How to become a Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanic 2024

Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanic Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul automotive vehicles.

Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanic is Also Know as

In different settings, Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanic is titled as

Automotive Drivability Technician (Auto Drivability Tech)
Automotive Mechanic (Auto Mechanic)
Automotive Service Technician (Auto Service Tech)
Automotive Technician (Auto Tech)
Diagnostic Technician (Diagnostic Tech)
Heavy Line Technician (Heavy Line Tech)
Lube Tech (Lubrication Technician)
Mechanic
Quick Service Technician (Quick Service Tech)
Service Technician (Service Tech)

Education and Training of Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanic

Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanic is categorized in Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed

Experience Required for Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanic

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Education Required for Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanic

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Degrees Related to Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanic

Training Required for Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanic

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Related Ocuupations

Some Ocuupations related to Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanic in different industries are

What Do Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanic do?

Test drive vehicles and test components and systems, using equipment such as infrared engine analyzers, compression gauges, and computerized diagnostic devices.
Inspect vehicles for damage and record findings so that necessary repairs can be made.
Test and adjust repaired systems to meet manufacturers' performance specifications.
Repair, reline, replace, and adjust brakes.
Estimate costs of vehicle repair.
Review work orders and discuss work with supervisors.
Troubleshoot fuel, ignition, and emissions control systems, using electronic testing equipment.
Confer with customers to obtain descriptions of vehicle problems and to discuss work to be performed and future repair requirements.
Align vehicles' front ends.
Test electronic computer components in automobiles to ensure proper operation.
Tear down, repair, and rebuild faulty assemblies, such as power systems, steering systems, and linkages.
Perform routine and scheduled maintenance services, such as oil changes, lubrications, and tune-ups.
Follow checklists to ensure all important parts are examined, including belts, hoses, steering systems, spark plugs, brake and fuel systems, wheel bearings, and other potentially troublesome areas.
Plan work procedures, using charts, technical manuals, and experience.
Maintain cleanliness of work area.
Align wheels, axles, frames, torsion bars, and steering mechanisms of automobiles, using special alignment equipment and wheel-balancing machines.
Tune automobile engines to ensure proper and efficient functioning.
Repair, replace, or adjust defective fuel injectors, carburetor parts, and gasoline filters.
Repair and service air conditioning, heating, engine cooling, and electrical systems.
Disassemble units and inspect parts for wear, using micrometers, calipers, and gauges.
Change spark plugs, fuel filters, air filters, and batteries in hybrid electric vehicles.
Overhaul or replace carburetors, blowers, generators, distributors, starters, and pumps.
Repair or replace parts such as pistons, rods, gears, valves, and bearings.
Rewire ignition systems, lights, and instrument panels.
Install, adjust, or repair hydraulic or electromagnetic automatic lift mechanisms used to raise and lower automobile windows, seats, and tops.
Rebuild parts, such as crankshafts and cylinder blocks.
Conduct visual inspections of compressed natural gas fuel systems to identify cracks, gouges, abrasions, discoloration, broken fibers, loose brackets, damaged gaskets, or other problems.
Diagnose and replace or repair engine management systems or related sensors for flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) with ignition timing, fuel rate, alcohol concentration, or air-to-fuel ratio malfunctions.
Repair or rebuild transmissions.
Retrofit vehicle fuel systems with aftermarket products, such as vapor transfer devices, evaporation control devices, swirlers, lean burn devices, and friction reduction devices, to enhance combustion and fuel efficiency.

Qualities of Good Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanic

Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.

