Thoughts? I like the idea of people being more self-sufficient, but he's got a point about other human activities that have outlived their usefulness (see article for examples I couldn't quote) and it being less necessary because cars are made better and it has moved into the arena of a hobby for those who enjoy it. Does this make our society better or worse that we don't have to do these kinds of things anymore, or have we just moved on to other ways of spending (or wasting, in some eyes) our time? This begs a larger question: What kinds of activities better ourselves individually and societally? I'd love to have a discussion about this, please share your thoughts!
Many people are worried about this sort of thing. Only the other day, I heard some campanologists on the radio complaining that the art of bell-ringing would soon disappear, because no young people were interested in it. I doubt it, really, because there will always be a few medievalists drawn to the risk of hanging themselves as a Sunday morning pastime, and, as long as there are, bells will be swungen. But let's just say that absolutely no youths develop an interest in bell-ringing. In another 50 years' time, the skill could indeed vanish. That's a terrible thing, isn't it?
Not really. It will only vanish if no one is interested, and if no one is interested in bell-ringing, no one will care that it's gone.
Does it matter, then - and I keep being told that it does - that no one can mend their own car these days? Fifty years ago, any self-respecting bloke knew how to set the contact breakers on an Austin A35 blah blah blah and regrind the valves blah blah blah carburettor idle adjustment blah blah grease nipple.
But I'm getting slightly bored with old giffers saying things like: "Well, of course, in my day, when your car went wrong, you knew how to fix it yourself." What they forget is that in their day, the car went wrong every 15 minutes. The fact that no one can do this sort of thing any more is great news, because it shows how much better the car has become. People didn't spend all that time under the bonnet for the purposes of self-improvement. They did it because their cars were crap. Now they're better, and we can move on from the misery of the distributor cap.
Look - I like mucking about with old stuff and trying to mend it. I find it engaging, and I think it's good for the soul. But I'm a pervert. There are enough other perverts around to keep a few special old things in order, but the rest of you needn't worry about it. What was once part of the yoke of the human conscience is now just a hobby for those who want it.
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
Automobiles are getting more and more complex and keeping up with the technologies and tools is enough to put most shade tree mechanics out of business. What used to be a mostly electro-mechanical system, engines and transmissions are becoming more and more electronic. Instead of replacing a wire or adjusting a mechanical component the solution now is to replace a chip or electronic module and the used ones in most junk yards have already been scavenged or they are broken.
I do my own oil and fluid changes as well as other maintenance like rotating tires, replacing burned out lights, and such but there are issues that I don't have the knowledge or equipment to repair myself. I recently had the crank position sensor go out in my Jeep Grand Cherokee, after buying the part and doing some extensive research I was able to replace it but in hind sight if it ever goes out again I'll pay a professional garage to fix it because it was a real PITA to swap out and it took me the better part of two days to do it.
I can explain it to you but I can't understand it for you.
"Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the Government take care of him; better take a closer look at the American Indian." - Henry Ford
Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges; When the Republic is at its most corrupt the laws are most numerous. - Publius Cornelius Tacitus
That perspective is a bit warped. While it may be true that cars have gotten better, it does not change the fact they are more difficult to repair when something does go wrong. Take a car to a local shop, they hook up a computer to read the code of what is wrong and then they try to figure out how to interpret the results or when they can not as happens too frequently, you're told to take it to the dealer who has all the code information. That example is not a an add for simple car repair. It's not just a matter of cars being built better, they also are built in such a way that it's impossible to effect most repairs yourself since it involves analysis of computer components. Those components don't give up information as easily as a mechanical malfunction. On top of that more and more specialized tools are needed far beyond a ring compressor or torque wrench. As pointed out by otis, one can still learn to fix cars, but it's often not worth the time and energy.
Heck, take an old car and blue print the engine and it will last just as long as the new cars. New cars benefit from better manufacturing and that does not necessarily mean having computerized fuel and ignition feeds. It also means balanced components so the engine does not shake itself apart.
I still do all my own repairs and maintenance. Yes you do need to keep up with buying tools and diagnostic equipment, and a repair manual of some kind is a must.
On the plus side newer cars are much better, last longer and require way less maintenance.
Negative is the electronics scare most people, and the parts are expensive.
If you want to be, press one. If you want not to be, press 2
Republicans are red, democrats are blue, neither of them, gives a flip about you.
The understanding of mechanical/electrical principles is absolutely necessary for a person to be able to think rationally as to cause and effect. The understanding of levers, pulleys, gears, springs, simple circuits sharpens a person's ability to visualize to problem solve and improvise. This builds confidence and a whole host of other positive character traits.
And it lessens the instances of being taken advantage by mechanics and repair shops.
People should have a hobby of rebuilding and restoring an old classic auto from the ground-up. I do not mean paying to have it restored, but doing the restoration yourself; engine overhaul, upholstery, drivetrain repair, transmission repair. replacing the glass, wiring harnesses, replace shiny parts (chrome). Farm out the paintjob, rechroming, and the machining work (The reason to farm out work is because of the cost of equipment and facilities.)
Another tip is a google search. You would be amazed at how much you can find online in the car forums. Just google "abs brake light 2006 Ford F150" for example, and find alot of info. I have used that technique many times.
If you want to be, press one. If you want not to be, press 2
Republicans are red, democrats are blue, neither of them, gives a flip about you.
