And we do want to welcome you to the CNC Auto Show. I'm Eric Clements here with Jamie Brown, and we are here for a fantastic time. Jamie, are we ready? We're ready. Yeah, co-host Jamie Brown, and we always have a good time.
We had a great show last week. Oh, yeah. It sounds like it's going to be another good one this week. Oh, yeah, I think so. It's going to be a lot of fun.
And the reason it will be a lot of fun is we have some more guests here. We do. Yeah. More guests. Guests are always a good thing.
Yes.
Now, when I mention guests, we still. Are open to answer automotive questions.
So if you call, we will be ready to answer your question. The biggest thing is we'll have another person here to help us answer those questions. And I want to introduce our guest, Tristan Irvin. And Tristan, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me.
Well, we want to say thank you for being here. I've been hearing some very nice things about you and from your instructor, Chris Norris, and others that have talked about some of the things you've done. Tell us a little bit about yourself and some of the things that you've accomplished over a period of time.
So currently, I'm doing an internship with the John Deere Commercial Products Plant, located in Grovetown, Georgia, working as a part-time mechanic and also helping the test engineers do tests, setup tests, all that stuff. Over the past two months, I've been partaking in multiple automotive competitions. A more notable one in the region was the County Fleet one, participating in the Advanced. Competition and then Mr. Norris, as stated, brought up the idea of Skills USA for auto surface tech.
And first, there was the region competition placed first, so I went to state and Placed third there.
So I've just been having just a fun time doing it, you know? That sounds kind of exciting. Yeah. Now, what got you into the automotive field? What got you interested in this?
Ever since I was a kid, I liked stuff that had engines, just all the parts go together to make one big thing move.
So I've just been interested in it. And then about six years ago, I got into the local coffee and car scene. Uh-huh. And that's what truly got me going into just cars themselves, was just seeing all the builds that were there the first time. Yeah, we've been going to a fair amount of the coffee and cars events.
Oh, that gives me a chance to mention: I'm almost positive they're having a coffee and cars event today. Matter of fact, they aren't. That got canceled. It was going to be in the Jackson Raceway on the drag trip, but they canceled due to inclement weather. They pushed it back to, I believe, April 6th.
Okay.
So they moved it a whole month. Yeah, they just went ahead and moved it all the way back to when they would halt the April one. Oh, no. We will be at the National Mustang Convention in April, April 6th, as a matter of fact, same weekend. The CNC Auto Show is going on the road.
We'll be going to Birmingham, Barbara Speedway, and we'll be attending the National Mustang Convention, which we'll be having our show contributor, Don Blackstone, here with us to tell us more about that soon. And plus, I'm going to try to talk him into being on the show with us a little bit. I think he'll go for it. We're going to try our very best. And I We're looking forward to that event.
That's going to be a real good thing.
Okay, so I'm glad you told me that. But you're absolutely right. I think that coffee and cars events do build a lot of interest in cars, build a lot of love. And would you agree to be in this industry? You really just about have to love it.
To do it. Because of the stuff that you're going to have to put up with when dealing with these things, definitely. I mean, I drive a German vehicle from 2007.
So you want to talk about having issues? You'd think an 07 would be good enough. Nope. Valve covers made out of plastic. Yeah, yeah.
So, and just for the years going, it just had more plastic added on and added on. Right now, I'm looking at a timing bearing that could fail at any point. Yeah. Well, don't feel bad. I have a BMW that's a 2000 model, and I know it is a project.
But I love it. And see, that's the thing: you have these projects, but you get so invested that you just don't want to stop. Invested addiction. Yeah. Yeah.
I'm currently thinking about getting a different one. And I just love cars. I love all types. And it's something that's exciting to me to be able to drive. Different cars.
And I've had each one, my last one was a Miata, sold it, got this Z3. And my next one, I'm looking for something really exciting next time. And you just put the DeLorean back on the road and drive it around town. Yeah. And I had a person call me this week and wanted me to send him a picture of my radar detector because he heard me talk about it before.
He works well. All right.
Now, some of the things as far as in the automotive industry, what's some of the things that they did while you were there at the event as far as the skill set? How does that work?
Well, which event are you talking about? Because there was the county fleet, there was the Skills USA Regional, and Skills USA State. Which one do you want to talk about? Which one do you think, Jamie?
Well, I I saw the Columbia County one, the Fleet Services one, so Yes, tell us a little bit about how it worked.
So for the advanced group, it was we were given months about a month in prep to prepare with a F one fifty XLT. It was a twenty thirteen model with the three seven V6. And it's just bug the car. Here's some common problems that could happen. Go and fix it.
And that's what they did at the fleet competition. I believe it was six different issues, and they just bugged it to the best of their ability without breaking the vehicle and just having us fix it in an hour and a half. That's what that was.
So you go out, you find the problem. Is it one problem or multiple problems? Six different problems, all different parts of the vehicle.
So you're going to be from the front of the hood to taillight fixing something. Yeah. So out of all these competitions that you just did, which one was your favorite one to participate in? Uh skills USA State, definitely. Wow.
And where was it held at? The Georgia World Conference Center in Atlanta. Wow. Pretty big deal. Oh yeah.
It was underground too, so didn't have to deal with anything, just an enclosed area. Uh-huh. But it Not under a big awning. No, not under a big awning. You were in a full building, and there was a lot going on during that time.
Uh-huh. 10 different stations all dealing with different things. I mean, first time I sat in Alexis, so I will say it was nice, but. I just didn't like the Lexus. Is that what they had you guys working on?
So they had multiple cars working on. First one that I did was a Honda. Civic. Then it was a Lexus, BMW, There was a Land Rover that the Hennessy of Atlanta built and they do it for like these trek competitions.
So I had a giant exoskeleton surrounding it. And those were like really nice builds there that ranged over one hundred thirty thousand. Just for the vehicle alone. Oh, my gosh. Yeah.
And then they had Alexis on jack stands, and you're measuring brake rotor run out and brake pad wear and all that stuff. And it was a really nice competition. You just go in circles, they set out problems, and you just have to identify what might be wrong, what is wrong, and just do it.
Well, that is amazing that they're able to take that many kids from the different places, get them into the conference center, and have an event like that. And I think that shows how. Big the automotive industry field is now, and how much attention is being paid to the new generation coming up into the automotive industry.
Well, we as shops have to invest in our future, and that's what you guys are: is our future. Yeah, and I mean. Oh, sorry. I mean, you guys are appreciated, and we need you. Yeah, we do.
And in that case scenario, as far as a vehicle coming in and it being six different concerns and you needing to find them in about an hour and a half is not that unusual in a real shop. I mean, people bring their cars. They need their cars repaired. They need them repaired badly. And they need them fast.
And so for us to operate, we have to diagnose the problem and get them an estimate together and get approval and get the job completed as quickly as possible. There's a lot of. Pressure as far as time goes when you're working on a vehicle now. But it's also, I'll mention that part, but also mention how rewarding it is. It's really a great feeling for a vehicle to come in, have some type of an issue not running right or doing something unusual, and you be able to diagnose it and you get it repaired and the customer's happy.
