If you work in a shop as a mechanic please help... I am working on a research paper for school and im researching auto mechanics and i cant seem to find much on any website describing working conditions... As of right now i just need more info on working conditions. Thanks

 

What do you really want to know? Work conditions well its dirty, hot in the summer and cold and wet in the winter laying on my back in the field working on equipment. It can be very harsh or could be comfy and get to do things in a heated service bay. Just depends on what you do.

 

to be honest i dont think there is much on working conditions. my teacher said we have to have at least one page on it and i dont even have half a page. everything i have is pretty obvious. so im just trying to find out more.... if there is

 

Hmmm very busy. As far as real world conditions its a lot more dirty than a college type shop. In the real world most vehicles are not clean. Also the shop tends to be a little more messier and dirty in the real world.
The hours are pretty long over 8 usually, my self I only have 4 full days off a month. The pay is pretty good but you usually work on commission. Meaning if a job pays 6 hours and you do it in 5 you get payed for 6. But if you take 8 you still get 6 hours of pay. So a lot of times people tend to rush and do a hurried job. But in doing so you do a poor job and the car returns with the same problem you fix it for free. I'd better get to sleep so I can work tommorrow and stop rambling lol.

 

maybe this would help Automotive Mechanic

 

Working conditions can very like night and day !
a lot of it depends on the Service Manager that you work for and then there is the Parts Department and there is nothing better than a good parts person that knows his stuff , the parts guys can help you more than most people think they can , at least a good one can !
The Service Manager has the interest of the company first as any warranty work and or Come Backs is paid for buy the company .
the mechanics will always get the short end of the deal !!
and then there is the location where you work , you will get paid by the book what ever the hrs are usually thats what the Service Manager will pay you , so if you live and work in the part of country that the vehicles see snow and salt you have to deal
with the rust and if you have ever worked on any thing that is rusted up it takes longer to fix and in my experience the Service Managers have always said that they can not charge the customer for any more than what the book said to charge !!
so if you do decide to work for a living as a mechanic , my advice is to stay with 1
brand of vehicle and only 1 and then learn ever thing about the drive ability of that particular brand of vehicles !!

 

Formerly worked as a wrench and also as a manager at a body shop, but I'll throw a couple peso's in the pot.

• Most everybody wants the car fixed yesterday, while some can be understanding, many aren't and blame you for taking to long to fix a problem that they created.
• You are flying blind alot of the time, many people have no clue what they did before the car broke, and are useless to help provide information for diagnosing the problem, others know information, but are unwilling to share it, since it will show they screwed up in one way or another , which caused the problem.
• As 390 pointed out, conditions can vary from day to day and even hour to hour. That morning might be a nice oil change or brake job in the service bay, that afternoon might be out in the parking lot, with the sun beating down on you at 100degrees diagnosing a no start, or laying on the ground changing a bad fuel filter in the pouring rain on a car full of screaming kids.
• Noise, lots of noise. Air tools, compressors, phones, cars running, etc
• More than a few busted knuckles and scrapes, whether its a wrench slipping off a bolt, trying to fit your hand holding a ratchet and socket into a place that a circus midget wouldn't want to reach into, or having to reach between a hot manifold or block and the body to try and check something.
• Always need more tools than you have, usually something of a specialty nature, that is not going to be used often, but is almost required to have to perform the repair you are doing. Even a fully stocked toolbox today, will be outdated in some aspects next year.
• Expenses, the Snap-On, Mac, Matco, etc tool truck guys are always ready to sell you the tool you need in the previous point, and are there every Friday to collect on the account to pay for the tool they sold you.
• Creativity. You need a Hexadiagonal 15/18th Torque splitter to properly adjust the part you are repairing on Monday, the tool truck won't be there until Thursday and the vehicle has been promised back to the customer on Tuesday, better figure out what you have in your box to make work in the meantime.
• Dirty, greasy, oily (like imbaka said, whats in a training environment is not what you see in the real world, oil leaks for the past 10kmiles, just got towed in from a cow pasture covered in cow dung, etc.) There's an old saying you can always tell who a mechanic is, as he's the one who washes his hands BEFORE he goes and takes a p*ss.
• Smelly. Exhaust, oils, stale gas, diesel, gear lube, cleaning chemicals, all providing a nice ambiance in the shop.
• Having to fix what other people fixed before you before you can even begin to diagnose and fix the actual problem.
• Always learning and trying to keep even with the latest ways of doing things, whether its new diagnostic tools, or troubleshooting techniques, or ways of performing the repair.
• Stressful, the combination of noise, smell, is it fixed yet, etc all listed above will at times make you want to buy stock in Prozac, or keep a bottle of Jack hidden in your tool box somewhere.
• Self doubt, as you are working along and thinking about all the things previously listed, with the customer looking at you like you are a big dummy because the vehicle isn't done yet, the service manager giving you the evil eye because the vehicle isn't done yet, and you are wondering why you subject yourself to this day after day.
• When you are done working, you still aren't done working, its time to clean the tools, put them away, go home and take a shower to try and remove all the dirt from under your nails and that is ground into the pores of your skin.
• SATISFACTION- When a vehicle that wouldn't run for cr@p when it came in, pulls out of the shop purring like a kitten, with a happy customer behind the wheel.

