop down the road works on abc. Poke your head into a Oreillys and ask the manager or fleet guy about their classes, usually about every month they do some technical training at their warehouses.

To be clear my father was a dealer tech and a service manager at a Ford dealer for around 25-30 years. I have very close friend from highschool he hired straight from community college and is master tech certified in light cars trucks and diesel. He's an automotive Ford genius and has considerable time in the specific class types you mentioned. He will be the first to admit each have some very specific tech and procedures. He left a short stint at a county garage for govt fleet for that reason and went back to Ford.

I've just wondered if the general classes offered would be beneficial. I'm no wiz and love learning. The degree my friend acquired seemed to really get him on track and he was already a decent shade tree in highschool. I have no real training except experience gained by doing, google, and old Haynes manuals. I get stumped from time to time and just don't like it. I want to hone my skills and stop the phone a friend/Google searches as much as I can.

On another note I'm looking for the best way to acquire a few real OEM repair manuals. Not the lacking Haynes books I'm used to.

 

[WARRIORWELDING]

@Noel
I've inferred through post your a tech. Maybe I'm not correct. But more on my interest. My father I spoke of pushed me hard not to become a auto tech. I understood where he came from and his personal experiences. "Funny" he encouraged my best friend at the same dinner table, .

Anyway I really enjoy the aspects of the trade. Maybe because it hasn't been my sole source of income, . I'll be 50 in six or so months. I got several projects I wanna tackle and most have aspects out of my knowledge. I hate winging stuff and have a perfectionist affliction, especially when it feels like black magic instead of engrossed understanding.

The flip side is I don't want to waste my time or money. It would really irritate me to take a bunch of electives I had thirty years ago.

 

[Noel]

@Noel
I've inferred through post your a tech. Maybe I'm not correct. But more on my interest. My father I spoke of pushed me hard not to become a auto tech. I understood where he came from and his personal experiences. "Funny" he encouraged my best friend at the same dinner table, .

Anyway I really enjoy the aspects of the trade. Maybe because it hasn't been my sole source of income, . I'll be 50 in six or so months. I got several projects I wanna tackle and most have aspects out of my knowledge. I hate winging stuff and have a perfectionist affliction, especially when it feels like black magic instead of engrossed understanding.

The flip side is I don't want to waste my time or money. It would really irritate me to take a bunch of electives I had thirty years ago.

I am some days lol . I thoroughly enjoy it and problem solving. But it’s scary how quick things are changing. And in it first hand daily you see how shitty stuff is becoming. Im sure we’re similar in things as I always wanna fix any problems myself. Guess I have somewhat of a trust issue. Luckily I have friends in some fields that I am clueless about and we scratch each others backs.

 

[jeepinmatt]

@RHSCTJ may have some useful input on this topic.

 

[Shreddinlettuce]

I took welding courses bra cause I was paying for full time student status already and more credit hours were free. It was mostly stick, but the last week or 2 was mig. Access to way better equipment than I will ever get. Plus if you make friends with the teacher they may do something on your junk like setting ring and pinion or something doable in a day

The auto class next door to the welding was building a d60 full floater for some dudes flatbed

 

[WARRIORWELDING]

I took welding courses bra cause I was paying for full time student status already and more credit hours were free. It was mostly stick, but the last week or 2 was mig. Access to way better equipment than I will ever get. Plus if you make friends with the teacher they may do something on your junk like setting ring and pinion or something doable in a day

The auto class next door to the welding was building a d60 full floater for some dudes flatbed

CVCC?
I taught for them a few years. This is where my friend took his automotive as well.

 

[Shreddinlettuce]

Abtech

 

[paradisePWoffrd]

I believe there are a few others, but Alldata is a great source for true OEM repair manuals. Everything is digital and subscription based these days.

There is alot of information on YT and google on how to approach specific problems these days. Possibly more then you might get in a college coarse; unless you are wanting to get certified and do it for a living.

 

[RHSCTJ]

I have no experience with community college. I went to a specialized tech school with a ton of hands-on training. I dont know how much of that you would get at a CC. I would look in to the ASE study guides. If you understand that part of it, I would think you could apply it pretty easily. @Noel Pretty much covered it.

 

[RatLabGuy]

@Noel
I've inferred through post your a tech. Maybe I'm not correct. But more on my interest. My father I spoke of pushed me hard not to become a auto tech. I understood where he came from and his personal experiences. "Funny" he encouraged my best friend at the same dinner table, .

Anyway I really enjoy the aspects of the trade. Maybe because it hasn't been my sole source of income, . I'll be 50 in six or so months. I got several projects I wanna tackle and most have aspects out of my knowledge. I hate winging stuff and have a perfectionist affliction, especially when it feels like black magic instead of engrossed understanding.

The flip side is I don't want to waste my time or money. It would really irritate me to take a bunch of electives I had thirty years ago.

I'll be honest... I don't think you want an automotive tech series of courses.

There's a huge difference in the orientation of training for a guy going into the profession vs a guy that just wants to improve his hobby skills. We're talking months of work hours vs weeks.

Look at the difference between welding certification classes vs the continuing-ed "survey" courses that are set for a night a week for a few hours. One really gets into the details and requires a lot of sweat equity and learning perfection while the other is just enough to get a job done.

My point is be honest with what you're trying to get out of it to fit your needs and just see what can be found to do that. What you need is something for hobbyists. Sometimes a CC will have a con-ed course like that... But honestly you could probably get better training by finding a local car club and asking who is rebuilding an engine and ask to come help... Particularly in exchange for some welding skills, or being their trainer!
Or maybe try to find one of those DIY garages and see if somebody has a project that you can help out with.

 

[Wes]

I’ve thought about doing this for marine tech stuff but it’s not offered anywhere near me that I could find.