(08-10-2012, 12:17 PM)Niall Wrote: Don't agree there Tom. I know that Jaguar still have their master technicians who work the old fashion ways because its better, quicker and saves money. I know what you mean though....cars are changing to just plug a laptop in and away you go but when that fails, you have to go back to old fashion methods. Sounds like your course wasn't really worth shit to me!
Fair enough, I've never been to Jaguar so i wouldn't know...but certainly the cheaper manufacturers are like that, ford, citroen, pug etc.
The course was a bit odd, but the idea of it is to get you a wide range of knowledge ready for an apprenticeship where you learn more of the 'hands on' stuff. I'm not actually qualified to work in a garage before the NVQ which is gained via an apprenticeship. But I learnt a lot of extra bits that others didnt as believe it or not I was one of the best in the workshop lol (I know, I didnt believe it either
) so often helped out with variuos things that werent in our schedule that the other techs/groups were doing..............still never saw a VE pump though lol!Must admit, I don't think the course covered enough physical stuff, although it covered a hell of a lot of theory stuff. But then one of the reasons of the breaking the Golf instead of selling it whole is to learn more about it, it's gonna sell for peanuts either way, might as well get something useful from it..........I'd also never done a clutch before me and Sam gave it a go on the estate!!
(08-10-2012, 12:29 PM)c.a.r. Wrote: I would have far more confidence in a mechanic who was competant enough to diagnose a fault or at least narrow it down without first having to plug their iPhone into the cars OBD port...
I'm sure you would...but do you ever see the mechanics at the main dealers? No they hide them out the back, you just speak to some nice bird on the counter! I do agree with you, and obviously you can usually 'guess' where a problem lies - part of the course was fault finding, but you had scenarios like a MAF which won't bring up a fualt code.....or swapping injectors over to make sure you can prove which one is at fault. However you still HAD to try the scan tool first lol, lost marks if not.
Plus, iPhone would be cheaper....couldn't believe how much the Snap On Solus costs to buy!!
Is fun to play with though. 