Tools Used by Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanic

2-channel lab scopes
3 pound sledge hammers
5 pound sledge hammers
5-gas emissions analyzers
Adjustable wrenches
Air chisels
Air compressors
Air conditioner chargers
Air drills
Air hammers
Air sanders
Air wrenches
Alignment wrenches
Allen wrenches
Alternating current/direct current AC/DC inductive current clamps
Alternator testers
Ammeters
Angle drills
Antenna socket sets
Anti-lock braking system ABS/air bag scan tools
Antifreeze recovery equipment
Anvils
Auto body dollies
Auto scanners
Automotive on-board diagnostics scanners
Awls
Ball joint separators
Ball peen hammers
Bandsaws
Battery chargers
Battery hydrometers
Battery jump starters
Battery load testers
Battery/alternator testers
Bearing pullers
Bench lathes
Bolt cutters
Bore gauges
Borescopes
Box end wrenches
Brake bleeders
Brake cylinder hones
Brake drum lathes
Brake line flaring tools
Brake rotor hones
Brake shoe tools
Brake tools
Brass hammers
Breaker bars
Buffers
Butterfly air wrenches
Cable cutters
Calipers
Capacity testers
Carbon scrapers
Catalytic combustion analyzers
Center punches
Chain hoists
Chain wrenches
Channel lock pliers
Circuit testers
Circular saws
Clamp-on multimeters
Claw hammers
Clutch holding tools
Clutch wrenches
Code readers
Coil testers
Cold chisels
Combination pliers
Combination wrenches
Combustible gas detectors
Combustion leak detectors
Compression analyzers
Compression testers
Computerized engine analyzers
Computerized scanners
Computerized suspension analyzers
Continuity testers
Crescent wrenches
Cutting torches
Cylinder leakage testers
Deburring tools
Dent pullers
Desktop computers
Diagnostic code readers
Diagonal cutting pliers
Dial calipers
Dial gauges
Dial indicators
Diesel modulator shift testers
Disc brake pad spreaders
Dolly blocks
Drill bit sets
Drill presses
Dwell meters
Dynamometers
Electric drills
Engine cylinder hones
Engine oil pressure testers
Engine stands
Exhaust analyzers
Exhaust/tail pipe cutters
External snap ring pliers
Feeler gauges
Filter wrenches
Flare nut wrenches
Flaring tools
Flat files
Forklifts
Frame racks
Freon recovery equipment
Front end alignment equipment
Fuel injection cleaners
Fuel pressure testers
Gas welding equipment
Gasket scrapers
Gear puller tools
Gear pullers
Gear wrenches
Graphing scanners
Grease guns
Grinding equipment
Hacksaws
Hammers
Hand clamps
Hand pullers
Handheld computer diagnostic equipment
Heat guns
Hex keys
High velocity low pressure HVLP spray guns
Hoists
Hose cutters
Hydraulic bleed tools
Hydraulic presses
Hydraulic shop presses
Ignition module testers
Ignition testers
Impact guns
Impact wrenches
In-line ignition spark testers
Infrared digital thermometers
Infrared thermometers
Inspection mirrors
Insulated pliers
Internal retaining ring pliers
Jack stands
Jacks
Laser levels
Laser photo tachometers
Laser printers
Leak detecting diagnostic smoke machines
Leak detection smoke machines
Leak detectors
Light emitting diode LED circuit testers
Light emitting diode LED leak detector lights
Locking C-clamps
Locking jaw pliers
Locking wrenches
Long nose pliers
Lug wrenches
Magnetic pickup tools
Manifold gauge sets
Mechanics' stethoscopes
Metal cutting dies
Metal cutting taps
Metal inert gas MIG welders
Micrometers
Mini circuit testers
Modular diagnostic information systems
Multimeters
Needlenose pliers
Nibblers
Non-contact thermometers
Nut drivers
Offset brake wrenches
Ohmmeters
Oil filter wrenches
Oil injectors
Oil pressure gauges
Open end wrenches
Oscilloscopes
Oxyacetylene welding equipment
Oxygen sensors
Paint sprayers
Personal computers
Phillips head screwdrivers
Picks
Pin punches
Pipe wrenches
Plasma cutters
Plastic tip hammers
Pneumatic chassis lubriguns
Pneumatic drills
Pneumatic fluid evacuators
Pneumatic orbital sanders
Pneumatic wrenches
Polishers
Portable exhaust analyzers
Power drills
Power grinders
Power pullers
Power sanders
Power saws
Power washers
Pressure brake bleeders
Protective ear muffs
Protective gloves
Pry bars
Punches
Radiator hose pinchoff pliers
Ratcheting box wrenches
Ratcheting gear wrenches
Ratchets
Razor knives
Reamers
Reciprocating saws
Refrigerant gas analyzers
Refrigerant identifiers
Refrigerant leak detectors
Remote starter switches
Revolutions per minute RPM gauges
Rivet guns
Riveting tools
Rotor/drum brake lathes
Safety glasses
Safety shoes
Sandblasters
Scan tools
Scrapers
Screw extractor sets
Screwdrivers
Scribers
Shears
Shielded arc welding tools
Shoe retaining spring tools
Single-cut mill saw files
Slide hammers
Smoke machines
Socket wrench sets
Socket wrenches
Soft face hammers
Soldering irons
Spark plug gapping tools
Spark plug sockets
Spark plug testers
Spoons
Spot welding kits
Steam cleaning equipment
Steering wheel column pivot pin pullers
Stickleback rasps
Straight blade screwdrivers
Strap wrenches
Strobe wheel balancing systems for heavy vehicles
Tachometers
Tape measures
Taper punches
Test lights
Timing lights
Tire changing machines
Tire pressure gauges
Tongue and groove pliers
Torque wrenches
Torx keys
Torx screwdrivers
Transmission jacks
Tube cutters
Tubing benders
Tubing cutters
Two way radios
Ultrasonic diagnostic kits
Utility knives
Vacuum gauges
Vacuum pumps
Valve seating equipment
Vises
Voltmeters
Welding masks
Wheel alignment machines
Wheel balancers
Wheel weight hammers
Winches
Wire brushes
Wire cutters
Wire strippers
Workshop cranes
Workshop presses

Technology Skills required for Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanic

Alliance Automotive Shop Controller
Amcom AUTOS2000
AutoZone ALLDATA
Blue Streak Electronics Buell Diagnostic
CODA Engine Analysis System
Computer aided manufacturing CAM software
Database software
Estimating software
Genisys Fast Fixes
Hunter WinAlign
IBM Notes
Internet browser software
Mainsaver Asset Management
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office software
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Word
Mitchell Manager Invoicing System
Mitchell OnDemand5 Manager
Nexiq Tech HDS Suite for Palm
Online service manual database software
Recordkeeping software
SAP software
Scheduling software
Scott Systems MaxxTraxx Pro
Snap-On ShopKey
SPX/OTC Genisys ConnecTech PC
Technical manual database software
Vehicle management software
Work order management software
YouTube

US Universities

How to become Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanic in 2024