It's a beautiful, beautiful thing to happen. Oh, yeah. Definitely. Yeah. Okay, we're going to need to pull over for just a little bit, but I want to remind everybody that Tristan will be here with us for another segment coming up.
So not only would I be able to answer your question, Jamie is here to answer your question, Tristan is here to answer your question also. And together, we will get you moving. We'll be right back after this. Autozone knows that as a professional, you have to manage a lot of moving parts to run your business. Fast track your Bay turns with thousands of parts available just up the road, ready to deliver.
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And that's a half past four, and I'm shifting gear. When she is lonely, Helen. And we are back with you with the CNC Auto Show. I'm here with co-host Jamie Brown, and we are talking to Tristan. And Tristan has attended some.
of competition in the in the automotive field. And we were talking a little bit more during the break about some other things he has done recently as far as talking to some things to do with the military. Tristan, tell us a little bit about that part.
So I was applying for a well, Service Academy nomination and at that point it's well what academy do you want to go to? 'Cause you can choose any. I only wanted to go to one, which is the Naval Academy located in Annapolis, Maryland. I spent one week up there doing or some during the summer doing one of their summer programs called Summer Seminar. At that point, you learn multiple different things about what the Naval Academy is, and you go through some of the classes that they offer.
It it's a week. It's rough. You're waking up at 5.30, 5 o'clock every morning. And going to sleep no later than 12. Oh, yuck.
Well, no earlier than 12, actually. But it's it definitely drains you, but you find enjoyment in that because of just what you're doing. And that can also be related to just working on vehicles themselves. It's going to take you a while, and some projects are going to last longer than others. But just finding the enjoyment where others see hardship is where you excel.
Yeah, definitely. You do. What's the best thing that you like about working on vehicles? Seeing the project complete, definitely, because you have this long process. And it's going to get rough at some points, and you're not going to like some parts, and some parts you're just going to find easy.
But you find the most enjoyment when you're actually done with it, and you see the whole thing working, and there's no issues at it. Mm-hmm.
Now, as far it has it has tools, have you started accumulating a certain number of tools? I have a toolbox. It's growing. You know, I only really started growing it over the past year or so. But.
It's just how it's been. Yeah. Never really had my own garage space to work on my own stuff, and you know, just had now have my car.
So, but. But even then. You have to have a bunch of specialty tools just to work on that thing. You do. And most shops, Jamie, would you agree with this?
That most shops have the larger specialty tools that somebody comes in that available to pretty much everybody. Yeah, I mean, we do as a dealership. We have. Any specialty tool that our technicians are going to end up needing, we have them on hand.
So the technicians don't have to buy them themselves. If it's something that's few and far between, we're going to have it for them to use. And a lot of people don't know this. They think that that person that's carrying that little bitty thing out to their car and hooking in.
Now, of course, there are very inexpensive things that you can hook to the car just to read the code. You can get some things for very, very little. Matter of fact, just a person can buy one on their own to read the code. But a real scan tool that has bi-directional capability and is able to actually help in the diagnostics on a vehicle and do real diagnostic tests, you not only pay a huge amount for the scan tool, but then it's got a poison pill.
So that thing at a certain time of the year. You'll all of a sudden, it's got a thing that'll just suck the money out of the account or it'll quit working. Yeah, no, those subscriptions are expensive. That's why diagnostics are not free because of the cost of the tool and the subscription. It keeps to maintain it.
Yes.
And Tristan, this is the part I'm sure that you're aware of with some of the classes you've already gone to: is not only. You invest in tools and you also invest in a huge amount of education, and then you have to have a certain amount of experience. And then with that, You also, when you're at a place, the shop has to contribute a certain amount of tools, but also you have ongoing education even after you are working somewhere and working on vehicles. You not only have what you've had, you have to continue to go to school. Yeah.
I mean, I currently go to school for like three hours a day, and then I immediately go to my job, and from there, I'm. Working at random hours. It can be, you know, an easy day from, I don't know, 12 to 2:30 and they just don't have anything else. Or I'll be working until 5:30 working on something. It just depends on what you're doing.
Well, I'll mention these guys here. It's not uncommon for probably once or twice a month, and then They do it locally on more than that. But it's not uncommon for these guys to get off work at 5:30, 6 o'clock, get in a vehicle, drive an hour. Attend a class somewhere for several hours and then drive back and be at work the next day. And now they get paid for that and they do it voluntarily.
But there's usually a large group of them going. And the reason we do that, would you agree? Every time on a vehicle, we get stuff that works really well. Hey, this engine's bulletproof. The latest, the greatest.
Let's change it. Yeah, that's that's exactly how it goes every time. Yeah, let's make it, but that I will say that that's how vehicles have gotten better all through the years. Yeah. Yeah.
Tristan, anything that you want to add to what you've talked about, you've been in some of the state competitions. You're doing absolutely fantastic as going into the automotive field. But I'm going to tell you, you're going to do well at almost any field you go into. I have, from the things I've heard from Mr. Norris and others, you're going to do really well.
And I want to congratulate you on all you've done. Anything you want to add? You have to look at fixing a car more as a hobby than a job. It's going to take time and you have to enjoy what you're doing more than actually wanting to complete the job. Because just by rushing the clock, you can mess up on some parts.
Sometimes you just need to look at it from a back point of view and realize what you're doing and then go at it. I mean, I was installing a hydraulic pump on a tractor, and I was like, oh, hey, let me get one side fully done and then go to the other. It's how you pull a bolt, just enough tension to just slightly mess up thread. And at that point, you extend your time just by over because you have to completely take it out, get new hardware, put it back in. That adds on like an extra two hours.
I know that technicians years ago used to work mostly with their hands, and there was a lot of thought process that went into it, but mostly with their hands.
Now, there's so many other things that you need to be able to work. I mean, computer skills are a must. Yeah. And you're pretty much working on a network of computers every time a car drives in with most issues. And that's anything from steering to anything else.
This has been great. We're going to be bringing who was coming in next with us? Is that might be or Colin?
Okay, we'll find out. We'll have another person coming in, and we are open for questions. Give us a call, 800-224-9090. We'll be right back after this. The CSC Auto Show is brought to you by Blaster, makers of PB Blaster, the number one penetrant for breaking-free rusted parts.
Always use Blaster products and work it like a pro. Little GGO You're really looking fine. Three inducers and a four speed, and a 389. Listen to her tacking up now. Listen to her why.
Come on and drill on. And we are back with you with the CNC Auto Show. I'm here with co-host Jamie Brown, and we are talking about cars. And we have a whole new guest here, Willis. We have Colin, and Colin is from Grovetown High School.
And Colin has attended or been a part of some of the competitions. Also, upcoming technician, and that's what we love to see. Jamie looks at this also and says, hey, this is great. Oh, gosh, it's awesome. Yes.
