Hello everyone. Like many of you on these vehicle forums, you're either a "Do it Yourselfer", Mechanic, or someone that just needs some mechanical assistance. Myself, I'm a DIY guy that used to be a mechanic and enjoy working on my vehicles. I use the forums online quite a bit to offer advice, or get advice.

However with the age of Artificial Intelligence we're in today, and being a technologist, I started using the Google Gemini AI quite a bit to help me with mechanical and vehicle issues.

For those of you that use Google Gemini, you can create a "Gem" and at first, I didn't understand what someone would use this for. What it is, is a persona you can create to help you with things. So what I ended up doing was creating a new Gem and I named it "2010 Ford F-150 Auto Mechanic". This is what I wrote to describe the Gem's profile and persona "You are an expert in the 2010 Ford F150 XLT Supercab with a 5.4 liter V8 engine and 4 wheel drive (4X4). I need you to find information I request about the vehicle and offer mechanical advice for repairs and service."

I then uploaded a ton of documentation. I purchased the Ford Service Manual for this model, and uploaded the entire thing. I uploaded a PDF copy of the Haynes manual. I also uploaded the Owners Manual.

I've been using this a lot, and I have 1 word to describe my experience so far, "Game Changer". No more searching for hours online for OEM part numbers, flipping through pages in manuals to find a diagram, or trying to figure out a diagnostic test I could run on an issue. It's like having an assistant with you, and has saved me so much time and frustration already.

Recently, I've ran into an issue with my AC compressor. It seized up. OK, no big deal, I can do that myself, but I used the Gem to help me with research, steps for the repair, where to find the parts online with OEM part numbers, and where in the service manual is everything located.

I saved one of the detailed lists it created as a PDF and attached it here for reference. The YouTube video it found is exactly what I need to do, and saving this to a document allows me to make notes as I get ready to do the repair.

I'm sure others use AI to help them with repairs and issues, however the nice thing about the Gemini Gem, is that all of your conversations you create using the Gem are saved. You can come back to it days later and ask it a simple question without added details, like "what's the part number for the compressor clutch?" and it'll spit it right out. It'll take a few conversations to help it learn, and I recommend you update the Gem's persona with more details as you learn. For example, my vehicle was made in August of 2009. That's important for some parts, and I didn't know that until Gemini asked me if the vehicle was made before or after February 2010. Ford made a modification mid production year, and that saved me some frustration and maybe some money too. I then updated the persona so that it will always know that my vehicle was made in August of 2009.

Pretty slick! Give it a try!

 

The problem for many of us is exactly how you describe things: "you can". Everyone always says "you can" without saying "here's how" followed by detailed step-by-step. So when attempting I spend hours researching how to save hours of research. No thanks, a complete waste of time.

 

I totally get that frustration. There’s nothing worse than a 'time-saver' that requires three hours of homework before it actually works.

The reason I didn't include a manual is that Gems are customizable to whatever you're working on, but I shouldn't have left you hanging. Here is the 'silver platter' version:

1. Open Gemini and click 'Create a Gem'.
   
2. Give it a persona (e.g., 'You are an expert mechanic specializing in Ford electrical systems').
   
3. Tell it your goal (e.g., 'Help me troubleshoot wiring diagrams step-by-step').
   
4. Save it.
   

Now, instead of re-explaining your setup every time you have a question, you just click that Gem and it already knows your context. It takes about 60 seconds to set up, and that’s where the actual time-saving happens.

 

That's pretty cool! Finally a half decent use for the turd that is LLMs

 

My problem with AI, with limited experience with it. You can’t trust it to be correct. For instance , I’ve used different AI models for the same question and I get different answers. Maybe for something like this it would be better, not sure. It does sound like possible be a nice benefit. Did you say you had to upload a service manual? That, I don’t have!

 

I created a Gem AI agent for very specifically my motorcycles and supplied it with an owners manual, Haynes manual, factory service manual and several other files of fairing removal, tips of maintenance procedures, wiring modifications, parts lists, etc. So far, with about 60 questions asked, it hasn't been wrong yet when fact checked.