Learning Basic Automotives

Hey guys, So I'm probably going to join the National Guard and I want to be a mechanic in it. The problem is I don't really have any automotive experience and they test you on basic mechanical things in the ASVAB. You have to score a certain amount to qualify for a mechanics job. I think it's just basic mechanical knowledge...not anything too specific. So my question is, do you guys have any suggestions on books, or threads on here or around the internet, about just basic mechanical stuff? I'm not talking about how to do repairs and things, I just mean like what the functions are to parts...how a car stops...what makes it go. Basic stuff like that. So if you could give me any links to things I could read that would be great! Thanks!

The fact that you knew to post here tells me you'll be just fine.

I aced (literally) the automotive portion of the ASVAB when i took it, and the only "experience" i had had at that point was maybe an oil change or two and putting on an intake.

As for books, sorry, can't help you, but i'll wish you luck!

Buy the Hayne's Repair Manual for whatever car you drive. Get a bag of Funyuns, a Mountain Dew, and read that book cover to cover.

I'm being dead serious here.

Sky_Render wrote: Buy the Hayne's Repair Manual for whatever car you drive. Get a bag of Funyuns, a Mountain Dew, and read that book cover to cover **in the garage with the car**. I'm being dead serious here.

FTFY

Dang guys, thanks for the super quick replies, haha. I actually already have the Haynes manual for my Jeep so that's great! Will it tell me how things work and what their functions are, though? Just from glancing at it, it kind of seemed like it just told you how to repair things. Maybe that'll do, though.. I dunno.

And 92CelicaHalfTrac, haha, that's good to know. My recruiter also told me that you didn't really need any mechanical experience to score well on it, so it's nice to hear someone else say that, too.

www.howstuffworks.com

Check it out.

I think some ASE study guides would work well in your case. There is eight major categories, just pick the ones that make the most sense.

Brakes Engine repair suspension and steering

I think those three subjects will cover basic automotive knowledge and design that would be necessary for your testing.

Cone_Junky wrote: I think some ASE study guides would work well in your case. There is eight major categories, just pick the ones that make the most sense. Brakes Engine repair suspension and steering I think those three subjects will cover basic automotive knowledge and design that would be necessary for your testing.

Those are written assuming you already know the basics of how a car works. I'd say how stuff works and help folks wrench on cars. After spending some time on that site, take a few hours on a Saturday in a junkyard and take crap apart.

Alright, awesome. Thanks for the suggestions. I just checked out howstuffworks.com and it looks like I'm going to be able to use that to learn a ton of stuff. That was exactly what I was looking for. And I'll use the ASE study guides also once I know some more of the basics.

Go to Amazon and purchase the book Auto Fundamentals which is a textbook for a college level course. Read it from cover to cover. If cost is an issue purchase an older edition (I have one I am willing to sell, pm if interested)

Stockel and Stockel, "Auto Mechanics Fundamentals"

Petersen's Automotive Troubleshooting & Repair Manual

Unless they have changed the ASVAB extensively I wouldn't worry about automotive knowledge at all. The test is about mechanical aptitude not automotive.

It has things like a diagram with 5 gears meshed together, if gear A is turning clockwise what direction will gear D turn? That type of mechanical aptitude. It's really one of those "if you don't get it you can't be taught it" kind of things. The military will teach you everything they want you to know, they just want to know that you have a core aptitude to learn those things. Most of what I remember from the test was things you figured out while taking the test, not things you knew.

Another one. You have a tank. The treads are both moving forward, the left tread stops and the right tread moves forward, what direction do you turn? The right tread moves backward, what direction now? All of these are accompanied by pretty diagrams and pictures.

Well I just found this, might be helpful, and it seems they have changed it and there is indeed an automotive component now.

http://www.4tests.com/exams/examdetail.asp?eid=67

I just took the automotive practice exam at that link. If you can't pass it you might want to rethink your desire to be a mechanic :)

Thanks for the suggestions, Quasimo1 and slantvaliant! JThw8, thanks for the info on the ASVAB and the link to those practice tests. I missed like three out of twelve in the auto practice test and missed three out of fifteen on the mechanical aptitude. I guess I can use some improvement..

One of the kids I worked with at school took the ASVAP and scored about the 33rd percentile. Just enough to be accepted. He is now working on vehicles in the Army. just sayin...

As was said earlier the fact that you are on here bodes well for you. Unless you waste your time just trolling??

They print study guides for the ASVAB. Available at bookstores, online and many other places. And most of what is on the ASVAB is basic principal. You don't have to score very high to be a wheeled-vehicle mechanic. In fact, even if you become infantry you'll have operator maintenance on your HMMV to do. Granted, the higher you score the better off you'll be in the long run and have more choices when enlisting. Military schools go back to basics, they teach people that have never touched something how to tear it apart and put it back together.

wlkelley3 wrote: Military schools go back to basics, they teach people that have never touched something how to tear it apart and put it back together.

Truth, I remember week one of my technical training for aircraft maintenance in the Air Force was tools. And entire week learning about tools, nothing but hand tools, this is a wrench, this is a flat blade screwdriver, this is a phillips screwdriver...etc

There is a LOT of value in starting at the bottom and learning like that. It will take a long time, but you wont end up with 50% of what you think you know being false, like a lot of automotive hobbyists... lol

Alright, thanks guys. It's good to know that they'll teach me everything from the ground up. I'm still going to try to learn some stuff cause I just want to be sure that I'll be able to pick that job. Plus I have an old '94 Jeep Cherokee that I'm gonna have to take care of, so I need to know this stuff anyways, haha. I changed the brake pads and rotors today for the first time with the help of my brother in law! It was pretty difficult...but now that I've done it once it'll be really easy in the future. I guess that shows me you just gotta get hands on with learning this stuff.

Learn this tune, Wheels on the bus go round and round. When your boss tells you to grab a 15/16 socket on an impact don't hand him a hammer.