It's awesome. It is great to see that. Colin. Tell us a little bit about how you got into the automotive field and what you've done with some of the competitions that you've been in.
So I started out as a kid growing up around. My dad working on his Datsun five ten. And so I've always just kind of been interested in cars because I've grown up around them and grown up with people working on them and modifying them.
So. I decided when I entered high school this year, earlier last year. Um, I would take the automotive class at high school and that's led to my success in that class, and I'm very successful in that class so far. You you found out when you uh attended that class that you did have a love for cars then. Yeah, and and did have that feeling.
Yeah, and and that's one thing that it's hard to um it it's hard to stay away from. If you have that feeling where you love cars as much as you do, you want to be around them more and more and you you just kind of enjoy enjoy what you do. Oh, yeah, definitely. I mean, and then sometimes you sneak a little outside of the car field and then you got to find a way to get back in it. Yeah.
Which is where car shows are great and, you know, radio shows. And that is kind of that is kind of crazy how we how we work on cars all during the week. And then during the CNC auto show, we go to car shows during the weekends. And then I even love driving my car home. Yeah.
So it's just something that I enjoy doing and I enjoy all different types of transportation, including aviation. I'm kind of, we were, we were talking a little bit with Tristan a little early about the aviation industry. And of course, I love it also. But just anything with a, with a good engine. Yeah.
Yeah. To go fast. And I'm going to go ahead and admit it. I want a real engine. I don't want all these little electric things.
Well, you know, that's something you might have to grow.
Well, I do. We do. We work on them. And I got to admit, they got a lot of power. They run good.
My grandson races e-bikes and does very well on e-bike motorcycles. But I just enjoy the sound of a good engine. And I feel like engines have so far to come. You're reading so many new things about what's advancing. And that's where we move into talking to Colin some more.
He's getting to learn a lot of the. Newer things as far as getting some history from the past, get some training on how vehicles evolve, but also some of the newer technology. That's come along. Colin, is that pretty exciting to you? Yeah, it is.
Because everything's computerized now, so actually you're getting a completely different start than we did. It's completely different from what it used to be. Everything's more complicated. It breaks more. Yeah.
Yeah. Well, I mean, the Dotson that you grew up, you know, tinkering with is a whole different animal. 1970.
Now, there's a lot of people out there that does not know what a Dotson is. When we say a Datsun, they don't know. They have no idea. Nissan, it used to be a Dotson, and then it changed to Nissan. I don't know what year that was that all that happened, but I think it was early 80s or so.
But when they first started hitting the States, it would be a Dotson. And it was Dotson dealerships here.
So that 510, I bet he wishes he still had it. Or does he? No. No. He regrets buying it.
Buy it. To sell it if he had it now, it would be worth a lot. Those things are expensive. And here's my gosh. We're talking about car shows.
You go to the car shows and you'll see a vehicle that somebody's invested $50,000 in sitting there, and then you'll have an old pinto that nobody even restored, and everybody will gather around the pinto. Wow, look at this! Yeah, because you don't see them anymore. I mean, there's a reason you don't see many pintos, but you know, but they're, you know, you just same way with Vegas. The Vegas.
Well, everybody turned a lot of those into race cars or either junked them out. I mean, they were pretty junky. I mean, it wasn't America's finest hour old cars at all. I don't know, but then the Japanese stuff coming in.
So I have a soft spot for, you know, vintage Japanese vehicles, old, old boxes. Really? You never told me that. Yeah, no, I love older Japanese cars. Old, boxy Japanese.
I mean, they're easy to work on. I think. they look great. My husband disagrees and and has all kinds of uh, you know, un unsavory names for these things. But I mean, I I love the way that they look.
You know, just tidy and square.
Well, let's go ahead and settle this right now. We'll start with Colin. Colin, if you could have any car. Yeah. Without exception, what car would you get right now?
Um That is a good question. You want to think about it? I'm going to head over to Jamie and she'll go first. Jamie, if you could have any car. Oh, my gosh.
I already know which one I'd take. After I just sat here and professed my love for old Japanese cars, if I could choose any car, it would probably be a mid-80s Monte Carlo.
Alright. I just the I love the way those things look, just black. Dark tinted windows. I mean, oh my gosh, they're just. Awesome.
They just look so good. See, I know the exact car that I want. Oh, yeah. What's that? One or two.
One can't be had. One you never know one day. I want that black car, the the replica, black Ferrari replica that was on Miami Vice. Oh, you see. I want that car, the real one.
Oh, yeah. And that's it.
Now, the other one I want is the Red Roaster that they launched in Outer Space, but we're not able to get it. Oh, the Tesla. They were back then. The Tesla that they, I think 2018, that thing got launched. Maybe that's still a salty open wound.
I doubt I'll be able to get that one. Your tech skills question a week ago. What type of cars do you enjoy working on the most, Colin? A lot of the older. older domestic and imported And by older, you're talking about like 02s, 05s.
Oh, okay. Really old. Yeah, well, that's rare. Not everybody enjoys working on those. They're a lot simpler, and it's.
It feels more rewarding if you get it if you can It I like working on those more 'cause it feels more rewarding to Uh-huh. Fix them up and that kind of stuff.
Well, yeah, they they don't they don't think they they do what you tell them to do. They don't you know, do what you tell them to do and then think about it and change stuff. They what you tell it to do is what it does.
Well, what happens now, for instance, on air conditioning system? Yeah. Uh i if you you used to move the knob and cut the A C on, Now you move the knob and you request AC. Yeah, that's what it is. Then the computer is looking at different things.
Is there enough refrigerant in the vehicle? Do we need that power somewhere else that'll be going toward the AC system? Do we have any circuit faults? Are there any trouble codes that might make me not want to give you AC? And then if it looks at everything and it's in a good mood, then it says, well, I'm going to give this person AC.
I guess you could have AC. Here you go. And so the computer is in control of so many things. And. Oh, wow.
We got a um We got a call. Let's go ahead and bring this caller on, and then we will. We may have to take a break with them after a little bit. Welcome to the CNC Auto Show. What can we help you with?
Yeah, hi, Aaron. Uh, Jamie. Hey. Hi, uh. This is uh Mike from Aiken, who has the police pursuit.
Oh, there you go. Fast cars have always been in our family, and what you need to know about the It was supposed to be a Ferrari Daytona. The Ferrari Daytona, my father actually got his hands on one before. uh Miami Vice started. Oh, wow.
And He took molds of the body because it went through a warehouse fire.
So my father started making molds. of the Frari Daytona. And then, but we only made the body. Mike. He would advertise in Kit Gar magazine.
Mike. And then. Mike, are you there? Right. This is very interesting, and this is something I definitely want to hear, and I want the listeners to hear.
So, we're going to pull over for just a second, and I'm going to get you to start over as soon as we come back in because this is interesting to me. We'll be right back with more of the CNC Auto Show. As a professional, you've got a thousand and one things to track in your shop and zero minutes to slow down. Autozone understands that and is here to help you keep your business moving. Autozone has original equipment quality or better parts from brands you can trust.