Joe wrote: Another tip is a google search. You would be amazed at how much you can find online in the car forums. Just google "abs brake light 2003 Honda Civic" for example, and find alot of info. I have used that technique many times.
Search engines and forums are your friend and I couldn't agree more! Way back when you would ask your dad, brothers, and neighbors about how to fix problems and they might or might not know the answer. Often you could deduce the problem and the solution through trial and error. Now you can save a lot of time by searching on the Internet and finding the most common solutions.
Arlen makes a good point too, starting with an old car and tearing it down to the frame then putting it all back together again is rewarding and educational. Kids that grow up on farms learn a lot about how machines work and the get a real understanding of why it is important to know how to repair machines, if you don't fix it the crops and/or livestock are negatively impacted and it might be the difference between a successful season and a failure.
It used to really chap my dad but when me and my brothers were growing up we used to build machines from scrap parts on our off time that did something specific and hold competitions to see who's machine worked best. I built a trebuchet that could throw anything about the size of a bowling ball 150 yards and we had lots of fun with it.
I can explain it to you but I can't understand it for you.
"Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the Government take care of him; better take a closer look at the American Indian." - Henry Ford
Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges; When the Republic is at its most corrupt the laws are most numerous. - Publius Cornelius Tacitus
The increased technology, and revised construction, is both good and bad. Newer vehicles generally require fewer repairs, but those repairs are increasingly expensive and difficult to perform. Even 'simple' tasks, such as replacing a headlight, or spark plugs, may take much more time to perform due to the way the vehicle is designed.
Replacing a fuel pump used to be a simple and easy task, now it generally requires removing the fuel tank, because the fuel pump is in the fuel tank to help eliminate vapor lock. Likewise, replacing a water pump was not a big deal, because it was exterior to the engine and relatively easy to access and replace. Now in many engines it is an internal part of the engine, requiring major removal/replacement/expense.
As previously mentioned, all the new electronic 'stuff' generally requires expensive and proprietary equipment for diagnosis, again increasing the repair costs.
On my beloved '78 F150, I can fix just about anything, generally at a cost of around $100. On a new vehicle, unless you have a lot of special tools, forget about trying to fix anything, and expect at least a $500 bill any time you have to get something fixed. And my '78 still has metal bumpers, that can actually bump into something without requiring a second mortgage on the house to repair
Just out of curiosity, how many people can actually change their own flat tire today?
I'm a dinosaur, and prefer the older vehicles. I may be old, but I can still open and close windows without help
Experience enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again - Jeanne Pincha-Tulley
Comprehensive is Latin for there is lots of bad stuff in it - Trey Gowdy
Arlen wrote: The understanding of mechanical/electrical principles is absolutely necessary for a person to be able to think rationally as to cause and effect. The understanding of levers, pulleys, gears, springs, simple circuits sharpens a person's ability to visualize to problem solve and improvise. This builds confidence and a whole host of other positive character traits.
Agree completely.
Which reminds me of a story.
On my second ship i was a tech for an early surface sonar signal processor that was entirely digital. The Navy school for it was 6 or 8 months.
I had a kid working for me who was intelligent but had a lousy inner city school education and as a 4yo had no Navy technical training in electronics. As he helped me with maintenance and repairs I explained how the system worked as best I could. I could see the light come on as he got it and said it was just like a thousand Cadillac timing chains going every which way.
A kind of unique and bizarre way to visualize it but it worked for him and he worked well for me.
Thank you for the comments guys. But I was kinda hoping to get into a bigger picture discussion of what this kind of change means for us:
Does this make our society better or worse that we don't have to do these kinds of things anymore, or have we just moved on to other ways of spending (or wasting, in some eyes) our time? This begs a larger question: What kinds of activities better ourselves individually and societally?
When I read articles like May's, I am always reminded of the Star Trek: Insurrection movie. The Enterprise crew is meeting the villagers of a seemingly un-advanced, simple, agrarian society who'd accidentally been exposed to the observation personnel of the Federation. As they talk, the crew is amazed to learn that they were once space-faring, technologically advanced people as well, but had chosen to give that up for a simpler life.
http://www.chakoteya.net/movies/movie9.html
PICARD: The artificial lifeform is a member of my crew. Apparently, he was taken ill.
TOURNEL: There was a phase variance in his positronic matrix which we were unable to repair.
ANIJ: I think the Captain finds it hard to believe that we'd have any skills for repairing positronic devices.
SOJEF: Our technological abilities are not apparent because we have chosen not to employ them in our daily lives. We believe when you create a machine to do the work of a man, you take something away from the man.
ANIJ: But at one time, we explored the galaxy just as you do.
PICARD: You have warp capability?
ANIJ: Capability, yes. But where can warp drive take us, except away from here?
Sojef's sentence struck a chord with me, one that's stuck as I've pondered where we are heading as a society. As we get more and more technologically advanced, supposedly to save us time and menial tasks, do we lose some of our humanity, or is our time merely transferred to other menial tasks? In Jeremy May's article, he discusses roof thatcher's in England and how that skill was once universal throughout the land and is now only practiced by a few...is that lost skill lamented, or just a consequence of passing time? I think it's only a loss if we will need it again.
But, are we better for the improvements in our living quarters, or has it isolated us more from our neighbors, family, and friends? Even more importantly, with what is inevitable in our future environmentally, have we lost too much of our connection with our environment due to our "comforts", or will we return to a slower lifestyle as I've seen predicted in some articles?
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