 

Ward, i couldnt have said it better myself

 

Well said this is why is should type when half asleep

 

I got some info:
-Yes, thats right everyones wants the car done asap, if not the moment they drop it off
-Ive worked for a variety of shops, some were cleaner than others. Most were ok but dirty, one I worked for looked like a mess always but we were good mechanics, others were so clean you felt bad making them dirty
-Working on cars stink, nothing is ever easy and when you think it is something goes wrong or breaks.
-Yea you hurt yourself, smashing fingers, hands, feet, cuts scrapes, burns, bruises it happens.
-Its very dirty cause cars are dirty. Its totally normal to have hands with 10 layers of dirt, grime and grease on them when your done for the day and maybe youc an get it off with pumice hand scrub.
-NOISY! Impact guns, air ratchets and the likes are super loud and you can damage your hearing
-It smells really bad, oil, coolant, trans fluid, gas, etc make for a weird combination of smells. By the end of the day you stink of sweat and oil/etc.
-Conditions vary, sometimes your inside and its heated or cooler. Othertime your outside frying or freezing, sometimes your working in the rain or snow, etc.
-Fixing peoples problems they caused themselves, or let go for so long now its a major problem or fixing what someone else did is always fun.
-Trying to figure out how to do things can sometimes be a pain. Just cause the computer program says it takes 3 hours to do something doesnt mean you can do it in that time. Diagnosing things, specially computer related can take time. Just cause a sensors bad doesnt mean its the sensor-could just be a wire frayed and broke or something
-Buying tools is $$$$, I like working for shops where you need your own tools but share the more $$$ items from a master box. Some tools are hundreds of dollars and you will barely use it-but when you need-its nice to have.
-Pay can vary greatly, some shops pay a few dollars over minimum wage and some pay you 25+hr-most dont want to pay you well cause then they dont make money.
-I agree with creativity. Sometimes you just dont have the right tool so you better figure something out cause the car needs to be done now.
-Things break, especially bolts and nuts in very hard to reach areas. This means you gotta get it out, 90% of the time this is a super annoying job no matter what-but it happens alot. The customer is now annoyed it will take more time to fix the car.
-People standing over you as you work can be ultra annoying b/c when something doesnt go right you look stupid to them.
-Plenty of vehicles come in that are so beyond fixing just what the customer wants its not funny. However you can askt he customer if they want a break job or a new set of struts-but alot of the time they dont care and only wanted you to check the oil. Dealers are really bad for this as they perform all those zillion point inspections-alot of people just dont care and think your trying to get them to spend more thats not needed.