Leading in-stock coverage, fast hotshot delivery, and easy-to-track online ordering so that you can get the right parts right when you need them. Keep it moving with AutoZone's professional edge. I've been everywhere. I've been everywhere man I crossed the desert bare man, I breathe the mountain airman. I travel, I've had my share, man.
I've been everywhere. I've been to Reno, Chicago, Fargo, Minnesota, Buffalo, Toronto, Winslow, Sarasota, Wichita, Dulcie, Ottawa, Oklahoma, Tampa, Panama, Matta, Lapla Bangerball. I told you we'd be right back. Thank you for waiting. I'm here with Jamie Brown, and we are back on the road.
And we are here with Collier McGowan. And Collier also did some competition. At the from Harlem High School. And you know a friend of mine, Tim Lewis. And Tim called and said, said, Aaron, you were looking for people to be on the show.
And discussed the competition and things that are involved in automotive repair competitions. And he said, you really need to talk to Cogger. He said he is great. And also another gentleman, Jacob, who will be coming on the show a little bit later, also. What was the whole event about?
How did it work?
So there's three sections. The first section was beginner. There's an intermediate section and an advanced section, which the advanced section is what me and Jacob did. Um basically We had a truck come in, and we have a list of customer complaints. There are six customer complaints.
They range from like the left. Taillight blinker not working, or rough running, or no power to anything at all. And we basically just went step by step, figuring each one out, testing stuff with the multimeter, test lights, using the scan tool, scanning through everything, seeing what codes come up, just kind of going through everything, figuring out. what's happening and why it's happening and then Throughout, I think we had an hour and a half. We figured out all six problems and then.
Oh, wow. That is great. I love that. Thank you. And that's kind of real world right there.
I mean, that is what it's like every day for an automotive technician. A person brings their vehicle in and gives a list of items, and the technician needs to try to find out what's wrong with that vehicle as quickly as possible. And we normally don't get all six problems in an hour and a half, though, I promise you. No, that's a world record for DIAG time right there. It is.
That is great taking care of a problem. Because, I mean, what it amounts to in the automotive industry, that's what we say, speed sales. People want their cars back quickly. I tell people that repairing a car these days is a lot like what the fast food industry went through years ago. I mean, now it's where the person pulls in, and when they pull around to that window, they want the car done.
They're ready to go. And you want to be able to do that for that person because they need their car. They have kids to pick up. They have groceries to go by. They have to get to work.
They have to get home from work.
So the car in. especially uh people that ha might have one car. And sometimes you got one family with one or two cars that's trying to make it get every place and the kids over to this soccer game and this Being done, and they need their cars. And not to mention, some vehicles are used for work, and it's how they actually make their living. Yeah, that's see when something goes wrong with my truck.
That's it's costing me money because of the downtime, I'm not making any money.
So I need my truck back quickly. And seeing what you're doing is just so very refreshing to see that a lot of emphasis is put on, hey, we need to find out what's wrong with this vehicle. We need to find out what's wrong quick and we need to get it done.
Now, what do you do once you are in the same room with all of the others that are competing? Yeah, so we had this, it was like a big, not pavilion, but it was an open area. And um there's only three schools that competed Harlem, Evans and Grove Town. And the cars are the trucks were lined up as like Harlem, then Grovetown, then Evans. And they each had tables in front of them for each school.
Once the timer started, each school went to their truck and they started going through stuff. Um there's a little box on the table and there's like a judge there. And there's all kinds of different parts in there that are wrong with the truck. And once we identify that part is wrong, we've got to come up to the judge and ask for that part. If we've identified it wrong, obviously there won't be a part.
But if we've identified it right, there will be a part and we can take that. Do you kind of smile when you walk up and say, I need like a relay or something? I need this. And they have it? Yes, yes, very much.
So and the reason that I wanted you and Jacob and Elizabeth to be here on the show is not for just the given local recognition and in some cases national recognition. But things like this happen all across the country. And people are listening to this that are in different areas. But you can just about bet that there's a place near you that is or near wherever you're listening from that has competitions like this because the automotive industry has changed a huge amount over the years.
Now, I did many years ago. I competed a little bit. Nothing like what you guys are doing now. But It's grown so much and so much more important than it used to be. And not to mention.
We're working on things now that if you don't diagnose them correctly and use the right equipment when you're diagnosing the vehicle, one, you won't find out what's wrong, or you might make a misdiagnosis, or you might See that puff of smoke. And what I tell people, when you see the puff of smoke, that's the magic. You let the magic out of the box. You let all the magic out of the box. Yeah, because that box won't work anymore.
And so it used to be that if a technician comes to a place and they're just starting to work, and they, at the most, they may not be able to repair a car. And at the most, you may have to help a lot.
Now, A technician who don't have any experience can cost thousands of dollars if they don't know the proper procedure on checking out electronic parts. Yeah, that's usually, you know, you bring in green technicians and you kind of have somebody have them shadow someone for a while. And just to make sure that they didn't. oversell themselves when they filled out that job application. And, you know, start building Milton wiring.
Well, tell us a little bit about how you got involved in automotive repair.
So it kinda started out I just I've always liked doing stuff on my hands. And I mean, I started fiddling with stuff while I was in middle school and freshman sophomore year. But junior year, or after sophomore year, I stopped playing baseball. And I got more involved with the CTE classes such as agriculture and automotive.
So that junior year, I got into Mr. Lewis's block class, which is the actual live work class. And I started learning a lot there, getting my hands on stuff, just figuring stuff out, and realized that I really, really enjoy doing this.
So a lot of times after school, I'll go do jobs for people or I do a lot of jobs at the house for my uncle, all kinds of places. And it's just something I've found out that I really love. Wow. And I think that part's true. If you're doing something you love, you don't work a day in your life.
That's it. Yeah. And I still enjoy the automotive industry. As long as I've been in it many, many years, I still enjoy what I do. You do run into some frustrations at times because this is supposed to work.
Why won't it work? The griblins. Or, yeah, or one of those that just every so often acts up. They can be a little tough. What was one of the first things that got you interested in the automotive field?
Well, we had this little red go-kart in the house. Uh-huh. And I just always loved messing with it. And I ended up painting the whole thing and doing all kinds of stuff. And ever since that, I've just loved.
Doing anything related to some sort of motorized vehicle, whether it's a four-wheeler go-kart truck, something like that. And that just that little go-kart is really what got me really into this whole field. You don't still have the go-kart, do you? I don't. You need to save stuff like that.
Did you take a picture of the go-kart? Yes.
Was it that you outgrew? Because you're pretty tall. Yes, it is. It was not very big. It was pretty small.
But you do have pictures. Yes, you need to keep that picture. Not long ago, I decided to get a lot of the things that I had digitized. And movies, and it was some movies I can't believe some of the things that I ended up with. But I found pictures of a Doom Buggy that I had at one time, a 280Z I had at one time.
