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.

Comments

To some its a strange combination.

[schwap]

I had a job doing tech support a few years back and when it was time for me to go home, my starter motor went out. I came back the next day with a new starter motor and installed it in the pouring rain. I walked into the building to return the wrench set to the sysadmin and clean up, at which time my supervisor asked me what I was doing there on my day off. I told him that I had to change the starter motor on my car and put in a new battery. His jaw dropped and he said, "You mean you can fix cars too!?!" For a couple of days he was going off about how I was able to fix my own car. To me its just another device. I guess its 'cause I was taking things apart and sometimes putting them back together from the time I could hold a screw driver.

I like cars, but...

[GregWebb]

... I can't see this is the sort of thing you can generalise.

Some people here are saying they think cars are too messy, too noisy, too big, whatever. Personally, I just like finding out how _anything_ works. Yes, _anything_.

I'm the kid who dismantled half his toys to find out what was inside them, who dismantles every click-action biro he ever gets his hands on to see what the mechanism does this time (there's surprising variety)... you get the idea. I don't actually do any more severe work on my car than changing wheels, simply because I've never had the time or enthusiasm to learn and I don't trust myself not to get something wrong and cause a dangerous / expensive problem. But I can describe to you how most of the bits there work and talk about new advances in the technology. I've done almost all my own bicycle maintenance and I've spent hours working building model vechicles and components in Meccano. No dislike for the mechanical, just no incentive (yet) to work on my car.

We're all different, we're all attracted to computers for different reasons. My reason happens to be the same reason that I'm interested in cars - and, well, pretty much anything mechanical. Yours may not be. Welcome to the diverse world of Computing.

to analog, to much work :)

[MadMirko]

After all, every person I know which is interested in computers, programming, things digital are lazy. It is nice to say, "hey, line 10 is your problem, you can't asume the string will be terminated. Do this, and recompile", and wait for the computer to finish the hard work.

If you spot a problem inside a car's motor you have to crawl around, lift heavy things, get yourself dirty, hurt yourself with tools and parts with sharp edges and generally waste much time on not-brainwork.

For me the most interesting part is figuring out and solving a problem in theory. If in practice that means I have to do routine tasks for many hours, I usually don't do it at all.

That's the difference between recompilling code and reassembling a motor.

Thanks.

Re:a case of environmental hereditary....

[cloudmaster]

Well said. It seems that cars and computers elicit similar reactions from people. Either youre one of those "super geeks" that understand their workings, or you're too scared of that complicated machine to touch it. We all find it amusing when someone says that computers are really difficult to work on or figure out. I have the same reaction to people who claim cars are complicated. Then, I grew up on a farm with a dad with a pretty hot '70 chevelle (yes, the LS6), so I knew mechanics before I knew computers. An engine's simple, the systems are simple, but if someone's made up their mind that the device is "too complicated" for them to learn, then they'll never learn about it. Really, that's sad, because it's far easier to get screwed out of hundreds or thousands of dollars getting a car fixed than it is when getting a computer fixed by "professionals". Personally, I think that there should be a basic auto shop class required in high school for everyone who might drive someday. You don't have to know a wrist pin from a water pump, but you should know that low tire pressure will affect mileage and how to change oil before you can own a car.

Oh, to answer the question, I'm a wrenchhead and a computer geek. Learning makes me happy, creating make me happy, and variety makes me happy. That's why.

Ah, HARDware...

[cr0sh]

Ok - let me give you a bit of "insight" on my own personal experience...

By "day", I am a coder (currently Java, but will hack on anything thrown at me - including - "shudder" - DB/C - a COBOL varient - "shudder"). But when I go home, especially on the weekends - things can get, well...interesting...

On the "low" end I have fun with simple mechanical stuff (case in point - the other night I spent a couple of hours tearing apart, in full - a Logitech Trackman Marble - to clean it. It was a friend's, who gave it to me because it was "broke". He lives in one of those icky, dirty, roach-infested "gee-I-wonder-why" "geek" houses. Needless to say, it now works). Up a little higher I do digital electronic design and interfacing, mainly for custom robotic, virtual reality, and "embedded" application. IE - I break out the soldering iron and multimeter, and become a "wire-head". A little further I start doing fab work - breaking out the bigger tools (ie, dremel, saws, drills, etc) - for a variety of projects in metal, plastic, and wood (typically, these bits of work are parts of similar projects in robotics and VR).

But recently (well, it started soon after I got my first and current vehicle) - I have started down a fun, sometimes exciting, sometimes scary, and always dirty, dirty, dirty - path.

I have, with the help of my brother-in-law (whom I have mentioned in my past comments - he's the guy who drives a 10 wheel dump truck, and thinks nothing of using ether to "air up" a backhoe tire) been learning how to repair my vehicle - as I have learned the basics, I have become more comfortable working around and on it, and other large machines. I have always loved machines, but it used to scare me to think about pulling one apart, changing parts, etc. As I have worked on my vehicle, I have become much more confident. I regularly change my oil (both engine, transmission, and differential - ohh, does gear oil STINK!), spark plugs, battery, etc. I have done both front and rear brakes, drum and disc, repacked bearings, changed shocks, etc. I recently helped my brother-in-law remove and replace his clutch on his pickup, as well as diagnose and fix a loose steering wheel (bad u-joint). I have even learned how to do a home-brew wheel alignment!

This man has showed me a lot - he is all the time tearing his dump truck apart (mainly because it is over 25 years old, and has more new parts than original - but you got to keep it running, because that is his job) - I have seen him take the entire side of his engine off, to replace a blower housing on his engine. I have seen him drop the differential and replace it. He is always changing tires on the thing, or repacking hydraulic rams, or doing something. I have seen this man covered, head-to-toe, in dirt and grease working from sundown to sunup - to keep his truck going and provide for his small family. He is my mentor in these things, and I couldn't ask for a better one.

Recently, he has been teaching me a new "trade": metalwork - mainly Arc Welding. In addition, he has showed me how to properly use an OxyAcetylene torch for cutting steel. In the future, once I have regular stick welding down, I hope to move to an Argon gas wire-feed his dad has in his shop. Grinding, cutting, welding - red to white hot steel, flowing down, dripping near your toes. Hot bits of steel flying past your head (encased safely in a welding mask, of course) - some hitting your arms, and bitting like fire ants - that is what I am learning about.

Where to next - well I have been pondering home-based smelting...

Now, you may ask - how will this help me? I am a coder by day, after all - what good can all this do me? One thing, it lets me take my mind off coding - relaxes it, allowing time off to mull over other things, and maybe solutions to a coding problem come to my head because of that. But you know what I look forward to?

Imagine me combining my knowledge of coding, electronic design and interfacing, fabrication, autowork, metalwork, welding, cutting, grinding, and smelting - what can I design? What can I do?

<Smiling, with visions of a jet powered, teleoperated walking robot dancing in my head...>