hey, I am becoming a certified diesel technician. I am most likely going to Lincoln tech. I need to purchase tools. They have a napa store, so I could purchase them and they have a lifetime warranty. What kind of DVOM should I get?? What price range. I know any good technician has one of these in his holster like a cowboy has his 6 shooter. Any advice helps on these tools...

 

The best in the business is Fluke. Kinda pricy but very reliable. I once had a Beckman DVOM that the screen went up in smoke for no reason and it wasn't a year old. They wouldnn't do anything for me.

 

how much does a fluke cost? Looks like a good quality.

 

a fluke 73 should have everything you need, i think they're a little less than $200. I paid like $80 for mine, but i had some kind of discount on it. That works fine for anything i need to do automotive or diesel wise. *edit, just saw the 73 is discontinued, the latest model in that line is the 77 gen IV*

I also have a fluke 189 that is significantly more expensive, but has a lot more functions. Never really needed it when working on a vehicle though....aside from the fact that the 189 has a light up screen that comes in handy when you're stuck down beneath tandem axles in an 18 wheeler.

If you get a fluke, dont let anyone borrow it. The only downside to fluke is they use two fuses, both are somewhat rare and expensive. If you lend it out to some jackass, and they set it on miliamps and hook it up to a truck battery and fry your fuse, the only way to get a new one is to call fluke up, pay like $20, and wait a week for a new one to arrive.

 

ok, thanks very cool. How did you get yours for 80, when they are around 200$?

 

It was some weird package deal, this s&k dealer was going out of business and offered me a whole bunch of tools for cheap, that was included in there. The meter is really the only thing i'm glad i got....i learned to somewhat dislike s&k after i bought all of them.

 

thanks for the help. I s&k tools are nice. But, there are no dealers to exchange my tools from them. I am driving down tomarrow to indiana, then I am testing at Lincoln tech and checking out the school wish me luck!

 

Hope the test went well for you since I am posting on the day you are apparently driving to take it. A buddy of mine I went through the diesel program in Rosemount, Mn. He bought all NAPA tools as well. I don't think he busted anything, yet, as far as I know. I am a Craftsman man myself.

What field of diesel? Light? Medium/Heavy? Heavy equipment?

I went through the Heavy Duty Truck program at the local tech school here.

 

Hey, thanks for all your help. I just got to a motel here in indiana. The testing and open house is tomarrow. A little nervous. Well, Im not sure which one I am interested in. I love the idea of all three. Your guy's advice is really appreciated. Im still checking out all my options. This was a 6 and a half hour drive from michigan. We are going to find the school now and check it out. I test tomarrow morning. What is the testing on? I am slightly natef certifed through a small tech school, and have knowledge. I am hoping to do well.

 

Well, I am not familar with Lincoln tech's courses since I have not looked at the place before, but, if you have some prior experience it should have gone well. I don't know if they will test you on the actual course content. But I know there is a "placement test" that I had to take for seeing what level of the general-ed classes I was to be placed in. I plan on working within the 3 realms light, medium/heavy & Agricultural/construction equip. I will mainly be heavy Class 7&8 OTR trucks though for technician.

If I could have, I would have gone through the heavy equipment course as well. But then again, I want to go through the marine mechanic program too and I might just move from the shop scene in the future and become a automotive/truck/tractor tech teacher at a highschool in the future.

What did you cover in that smaller tech school?

 

My smaller tech school taught Preventive Maintenance Inspections (pmi), Going through an engine by measuring parts; checking for cracks; damage etc; batterys alternators and starting systems, air brakes, cooling systems, those are the main ones we generally went over. More or less I got a light certification sheet from NATEF. I need full certification, and of course more knowledge. I love the Idea of going there. I could in fact become a Master Certified Truck Technician in a year. They look like very nice programs. This page just barerly touches what they have there.
Diesel School | Diesel Technician Training
Ultimately has many positives. I like indianapolis. Its 5, 6 hours from home but, I can live down there. this is the school:
Automotive College in Indiana | EST School in Indianapolis, Indiana
Campus is great. Very nice school. Saw familiar Western Start semi trucks, as well as Peterbuilts, and Frieghtliners. I saw engines in the engine room such as (of course me being a ford fan!!) a International 7.3 (not necessarily a powerstroke), 2 24 valve cummins 5.9 liters one was a dodge truck cummins and the other may have been any industrial cummins, several, several detriot 60 series and I love detriots!, Catapilar engines, and more. The air brake class room was an amazing display. I reconized, and identified 3/4 of the parts. I even saw a right hand drive volkswagon bug from late 60's early 70's! Japanize licence plate. Sounds like the perfect school for me. It has all my interest Please guys, what do you think?? Thanks.

 

I went to Lincoln in the early 80's for a 15 month short program in electric/carb & fi. Great school. They should give you a list of handtools you will need to do your courses also unless its changed you will need to carry them with you to each class. Word of warning unless they have moved that isnt the greatest area do not leave anything valuable in your car.

good luck

regards

 

Looks like a good school. Since Caterpillar is not producing OTR truck engines past 2010 because of emissions standards, you will see alot of 3406s, 3176s maybe a few of the newer (2007 - 2009 'C' models). We didn't wrench on any Cummins 5.9s, we had N14s & a ISX I believe. Detroit 60 series, I thought were goofy because you had to set the valve-lash before you put the engine brake assemblies on. We (my buddy and I) worked on the EGR 60series model, others got the non-EGR model. If you are wondering why the EGR tube gets smaller right after the exhaust cooler and then gradually becomes larger to the original pipe diameter, its a Venturi that is there. Which takes a high pressure low velocity flow and produces a low pressure high velocity flow happen.

I have a N/A 7.3L from a 1991 in the garage.

Did they teach you how CAT categorizes their engines? Ex 3176 engineWell if not, 3 = engines/two middle numbers 1.7 = displacement per cylinder/ and the last digit 6 = number of cylinders.

The guy from Caterpiilar that came in for educating us about their stuff told us the 3406 is not a 24 litre engine though, apprently somebody just felt like selecting that title for it. Its a 15 litre actually. I remember when the Cat instructor put us out in the shop to figure out problems, one thing that slipped my mind totally was the HEUI engine, ALWAYS check your oil level in these regardless of make!!! that was a big !DOH! when he reminded us about that one The one engine I wanted to work on after I had seen it was the Detroit V6 2 cycle with the blower & the turbocharger!!! But noooooo "its too old" he says. Someday I will just find one and satisfy my curiousity.

Good luck on the 'Master Certified' certification tests. Someday I will get the ASE stuff for both gasoline, diesel engines and transmissions.

Also, I even told my instructor this too, since the heavy equipment engines and truck engines are getting more like the regular auto engines etc with all these computers, sensors etc, you CAN NOT just do the continuity yes or no type of deal of yesteryear, you have to read how much is actually going through the part to see if the operation is optimum or not. Event though the trucks are still pretty bare & simple compared to everyday cars/trucks, you still need to do the test to see if your part is up to specification.

 

Yes, they give me a list. I need to check it out. I will probably just get the whole napa set. really nice set. They will sell it for a discount to me, and lifetime warranty. I believe it comes with a fluke dvom as well. There are napa stores here, as well as there. My daily driver is now a 1998 mercury tracer. In great shape. I keep up with the maintance pretty well. I am going to install a kill switch so if someone did pick the lock and get in, they could not start it with out knowing about that switch. The switch would be under the dash, above my feet. Yes, thanks I always lock that car. I keep all my tools, tow straps, etc in the truck. Thanks again.