I hadn't found pictures of my MG Midget yet. I'm still looking for those. I really want that. Just in countless other cars that I've had.
So you'll cherish those pictures one day and you'll look at that go-kart and say, wow, this is what got me started. Yeah. Go ahead. Oh my gosh. You're talking about the pictures, and I'm remembering all the pictures that my grandmother took growing up in the machine shop when I'm a little grease-covered kid out there taking stuff apart.
And that was an amazing story because one of our first locations, as it turns out, was right next to where you were working at a machine shop when you were very small. Yeah, it was one of my favorite things. Is my grandmother was telling me one day she couldn't find me. And she would come around the corner and she saw where I was, and I was back there taking spark plugs out of the boxes. Oh, yeah.
She's shaking them out onto the floor. And they're hard to figure out which one to put back where. Hey, we'll be right back. When we return, we will be given an answer to last week and the week before Steck Tip quiz. We'll be right back.
And we do welcome you back to the CNC Auto Show. I'm Avery Clements here with co-host Jamie Brown. And we had a great first hour. Oh, yeah. Yeah, we had Tristan Irving and we had Colin Davis here with us during the first hour.
And during this hour, we have Cody Price here with us. And Cody is also an upcoming automotive industry rock star.
So we've had three great rock stars today. Yeah. Had three last week. Oh, yeah. And this is kind of awesome.
Cody, tell us a little bit about some of the things you've done. Uh I've uh participated in uh Columbia County competition uh two years in a row. Um mainly just the intermediate category of that, but I had a lot of fun doing that and then uh Put my head in the Ed in the door within the automotive industry while working at Jim Hudson Lexis as an apprentice tech there. Wow. Now I'm working with Comey County Fleet Services.
Yeah. And I will say Jim Hudson Lexis has been very good for the automotive industry in this area. Yeah, he's been incredibly generous. Yeah. They have done a lot of really good things to move the automotive industry forward.
No doubt we want to say thank you to them for some of the many things that they've done. They provide a lot of support for the students in the schools and also do some things when they graduate to help many of the students.
So I think that's a good thing, very good thing for them to help in that.
Now, what's your day look like right now? I mean, as far as like a weekday, like what's a normal day for you? Um wake up for school, go to school. Uh I typically leave around uh 12-15. Uh and then I go into work.
Uh Do whatever I need to do at work and then leave at five. Kind of go back to the house and chill. You're ready for the next day.
Okay.
Now, what the part having to do with the going to work? Do you work on some of the vehicles that come in? Do you have a person that you kind of follow and help? What do you do? Most of the time, I'm following my boss, helping him out.
Right now, we're working on wiring up undercover cop cars.
So we're helping put it in the car. Undercover cop cars? What? The Lexus? No, this is Columbia County.
Oh, okay. All right.
I used to work at Lexus at Fleet Services now. Oh, I got you.
Okay.
All right.
But yeah, we do that. And then sometimes I'll. You know, kind of. Venture off, see what else I can do to help out other people. A lot of people don't know that, but in respect, what happens is the police department in many areas, and I would probably say most areas, they borrow cars from used car lots or either dealerships.
Acquire them due to traffic stops or. Yeah. Drug bus or something like that. I graduated high school and I moved to South Florida. And some of the undercover cop cars that they had in South Florida, now this was like fifteen plus years ago.
Some of these undercover cop car you wouldn't have even known. I mean, they were Corvettes and I mean, it was just all kinds of stuff, and you would have Never, never thought. You're starting me to think about Miami Vice car again now as you keep going back. You're back with Florida in the fast cars. Yes.
You never know. One day I might have one of those sitting down there also. Maybe. Yeah. Now, what's the competition?
What do you do when you go into a competition? Um. It's been the same for me last two years. I've only done two.
Well, you had the cop cars last year instead of the F one fifties this year, wouldn't it?
Well, I was in advance both years, so I didn't get to deal with the F-150s or and Paula's last year. Oh, okay, here we go. Mainly for the intermediate, it's um you do a little bit of like engine work, like the basics, and then you do an alignment. You do some tires, some uh diagnostic, looking at a code reader. Um Then you do some electrical And then you do a break job.
Yeah, that's pretty much the basics of, you know, getting into the industry. I guess getting a taste for it. If that's the path you want to go. Yeah, no, that that's definitely something you have to have to enjoy. I love it.
Well, that's a great thing. I enjoy it a lot. Are you both ready for us to take a phone call? Let's go. All right, let's go.
Okay, and welcome to the CNC Auto Show. What can we help you with? Hello, Aaron. This is Carrie Carney. How are you doing?
I am doing great. How are you doing? All right.
Remember you from uh Arc Financial? I do. I sure do. And that is really good to hear from you.
Alright. Yes, I got a I'm the original owner of a nineteen eighty eight three hundred ZX. It's silver black interior. I'm thinking about getting it painted. What advice do you have for me if I go around looking for a bid and what I should look for to get get it painted so it looks good?
Mm-hmm.
Now, I'm going to let Jamie and Cody chime in on this also, but what I would look for is very much like what I tell people to do when they're looking for another automotive repair shop. I love reviews. But one of the main things is to find other people who have cars similar to yours. And talk to them, find out where they go.
Now, there's not much doubt that y'all have coffee and cars events there also in that area. I would look up and go to different car shows, go to different coffee and cars events, and find someone with some Asian-type cars that kind of fit a little bit in your general description, year mate model. And if you see one that looks really, really good, say, hey, who painted this and who did this? Who did that? And then once you do that, definitely don't stop there.
Look at the reviews, do a little bit of background search, talk to others that have had theirs there. Ask the person, hey, can I get a few referrals? And Then, if you do it that way, you'll ensure success. And then, when you do talk to the person, agree on a price because you don't want to so many times. People get halfway into it and say, Oh, I didn't have any idea it was going to be this or that.
Or I really didn't want to go that far. I wanted it to look good, but not that good. And so get on the same page with the person that's doing it. And then also find out if there's things you might be able to do to help that along. There's a lot of these paint companies that say, hey, if you buy these items, I'm going to need these items.
Can you get them? Do it. And number, this is big now. This is really big. Agree on a timeframe because that's the other thing that happens.
Sometimes you can put a nice car like that in a paint shop. And a lot of those people are on a different scale than we're on on when they get it done. And so you might, I've seen people take two or three years to get a vehicle painted.
So agree. And if you, and some people might be fine with two or three years, but if you're expecting it in three months and it takes three years, then you're not going to be happy.
So agree on a timeframe and when things are paid. You don't want to pay it all at once and say, yeah, get it done. Mm-hmm.
Yeah, that's a good point. I appreciate that. Yeah. Jamie, anything you want to add to that? You pretty much nailed it with the reviews online and then with the car shows.
So that way you can. See what their work looks like in person for each particular shop. If you wanted to go buck wild and expand a little further than that, you can. Where'd you get that word, Jamie? Buckwild.
