What should I know before working In a repair garage?(Not Subaru)

[Whopper]

So this is a weird question with a weird story but I didn't know who else to ask. So Im currently am a High School student and next semester I will be doing a work study at a garage. Along side repair and preventive maintenance they do swaps and lifts. Im sure Ill be a loaf(lube oil and filter) boy but I need to know what any experienced mechanics here have to say about things like safty and stuff I absolutely need to know. Im pretty sure Ill be able to figure out most the tools that I haven't used like a real lift and the fancy oil catch can things. But what else should I know because all my car experience is just do it haggard and easy not safe and smart. Thanks for any advice.

[doublechaz]

Wear hearing protection every time there is an impact tool running. You don't want the reconstuctive ear surgery when the little bones in there fuse together from a career of no hearing protection.

 

Upgrade your safety squints to something polycarbonate.

 

Learn all the safety stuff they can teach and go on the safe side of all those rules, not the you can get away with it side. My dad had a few months of severe pain when he was painting his airplane because he washed the paint off his hands a few times with MethylEthylKetone (MEK). It goes right through your skin and burns up your nerves. More exposure could have lead to paralysis in his arms. It did get better but it took quite a while.

[Brighton96]

+1 on ear protection. Get a couple sets of gloves, ear and eye protection because they tend to get destroyed or go missing, also find clothes you are ready to retire and then wear them as garage clothes, assuming they have uniforms, I'm meaning more of shoes and what not. There will be times where your clothes get so grungy that washing them won't get them clean so you need to have stuff you're willing to throw away. If they make you bring your own tools, go on craigslist, find a complete or couple partially complete tool boxes, and then paint everything a hideous color. If you have nice tools everyone will use/take them in time so better to have worn stuff thats a ugly color, plus then it's easy to find around the shop. Keep the nice tools for your home/personal set. So basically don't take anything to work that you aren't willing to lose.

 

I'd like to say there are garages that are exceptions to this but in the couple mechanic jobs I've had, they've all been the same sort of culture. Most of the time stuff just gets lost or misplaced, not actually stolen.

[Setnev]

I've never worked in an actual professional environment, but I do follow along to what most of the pros do when working on my own cars, which in turn has lead to me getting some business on the side that's helped out financially.

 

#1 - It's all about your safety. You are no good to a shop injured. Even something as simple as a cut on your finger makes a huge difference. One time my buddy made fun of me for wearing eye protection when we were installing a lift pump on his Duramax. He was all macho, "Real men don't need eye protection", blah blah blah, until his filter that he installed sprayed diesel everywhere, including, you guessed it, right into our faces. 30 minutes of flushing his eyes out made him learn real quick that you don't mess with safety. Remember your PPE: Eyewear, footwear, gloves, hearing protection, skin protection (see #2). An impact gun or angle grinder puts out 120db of sound or higher depending how close you are to it. Contrary to popular belief, automotive fluids are harmful under prolonged exposure. Even if the floor was properly cleaned up after a spill, that floor is still slippery.

 

#2 - Invest in a week's worth of coveralls, long sleeve preferred. I can't tell you how many times I got weird looks from people wearing long sleeve coveralls, but when your car just pulled in the driveway and you need to diagnose it PDQ, you can't afford to graze your arm on a hot engine part, like an exhaust manifold. A full length coverall will save you from that oops and a potential trip to the ER.

 

#3 - The right tool for the right job. There is a reason that newbies start out as "LOAFers". When you're starting out, you're most likely going to have a basic tool set. Granted that tool set can do most things on a car. Hell we all know anyone can take apart a whole Subaru with a 8, 10, 12, 14, 17mm sockets and wrenches and a couple of screwdrivers. Start with a basic tool set, something with a lifetime warranty so if something breaks, you're not spending time and money replacing it. Work your way up to having two of every most commonly used tool. Why? Because if you break one midway through a job, how are you going to continue? Seasoned veterans will tell you go with big brands (Snap-On, Mac Tools, etc). And they're right, almost. With hand tools like Pittsburgh Pro (Harbor Freight), Kobalt (Lowe's), Husky (Home Depot), Duralast (AutoZone), and PowerTorque (O'Reilly's) being so affordable, accessible, and all with Lifetime warranties, these should not be overlooked. Remember, you're working on grandma's 10 year old Buick, not a $90,000 AMG. Work your way up to bigger and better tools. Breaker bars, prybars, specialty socket sets, etc. The more your arsenal of tools and proof that you can properly use them, makes you more valuable to a shop.

 

#4 - Learn flag rate and how it affects you. Before you can do a tune up, replace an exhaust manifold gasket, change a water pump, you have to prove you can do something basic like change the oil. Showing competence, accuracy, and speed will get you noticed. If you can change the oil on a car in 15 minutes without spilling a drop of oil and everything is done right but Junior in the bay next to you takes twice the time, that means more money for the shop, which means more money for you and more advanced jobs.

 

#5 - Certifications matter. Sure there are guys out there, old school guys, who have been working on cars longer than you've been alive. Most of those old school guys are being replaced with younger guys who have certifications. Why? Cars are more advanced today, than even 10 years ago. Any mechanic can change the brakes on a car, but does any mechanic know that a 2015 Range Rover has a brake pad life sensor that needs to be reset when you replace them? Which leads me to my next point.

 

#6 - Always Be Learning. If you notice a particular make or model of vehicle frequent in the shop, get a service manual or maintenance manual for it and study it. If you're not already doing it, look into dedicated classes at the local community college to continue your automotive education. Community colleges usually offer a pretty comprehensive array of classes that are quite affordable compared to trade schools. Also, a lot of them are targeted towards the appropriate ASE certification in that area, so once you're done with that class you can take the exam for ASE. If you're looking at long term auto mechanics, look at trade schools. The two top trade schools are UTI and Lincoln Tech, which is actually right in your neck of the woods in Denver, whereas the closest UTI campus is here in AZ. Plus Lincoln Tech sponsors Hot Rod Garage, which is awesome!

 

So there's probably more that I'm forgetting, but I believe this should help to get you started.

[axii]

Thanks for your detailed answer, i was looking for such information because i’m planning to open my own garage soon, i have a plan to drive all across Australia on a bike which I want to upgrade by myself in my garage that I also want to build by myself in my backyard. The whole process should take around 6 months, i already ordered the aluminum parts from localshedsolutions.com.au for the garage i’ll have some help from my friend with installing parts because he’s a mechanics, but i still a question about the tools the i should have in my garage. Edited September 14, 2020 by axii

[Brighton96]

There isn't a reason to try to buy every single tool right off the bat. Get a comprehensive kit and a good electric impact. You can always upgrade to bigger better tools and you will also accumulate obscure tools as you work on things. But there is no need to dump thousands in tools right off away. If you can find someone selling a complete tool box with tools on gumtree that'd be ideal. But if not, find a budget rolling tool box and a good variety of sockets, wrenches and so on. Edited September 11, 2020 by Brighton96

[doublechaz]

For example, I've been doing all my own car stuff for 20 years now. Just the other day I bought a set of ratcheting box wrenches. Never needed them before with my non-ratcheting set and ratcheting sockets. But I came up to some stuff on a jeep bumper where sockets wouldn't fit and the rotation room meant open end, flip the wrench over for the other 12 degree offset swing, repeat. So Ratchet was needed to get the job done this week.

 

You can do an awful lot with an open/box set, socket set, couple kinds of pliers and a ball peen hammer.

[Infosecdad]

It was a spam post for the link that was removed... not sure it's really worth answering at this point.