Hello! My name is Tim Hughes. I’ve been an automotive technician,
heavy-duty diesel technician, and instructor of automotive technology for over
30 years.
My father was a real greaser from the 1950's, complete with the leather jacket and cigarette pack rolled up in the sleeve of his white t-shirt. My dad drag raced in the NHRA from 1970 until 1976, and built hot rods and restored old cars in our garage at home from as far back as I can remember. Working with my dad, I had some experience already when I joined the Air Force in 1987 and became a "General Purpose Vehicle Mechanic." My first duty station was at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany, where I worked mostly on small gasoline powered Volkswagon Transporters, and diesel powered school buses and construction equipment, including some made by Mercedes Benz. After Desert Shield/Desert Storm, I was still working as GP mechanic when I finished my College Degree in Automotive Maintenance. I got my letter confirming my graduations and orders to transfer to Port Hueneme California on the same day. Since less than 7% of auto technicians have degrees, the Air Force made me an instructor for Automotive Maintenance. In California I taught Heavy Duty Diesel Maintenance for the U.S. Air Force, Navy See-Bees, U.S. Marines, and Foreign Military allies for 7 years. At the end of my stint as an instructor, I was stationed here at Nellis AFB, where I worked on Fire Trucks, Busses and other heavy vehicles. Following my retirement in 2008, I worked as a school bus technician, still for the Air Force for a year, before becoming a High School Auto Shop Teacher at Shadow Ridge High School for five years. After I left the school district, I briefly taught driver's ed for a private school, worked as a general mechanic for Enterprise/National Rent a Car, and eventually found my way to becoming an instructor for Advanced Technical Institute, where I teach automotive brakes, suspension and steering alignment here in Las Vegas.
One of the issues that I’ve faced in dealing with customer’s
cars on a frequent basis is the fact that most car owners don’t know how to
change a flat tire, check the oil, or jump-start a battery. Most can’t identify
basic car parts or perform emergency roadside repairs.
According to a survey published by AutoMD in 2016, (https://www.automd.com/about-automd/press)
two out of three teenagers don’t know the basics of car care. Many women and the elderly know just about a much as the teenagers do.
The American Driver and Traffic Safety Education Association
(http://www.adtsea.org/) said in 2011 that
only 15 percent of public school students were enrolled in driver's education
classes in high school, compared to 95 percent of students in the 1970s. Though
most states require students to pass a driver's ed class before obtaining a
license, a majority of teens attend private driving schools which do not teach
any car care basics. Classes such as Auto Shop (and Wood Shop, Metal Shop,
etc.) are disappearing from our schools as well.
My goal with this blog is to help educate the average car
owner on how to do basic inspections and perform simple repairs that can help
save you money and time on repair shops and road-side service calls. I will be
posting topics of my choosing, but I invite you to ask questions or ask for
information on specific topics, or share your experiences with car breakdowns
and what was done to fix the problem, or what caused it.
Thank you for visiting. I hope to hear from you!