I don't know. I just pulled it out of the air. But you can, you know, if you have a preference to brand, you can for paint, you can, you know, research brands of paint. And then be able to be knowledgeable about what kind of paint that shop uses or what kind of clear they use or to go on from there. But the other thing that Aaron kind of touched on it too is.
A good paint job is not cheap.
So the just to make sure that you you know exactly what to expect. And then the time frame was a a good thing too, because a lot of paint and body shops are backlogged. Mm-hmm.
Yeah, well, I like to say I'm the original owner in eighty eight, so it's my baby, so uh like it only has one hundred and eighty on it, so uh uh it's special to me, so uh yeah, I'm gonna do it right. I had a 79280Z, and I love that little car, too. And it was one of my favorite. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Good car.
Well, guys, I appreciate that. It's really good advice. And Aaron, looking forward to catching up with you. Absolutely. We need to sit down and talk, Carrie, and we will.
I was thinking about you just this week, and we definitely will be. And Carrie, you're in Dallas, Texas, right? Austin. Austin, Texas. Oh, okay.
For some reason, I was thinking Dallas. I don't know why I thought Austin.
Okay.
Well, Carrie, I appreciate you coming too. Uh-huh. Yeah, I've been listening to y'all's show. Y'all do a great job. Appreciate it.
Well, thank you very much. Have a fantastic day. You too. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
Okay, we'll be right back with more of the CNC Auto Show. The CNC Auto Show is brought to you in part by NGK and NTK. At NGK Ignition is in our DNA. That means we ensure our premium ignition coils match the performance, functionality, and quality that goes into every spark plug we make. Learn more at ngksparkplugs.com.
On a dark desert highway. In my hair, warm smell of colitas rising up through the air. Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light. My head grew heavy and my side grew dim. I had to stop for the night.
There she stood in the middle of the middle. And we are back with you with the CNC Auto Show. We have Colin here with us, and we have co-host Jamie Brown. Cody, sorry. Cody, Cody.
We have Cody here. Yes.
We have Cody here with us. And we have. Jamie Brown, co-host, and we are, we have been, oh, it's been awesome.
Some of the things that we've talked about on the cars. And Cody, I was going to ask you some of the things as far as. When you go to these events, is there a lot of preparation that you need to do before you attend? go to one of these competitions. Um, for me personally, a lot of the preparation is, you know, making sure You know the task inside and out.
I mean, you never know what exactly you're going to do, but you can't overprepare. Mm-hmm.
Um. Just I guess. Freshen up your mind, you know, get the hang of doing everything. Um cover all the steps, cover all the bases so you don't you know, skip over something and forget it. Um And then also a big thing for me and, you know, competitions are place where I'm competing is, you know Um Handling the pressure.
The best way I figured out to do that is, you know, stay calm, don't focus on, you know. Everything that's the people standing there watching you. Yeah, people that are looking at you, all that, because you know. most people that can get kind of intimidating. Yeah.
Um, you know, focus on the task at hand, not, you know, people watching you and everything, you know. And that's worked for me. Yeah. You know, it it's as as 'Cause I I was at the Columbia County event, so somebody standing there as a as a But I don't have remember how they phrased it. As somebody invested in you guys's future.
It's really awesome to watch you guys do these things because the The best thing For me, is you know, you're working on the, this year it was a track, you're working on the track, you're working on the track, and then you fix it. And then just the the you know, the look on y'all's face when y'all fix this thing, you know, the sense of accomplishment that that you I can see it, and it is just the best thing for me to see you guys so excited. And then the stuff they You know, you win the prizes and stuff. That's awesome. That's awesome.
Oh my gosh. Well, they give out some great stuff.
Some great stuff. I see you got one of Toby's hats on. Oh, yeah. But yeah, another thing like In the moment when you're competing is, you know. Get comfortable, you know, don't look at it as, you know competition with a bunch of pressure on you Be comfortable, have fun, you like have fun with doing what you're doing, you love what you do kind of thing.
Just being comfortable is one of the biggest parts. Cody, what would you say to other people that may be interested in coming into the automotive industry? Yeah. It It's a lot in uh some cases. Um There's a lot.
I guess to look forward to there's a lot you need to be ready for and there's other things, you know, that. I guess not everybody wants to do those, you know, jobs that you love doing, jobs that you hate doing. You just got to do them. You got to grind them out, you know. But it's a really fun industry, at least for me.
And you got to have a lot of passion for it. Would you agree that a lot of people can do this, but to really excel into some of the things that you will be working with in the future, you just about need some type of education as far as an automotive classroom education now to be able to get into the higher paying. positions. I've seen people make it the other way just through sheer working hard. Their mind your mind has to work a certain way to be able to do this.
And if you have a education as a base, Then it's easier for you to picture things in your mind and kind of expand stuff and work through things. You can do it, you know, starting out from scratch, but it's it's tough. Would you agree that electronics is pretty much a must, that you have to at least know the basics of electronics?
Nowadays, especially all these cars are coming becoming run on computers instead of everything being mechanical. You got to understand how computers and electrical works because that's. That's about half a car nowadays. And that's even the basic things that used to be just basic, like brakes. You have anti-lock brakes.
You have tracks control. You have all the other functions of brakes. And they're moving more and more into other electronics in brakes, actually applying them. Then you move into steering. It used to be you'd have a steering gearbox.
Now it's an electronic steering gearbox that uses it, throttle controls. And just about, and of course, it goes without saying just about anything. It has to do with the running of the engine is controlled by the computer.
So I think if someone really wants to get a good understanding and say, well, I want to be in the automotive industry and I want to make good money, some type of formal classroom is going to be very important for them and concentrate very heavily on electronics. And I mean, for me, um, I've never really actually been in too much of a classroom with automotive. I've just, you know For me, I learned by experience, learn by actually physically doing the task, more as, you know. But you're beside somebody who is there.
Somebody who already knows how to do it. And you've been beside them for a period of time. Kind of like Mr. Lewis at school in my shop class, you know. I learn by doing the task, but he also guides me through it, teaches me, you know, this will work better to do this task, or this will help you through this.
He went through all the education steps and all that to be where he is now, you know, with the degrees and everything, the technical know how and all that. We got about thirty seconds, but are you really excited about seeing what all's ahead of us on the automotive industry? Oh, yeah. That's some wild stuff coming. I mean, variable displacement engines.
There's the engines that weigh John. Very, very little now, very small, but produce huge amounts of horsepower. A lot to look forward to. It's getting it really exciting.
Okay, we're going to have to pull over for just a second or two. We're going to. Change uh change. Change passengers here just for a little bit, but there will be a contest. Are you going to be ready for our contest near the end of the thing?
And the question is: are you going to win? Absolutely. Oh, There we go. All right, we'll be back with more to see and see all the show. Ever been stuck behind a snow plow spraying salt on the road and thought here comes the rust?
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Learn more at nhoilundercoating.com. I was cruising in my stain train late one night. See the next cave. Move up on the right. He rolled down the window of a shiny new jack and challenged me then and there to attract.
