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Techie, Wrench-head, or Both?
An Anonymous Coward
throws this spanner into the works by asking: "OK, a response to another Slashdot question has made me wonder... Can techies fix cars? I know computers very well, I can fix VCRs, and I can wire home theater systems but I don't know the slightest thing about my car. I am not sure I even want to but I thought some other Slashdoters might want to way in on that. Could it be the whole "getting dirty" thing with cars? What do you think? How well do you know the inner workings of that thing that sits in the driveway?" I used to think I liked taking anything apart, not just computers, but after spending a few frustrating afternoons maintaining my car, I figured such things were best left to the professionals. However, I may be a minority in this, based on the responses from the last auto-related question.
it seems no one has mentioned a (perhaps the) definitive work on this subject (among others): Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainence
It says that one of the major things wrong with society today (and yesterday and tomorrow) is the "leave it to the pros" mentality that many people adopt regarding 'technology,' be it a computer, a leaky faucet, a motorcycle, or a car. I think most slashdotters have a DIY frame of mind when it comes to computers, but I think limiting that attitude to computers alone is confusing. One of the key elements of a curious, enthusiastic, and gumptionful attitude is that it encompasses anything and everything it comes across. So, before you write off car maintainence, think about the zeal with which you would attack a similar problem on a computer, think about what knowledge and tools you are missing to perform said fix, and get to it!
While I suppose that getting particularly dirty working on a car might be objectionable to those of you who are stereotypical non-bathing geeks, I don't seem to have much trouble spending 5 minutes with a jar of hand cleaner to save several hundred dollars in "professional" labor.
Most car troubles are fixed with simple, bolt-on parts. Starters, water pumps, alternators, and most commonly brakes, are bloody simple to replace. A couple of bolts, a wire or two, perhaps a belt and you're done - with enough extra money left over to buy a new bigass hard drive.
Suspension parts are easy. I replaced a rear wheel bearing on my Beretta in about a half hour. Shocks took slightly longer, but were still a walk in the park.
Oddly enough, I often find it easier to work on my car's hardware than my computer's. I don't want to remove every wire connecting my PC to the outside world when I work on it, just as I don't want to remove the engine from a car to change the spark plugs. Thus, I find myself crawling under desks, with my head and shoulders tucked between two shelves, and using my third elbow to install a new DIMM. Whereas, on a car, one simply puts the thing in gear, drives up a set of cheap portable ramps, and sets the brake to get at the guts inside.
Diagnosing a car is much like diagnosing failing computer hardware in terms of thought processes required. Does it crank? No. Does it click? Yes. Measure the voltage of the battery - if voltage is sane, the battery is charged and it's either a dead starter motor or a bad connection. If not, the battery is discharged, either due to age, abuse, bad alternator, or a bad connection.
Simple stuff. Turn the power on a PC. Does it boot? No. Do any fans spin? Yes. Check connections, re-seat memory, CPU and anything else that plugs in. Does machine still not boot? Yes. Measure power supply voltage. If it's sane, toss the motherboard.
I treat internal motor problems differently, but I also treat component-level problems on, say, a flakey motherboard differently as well. Which is to say, that I don't care enough to learn how to fix them - if I burn a piston on my car, it's either getting a different engine, getting fixed by someone who knows what they're doing, or being thrown away. Just like I would do with a motherboard which, for some reason, stopped doing DMA (though I'd be most likely to replace it first, and seek professional opinion later).
Point is, it's the same thing. The parts are heavier, and often dirtier, but I've never had sneezing fits from an oil-covered spark plug boot. The cruft inside of a 5-year-old PC is a different story.
And, besides, there's interesting problems to overcome. The vacuum resevoir's mounting tab broke off on my car. I noticed sthis ometime after the front tire had worn a hole into it, and delayed repairs until sometime after it had fallen off completely. Symptoms? Strange noises at odd times, and no control of heater vent selection under acceleration.
By the time I got around to doing something about it, it was not obvious at all where the thing originally mounted. I found a replacement resevoir and a length of suitable tubing at a junk yard for (literally) a couple of dollars. Using stout, expensive wire ties I attached it to one of the shocks inside of the front bumper cover. Fed the new vacuum line along the loom with the a bunch of wires and other stuff to the check valve where the old one connected.
The new location offers good protection from road debris. I'm satisfied that it won't ever break loose or become disconnected, unless I hit something hard enough to dislodge my teeth. It is thus better than the original.
Same thing with the stainless steel strap I fashioned together with grade 8 nuts and bolts to hold the muffler in place, rather than the rusty, and poorly-riveted iron strap that came from the factory. The OEM strap, given a few Ohio winters, didn't survive the impact of the car falling a few inches when the rear wheel bearing snapped. The new one, which I made from stuff I had sitting around, should outlive me, regardless of what type of abuse I deliver to it. I have no doubt that it will be justfine when the car once again goes skidding, bottomed-out, along the roadway as a complete wheel (and half of the brakes!) go bouncing merrily away. [not that I'm looking forward to a repeat of that particular episode.] GM didn't do this because it's relatively expensive, just as Dell doesn't use solid copper Alpha heatsinks for their customers' overclocking joy.
But I'm not GM or Dell. I'll use a copper heatsink if I feel like it, and I'll make up for it (with change to spare) by installing it myself.
Pride, cash in my pocket, and a working automobile that I learned something new about, which is now in some way better than new. What's not to love?
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Kid-proof tablet..
Yeah, okay... I'm a nerd. Sure, I can take apart a computer in less than thirty seconds in most every instance. That's just the nature of the beast.
Cars are different. Don't get me wrong, I do work on my car often--usually aided by my brother, who is a mechanic. Why not do it all myself? Tools. A computer can be nearly completely taken apart with a single #2 phillips screwdriver. A single screwdriver won't get you anywhere on a car. We always like to say "the right tool for the job", but in the car industry nearly every job has its own specialized tools. And those tools can be expensive. My brother's tools ended up costing him over $15,000 when all said and done; and that's not even everything.
I think geeks (like most people) simply don't bother working on their cars because that would mean buying more tools. My garage is full enough with two cars, thanks--I don't want half of that taken up with Ryan's Full Service Center. If I can get my car up to my brother's, I'll work on it there. If not, I'll pay to have the service done locally--only because I don't want pay $50 for necessary tools to replace a $15 part and it will only cost me $40 to get it taken care of. Sure, the tools pay for themselves over time, but I'm just not interested in the losing my car's place in the garage.
Long, cute, or funny Sigs are just another form of over compensation, used by geeks, nerdz, etc.
I also have been fixing "things", be they computers , cars, furniture, stereo/tvs, cameras, etc. since I was a child.
:)
When I was very young, I started taking things apart when nobody was looking. One day I took apart (and broke) a desktop thermometer, and my father caught me. He immediately created a new house rule: I could take apart anything I wanted, without asking -- if I could put it back together again afterwards.
Thus emboldened, I started taking apart everything in sight. In the early days, there were lots of parts left over, but the devices always worked when I was through with 'em.
When my father brought home our first computer (a Compaq 'luggable' portable computer, circa 1981) the same rules applied. I applied the same brute force techniques, and learned everything I could.
Ultimately, computers is cars is phones is musical instruments is printing presses is lighting fixtures...devices are devices. Some just get dirtier than others. I know how to recover after a hard drive crash, I know how to replace a starter, and I know how to do hundreds of other things that help me get through the day.
And believe you me, my wife's happy to have a handyman in the house.