Getting Our Trucks Running

This week we spent class dealing with a problem faced at the beginning of every semester: our trucks are dead. Sitting out during break without battery disconnects means we have to jump start our trucks to get them running, if we're lucky.

If we're not lucky, we have to drag them in with another truck and replace the batteries. That's exactly what we had to do with our Hino 185 this week. Our International truck had to be slow-charged overnight but we got it running. We have ordered battery disconnects which we will be installing.

International tandem-axle sleeper. It has an N14 Cummins.

Charging the old girl for the night.

My reflection:

Whether in our school shop or an actual truck shop, expect the unexpected. Things don't always go according to plan, and sometimes we have to do a little work just getting things ready to work on.

The lesson to be learned here? Textbooks and service literature serve as a guide, but we have to be prepared when things don't go according to plan. Textbook mechanics and others unable to adapt will have some difficulty in this field.

A New Semester

Welcome to my blog, started last Fall semester for Diesel Fuel and Hydraulic Systems at the WSCC Auto/Diesel program, it is once again posting time. This time for Electronic Diesel Engine Controls, an evening class and one of my last shop classes required for completion of my degrees.

This week was orientation, getting the course outline (syllabus) and getting our first assignments which include a 2 page paper on the history of electronic fuel management systems.

In true Auto/Diesel fashion we also ordered some pizza and enjoyed some camaraderie before the semester's work got underway. I imagine we'll be having some cookouts in similar fashion as we did last semester: a fed mechanic is a happy mechanic!

Syllabus for Electronic Diesel Engine Controls.

Course outline detailing our tentative plan for study. This includes book work and hands-on tasks we will work on in the shop.

An old favorite back in the diesel shop, courtesy of instructor Jeffrey Starkey!

My reflection:

It's good to be back in the shop ready to wrap up my final classes for graduation. I have been dual-majoring in Automotive Service Technology and Diesel Truck Systems for 3 years and have learned quite a bit in that time. It hasn't always been easy, and there have been frustrations along the way, but it has been and will continue to be very rewarding. Education will not, however, stop once school is over.

I have had some amazing and innovative instructors, such as Mr. Starkey, dedicated to the cause of educating and training future technicians such as myself who want to take their passion and make it a life-long career. Keep up the good work guys!