I said you're on button. Bye. Welcome back to the CNC Auto Show. I'm Jamie. I'm here with Aaron Clements.
And Colin were Well, talking to Colin about his experience with the fleet services competition that we just had a couple weeks ago around here. Yeah. That How did you get into the competition?
So, Mr. Norris from Grofttown High originally asked me if I wanted to compete in the basic competition. But he couldn't find anybody else to compete in the intermediate, so he threw me up in the intermediate, and I felt like I did pretty good in that. Yeah. Wow.
Yeah. And So you jumped up one step above where you where you had been. A lot of a lot of schools will put a freshman into Basic, but Yeah. Put a freshman in the intermediate this year, and I think I did pretty good for the first time. First time doing anything like that.
Yeah, that's something like that is uh is unnerving because there I mean, there's just there's so many people that show up for that, you know. And it's the you know. But that that's a good thing, you did well. And a lot of that stuff I didn't know how to do, but Norris kinda just Showed me how to do it a little bit. Yeah.
Well, one question we have now, this is going to be a pretty big competition that we're going to have in the next segment that we have. It's coming up. We're going to ask certain questions and you would beep the buzzer and answer the question. Do you plan to win that one? Hopefully.
Hopefully. All right.
But no, I mean the the biggest thing with The automotive industry is a continuing education. And for the continuing education, obviously, to work, you have to have. the willingness to keep learning.
So that you are able to just, you know, get a few hints or, you know, tips and then to still figure it out, that's a great sign. That you're going to do well. And I also competed in a Skills USA State competition. Did you? I did.
And it was automotive brakes. I got first place in that. Awesome. Tristan was there with us. Do you run into cases where you're in the automotive industry?
Do some of your friends who might be in different industries ask you about help working on their vehicle or ask you what might be wrong? Yeah. So they they'll come in and and they'll Try to get some general ideas on that. What do you expect the what do you plan to do after high school?
Well, I'd like I'm currently I would like to get a summer internship at Columbia County Fleet Services and just keep doing that for a couple of years and then. Hopefully keep that internship while I go to Augusta Tech and get all my certifications and then keep working at Fleet Services.
Now, we did ask Colin about this, but what do you think? I mean, we did ask Cody about this, but what advice would you have if somebody was interested in going into the automotive industry and they're thinking about attending some classes, what advice would you give them? I would say talk to somebody that was a mechanic in the past or currently is a mechanic and s like See what they recommend for what school or tech school to go to. Mhm.
Okay.
And get and get some type of training that way. Because, of course, you also, after high school, you can go to Augusta Tech. And we have some exciting things here in our area that will be coming in the future. And when we mention a lot of these things that were mentioned, we realize that people are listening to this in other areas. But what I'm encouraging other shops to do around the country, and I'm also encouraging other cities and school systems to do, invest in these kids in the automotive industry because we will need people to be able to repair these rolling computers that are out there.
I mean, and it can be a very nice position and very nice job for people to have as far as being able if they get the skills to do it correctly. It can be without the skills and without the training, it can be one of the most frustrating jobs you'll ever had in your life. But if you've got the right amount of training and got the information that it takes to repair it and have the equipment that it takes to repair it. uh vehicle properly and the communication skills that go with it. Because as a technician, no doubt, you would need to be able to let that service advisor know what your findings are.
And then that service advisor needs to have the skill set to be able to communicate to that customer what's needed and what their options are. Because repairing cars are not a small thing now. It used to be you'd have a, if you had a car repair and it would be a hundred bucks, two or three hundred bucks, people didn't really want to take the time to even know, just do it, get it gone. But now you're talking about some cars are average in the five, six hundred dollar range, and then many. uh things that are needed can be several thousand dollars.
Yes, easily.
So is something that people need to invest the time in and knowing a little bit more about how it works, about what's involved What are people doing to get the training to do it correctly? And one of those things with those prices is the labor that goes into it because the part sometimes always costs five, six hundred dollars. A lot of it's just the labor.
So if you're just as an individual can buy the part and put it in yourself, you're going to save a whole bunch of money. And you're gonna know how to do it again if you need to do it. But yeah As long as well, a lot of as far as labor goes, a lot of The most extensive Labor bill is diagnostic fee.
So, you know, yeah, that's so that's why if you had like you with your friends asking you, hey, what do you think about this? And you know, you get to be that friend with the diagnostic scan tool. Yeah, and that's one thing a lot of people need to remember. The diagnostics is an expensive part of it, but you can get the best part at, I mean, a very good price. I mean, you can get a fantastic.
Price on that part. You can go buy it. You can bring it to the person. Say, yeah, I'm going to save money on the part. And then you can find a person.
You can call around and say, oh, I found somebody to put it on so much cheaper than everybody else. That person can do it. But what happens is if they, if it's the wrong part, That you're putting on, you hadn't done anything. Yes, the diagnostic is important. But I mean, if you can figure out what it is and do it on your own, then yeah, you'll definitely save money.
You just have to make sure that you're not just throwing parts at something and see what's going on. I don't have anything at all against people working on their own car. And I definitely don't have anything at all again. I'll even tell them anything I can to help them to do that. But the fact is, some things you need special equipment, and some things are kind of above what a person, and you don't want to guess at expensive parts.
You can guess at a little relay, you can guess at a little small thing that costs 20, 30, 40 bucks. But when you get into these parts that cost several hundred dollars, you don't want to guess because you could pay for the diagnostics for what you're buying that part from. And that's the reason I love to see people here like Colin coming up to learn how to do it properly because they're talking about. If a person can take a handsaw and give you a good price per hour cutting down a tree. But I would rather have that person with the chainsaw charging me more per hour, but he's got the chainsaw and he's going to get it down three times faster.
So, in the long run, I'm going to save a lot of money and I'm going to likely get the right tree and it's going to fall the right direction. And I know that's a crazy way to look at it, but I mean, that's the way it is. That's a way to look at it, though. Yeah, yeah.
So, you actually save money many times by letting a professional do it. But. Also I want people to be able to enjoy the things that they can do. I just don't want them to, because it's like gardening.
Some people love to garden, some people love to work on cars, and you want them to enjoy that. And going back to what you were saying about some people can do it themselves and getting the parts, a good place to get the parts is from AutoZone. Oh yeah, definitely. Oh yeah, yeah. Autozone.
Yeah, and that's a good point because AutoZone has so many things that they can do. People can go in and AutoZone has people behind the counter. You can go get your battery tested for free. They can put something on for free. Yeah.
They load test the battery and the charging system too, which is the good thing about how they do it. Or you can take the alternator and battery in there separately from the rest of the vehicle. They have like a tool owner program, too. They have a tool owner program. Yeah, to where like if you using something you'll only need it one time instead of going to buying a specialty tool.
Uh-huh. Instead of just like ratchet and socket, you can go. Borrow, pay a little bit of price, borrow it. Yeah. Get your money back if you return it.
Yeah. So that's the main thing. No resource. Use those resources like that. Yeah.