 

Oh yeah!! Always loved those conversations! They usually go something like this:

Mechanic: "Your water pump is on its last legs here, we really should fix it while everything else is pulled apart and its accessible"

Customer: "I don't care, I just want you to fix the squeaking pulley"

Mechanic: "Are you sure? The idler pulley is what was squeaking, but you see here where this is weeping coolant? The idler pulley went bad because somebody didn't adjust the belts properly, and it has side loaded the pulley and bearing on the water pump, in addition to ruining the idler pulley. The belt has some bad wear on the side now also, and it would be alot easier to fix the water pump right now, as we already have the alternator and everything else out of the way to get to the pulley."

Customer: "Look, just fixing the squeaking pulley, ok?" (walks off to complain to the service manager)

5 minutes later the service manager, who should be explaining the problem to the customer, but instead, in many cases, only knows how to check the oil and nod his head in agreement with the customer, comes walking over....

Service manager: "Look, just fix whats on the repair order!!!"

Mechanic: "But this water pump is shot, the belt is not going to last, it needs fixed while we are in it, it's 6 bolts, a belt and waterpump and its done. The book time is only another 30minutes to do this right..."

Service manager: "I don't care, its in for a squeaking pulley, fix the pulley and get it done, I promised them the car back by 1pm!!!"

Service manager stomps off after putting the dumb mechanic in his place.... Later, as you are washing up, you overhear the conversation between the service manager and the customer who is picking up the keys....

Service manager: "I'm sorry about taking so long Tom, but you know how hard it is to get hood help these days, but we've got you all fixed up now, I went and double checked on him, and you're good to go."

Fast forward to a couple days later... the car is back in the service lot, puddle of antifreeze sitting under the front end, with the hood unlatched... you walk over, lift the hood and see the bearing has let loose on the pump, and the belt has failed, taking out a bunch of wires, a hose, and tore the insulation under the hood all up... you then walk inside and there is a note on the time clock from the service manager asking you to come see him... you walk to the front, and there he is at the service desk, with the upset customer sitting in the waiting area. He see's you and walks thru the door to talk to you, making sure to do it loud enough for the customer to hear....

Service manager: "D@MMIT!!! WHY DIN'T YOU FIX THAT CAR RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!! WE DON'T MAKE MONEY OFF HAVING TO HAVE SOMETHING REPAIRED AGAIN THAT YOU SHOULD HAVE FIXED WHEN IT WAS IN HERE THE OTHER DAY! NOW WE'VE GOT TO DO THIS AS A WARRANTY JOB, ETC, ETC, ETC ..."


Don't miss those days at all! LOL!

 

^ Oh I know that situation. They make a good show of yelling at you too so the customer feels like your really getting yelled at good.

I like people that ignore things like brakes:
So sir you realize your brakes are no good, the pedal goes the floor and the grind/squeak very badly.
-I only came here for an oil change, thats what I want my brakes are fine.
But sir they are no good, you dont have any brake pads left.
-I dont care change my oil!

a week later hes back and almost died b/c his brakes failed somehow and now hes mad at you. Oh those days are fun..

I like better when you fix what you thought was wrong, everything was fine and it comes back for the same problem. Thats always fun b/c when you had its fine.

Or what about when it makes a noise, problem, vibration, issues etc for them but not for you? I once had some lady claim her brand new battery I put in was bad b/c whenever she turned over the car the idiot light would go off with the battery symbol. How do you explain to a 75 year old lady whose clueless what that light means without losing them in the conversation-Easy you spend 15 mins telling them there is nothing to worry about. Had she come back i think I woulda yanked the light.

 

Oh how sadly true ^^^ those stories are and how often they repeat like a bad movie...

 

thats one thing i dont have to deal with, i work in a truckstop garage for the semis, and dont have to worry about complaints except from the far and few owner/operators... these companies act like they dont care if you say its bad then fix it now, they know they dont make money with a downed truck... and the drivers really dont mind the downtime too much, they act like its a mini vacation lol

 

I'm glad that my service manager knows what is going on. If something is going bad and needs replaced we can explain to customer. But we still have those customers that won't listen to reason. When they come back you get a told you so. I'd get in more trouble not saying something is bad. Most of our customers are good enough to say hey this is bad and they say fix it.