Specific Hour log and Description
Contact Charles Madrigal of RPM Transmission (626) 825-7048
- 8/27/12 3:30 P.M. - 6:30 P.M. (3 hours)
- Showed up at RPM Transmission and introduced myself. Got a basic idea of the tools and cars that we're gonna be working with. Drove three different types of cars around from shop to shop and got to see where the other shops are located.
- 8/28/12 7:30 A.M. - 1 P.M. (5 & 1/2 hours)
- Showed up at RPM Transmission and took a look under the hood of a car. Learned the difference between working on engines and transmissions. They're actually quite different. I also learned the difference between Japanese cars and German cars. I also learned how to set up a car to lift it with the hydraulic air jack. Every car is different. I was taught what a CVJ is and also where slide pins are located. We lifted a car and took the tires off to rotate the routers and changed the brake pads of a car. At the end of the day, we changed the oil of a car and checked the brakes of it. We came to the conclusion that we needed to rotate the routers of the that car too.
- 8/29/12 7:00 A.M. - 9:15 A.M. (2 hours and 15 minutes)
- Showed up at RPM Transmission and checked out a Sonoma S10. While looking at the S10, I learned that most cars from '91 and up, can be checked with a computer to tell you what's wrong with it. The peculiar thing is that it can only tell you what is wrong with the engine, transmission or anything electrical. We removed the routers of an Altima and sent them to a shop. We went back to work on the S10 and found that something was wrong with the TPC (torque pressure censor). We then moved on to a PT Cruiser that wouldn't start and found that it was because the fuel wasn't reaching the engine. To make sure it was that, we opened up the side of the engine and put some combustible gas in it, then started it. For a second, the car started and we were sure that it was because the fuel wasn't reaching the engine.
L: What questions were raised because of the 10 hours of experience? List them.
- Is there a difference in difficulty when working on a old car than a new car? If so, why?
- What do you do when you rotate the routers and change the brake pads, but still hear screeching when you brake?
- What happens to a car when the CVJ stops working?
- We removed and rotated a lot of routers, does that mean that the main problem with brakes are the routers?
- Exactly how much more difficult is it to work on engines than to work on transmissions?
- What's the first thing you have to look for when you start working on a car that you don't know anything about?
- How exactly do you work on the fuel injection system?
- Because there are a lot of liability issues when working as a mechanic, what are the main things you can get sued for?
- Besides an auto mechanics class, what other classes do I need to take to become a mechanic?
- Is there a school that is known for its auto mechanics class or is it even necessary to graduate from college to become a mechanic?
I: What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?
The most important thing I gained from this experience was knowing that you have to know what you're doing and that you have to have a lot of patience when working with cars. You have to know what you're doing because as I was there, I noticed that even though one day you might only have one or two cars to work on, the next day you might have seven to ten cars to work on and to keep your customers happy - another thing that's very important when working as a mechanic - you have to be able to fix the problem quickly but correctly. Knowing what you're doing is important but most importantly, I learned that you really have to have a lot of patience because a rushed job is never good and if you loose your patience, no matter how mad you get, the car isn't going to care. It's simply a car and you might even mess up the car more than what it already was if you get mad and try to rush the job.
A: How did what you did help you choose a topic? Please explain.
The topic I am considering is auto mechanics. Working on cars helped me choose a topic because it showed me that being a mechanic was what I hoped it would be. It's work that you need knowledge about, you can be your own boss and it's never the same thing day after day. I like all that and I think I would really like learning more about cars, how they work and how to fix them. I plan on my topic being something with cars like the maintenance of one, how to get the most mileage out of your car, or how to fix your own car. I still don't know what exactly my topic is going to be, but I think that working with a mechanic will help me figure out what it is I really want to do.