Use Colin knowledge there. Don't hesitate to ask on things like that. Those tools can be very valuable because sometimes you don't always want to go out and buy those sets. Colin, it's about time for us to pull over for just a second, take a quick break. When we return, we're going to have our contest.
You're going to be ready? Yep. All right.
Here we go. We'll be right back with more to CNC Auto Show. It pays to be prepared with K-Sil Ultimate. Featuring 33% more sealant power than original K-Seal. K-Seal Ultimate can help you stop potential cooling system leaks.
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We won't hear. Is a tame To break down. Garden. game. There's not much time left today And we are back with you with the CNC Auto Show, and this is a little bit of an exciting time because we've got a great big contest coming up here.
We have Colin here with us. He has a A buzzer. In front of him And with that buzzer, he is ready to push the button once we ask the question. We have Tristan Irvin here. He has a buzzer in front of him, and he is ready, and he claims he's going to win this thing.
That was his thought process. that he had. And then we have Cody here that claims he's going to win.
So this is going to be a tough thing, and this is going to be a face off.
Now the winner will be getting the world famous TTQWB water bottle that changes colors here. And so we're going to start with this deal. We will ask the question, and when I ask the question, the person presses the buzzer. And then answers the question. If he answers the question correctly, He'll get one point.
If he answers a question incorrectly, he subtracts a point.
So you can theoretically end up with a negative number here if we go here.
Okay, so. Let's uh let's start. With the first question, I'm writing the names down, so I'm going to be ready to keep score here. And then we got Cody.
Okay, all right, here we go. First question. A customer arrived with a 99 Chevrolet with a con it's a Silverado actually with a concern of seeing coolant on the garage floor. What test do you run? All right, so Colin.
Cody. I mean, Cody, Cody, what tests do you run? First test I would run is a compression test to see if it would hold air p uh hold pressure. Like you'd take off the radiator cap. Or you could go to AutoZone, um, loan out a pressure tester, um, replace the radio radiator cap with an adapter, and then there's a gauge that'll tell you how much uh pressure's in it.
So, what you're saying is you would take the radiator cap off the vehicle, put this pressure tester on there, and that's going to put outward pressure on the system, usually somewhere between 12 and 14 psi of pressure. And then, if it leaks down, you know, if it leaks down too quick, then you got your leak somewhere, then you got to find out where it is. And then, also, you're able in with it pushing outward, you're able to find the leak a lot faster.
Okay, uh, let's see what the let's see what the judges say here. Um, let's see. Ah All right, Cody, you get one point.
Alright, Jonkin, sit down. Sit down. All right, thank you. Thank you. All right, they go crazy sometimes.
They did that when people answered a technical question. All right, so first question is done. Are we ready for the second question? Yep. All right, here we go.
A customer. Has a 2000 Jeep Cherokee, they arrived with a no-spin condition. What test would you run on the vehicle? No spin. Like being in like no crank or right, no crank.
Uh Oh, wow, Cody, I think you got it.
Okay, no crank consistent. You're exactly right.
Okay.
First thing I'd check for is battery voltage. Make sure you have enough power going to your starter. All right.
Roughly how much voltage should be in that battery? About 12.5. 12.5 volts, and that should be plenty enough to crank it up. Early spin it over. Uh-huh.
Okay.
So what would that tell you if that vehicle comes in and you look and it has voltage. Could be uh possibly a bad starter. Um Or your motor's locked up. But it's most likely not the battery. And most likely has to do, like you said, with the starter or something along those lines.
Wow. I'm going to have to run that past the judges again. Let's see what they say. That one was a little bit faster. All right, so that's two.
For Cody All right, one, two. All right, here we go. I mean, yeah, okay, here we go. We're ready for the next one? Oh, yeah.
All right.
It seems that a service advisor did not get enough information on this 2,000 Jeep Cherokee. What do you need to ask the service advisor?
Well, that was on the same one with the Jeep that the A vehicle comes in, it has no voltage in the battery. And the car won't start, no voltage in the battery. But the service advisor didn't ask enough information. You checked it. It read.
Zero volts or very little voltage, not enough to spin the car over, but you need more information. on this vehicle. What other information would you recommend trying to gather? First thing I would think of is: how long has it been since it's ran last? Or how long has it been since it's been used?
Wow. So that would be interesting to know whether that vehicle, the battery, went dead going down the road or did it go dead too long. Are you gonna let him do this? I couldn't think of it fast enough. That's three.
I was going to say that. Or potentially, if it's had voltage, you know, water could have gotten the engine and it could lock it up. Yeah. Or it's just sat for forever, and you know. But that's a big deal.
And the reason I wanted to bring that question up is it's very important. For service advisors, they asked a lot of information from people when they bring their car in.
So don't get frustrated when that, if you carry a car to have it worked on, if the service advisor says, well, when did it go dead? Were you riding down the road? Were you sitting still? Had you parked it? Had you driven it somewhere and pulled into a shopping center and cut it off and not start back?
Or has it been sitting for about a week since it's been started? All that information is important. You're exactly right.
And wow.
Okay, all right, so. Here we go with another. Can I hold it out? Yes.
Are you going to be ready this time? Tristan's got it closer. I can tell. He's going to get it this time. You serve at Ms.
Brown's O2, you're servicing Ms. Brown's O2 Buick LaSabre. You notice that the tires are wearing on the inside edge during the test drive. You see that the steering wheel is not centered and the vehicle pulls to the left. What service do you recommend?
Limited. Alignment! Fantastic. Yes.
And a lot of people think that an oil change is just an oil change. One of the most important parts of the oil change is the inspection process. Because let's say that you found it was pulling a little bit. Let's found the tires are starting to wear. If you go ahead and sell that person alignment now, it'll save them from having to buy tires a lot sooner than they should have had to buy tires.
Yeah, and safety, yeah, and just a lot more comfortable drive. You'll enjoy driving it.
Okay.
Well, uh Colin. That uh that gives you one.
Okay, all right. They tell them we got to run. We're going to do two more. Two more. All right.
Service advisor handled a repair order on a 2015 F-150. One of the concerns is that it's jerking at around 40 and slight acceleration. What are the three steps you would take to find the concern? Tristan.
So check what the tire is doing, put it up on a lift, check it, check the control arms, mainly ball bearings. Those can go bad pretty easily for older models. And then from there you want to check if the tires are properly balanced. At higher speeds, those unbalanced wheels can really cause a lot of wobble in natural driving experience. And then most likely your sway bar.
Those can cause some issues with how the car is actually going to handle under acceleration and higher speeds. Fantastic. So, you would check over the front end. Yes.
All right.
Let's see what they got. All right! Oh, this is getting close here. Very close. All right, one more.
Oh, we're not going to have time for one more. We're going to have to announce that Cody is the winner of today's AutoZone trivia. Cody, congratulate, but. Congratulations to you. I appreciate all of you being here.
And we'll see everybody back next week for more of the CNC Auto Show. Thank you all for having me. Thank you. Go to the last one.
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