Right now i am 17 and a junior in high school. Its time to start looking at at careers and i was wondering how the transmission repair business is. How would i go about getting into this type of career? Thanks

 

Like anything else, to be good at it requires work. I do think that there is a lot potential in this field though. The transmissions are getting more and more complicated to fix and fewer and fewer people want to get their hands dirty.

You will need to learn about computers, electronics, hydraulics, diagnosis, using a scanner, scope and pressure gauges, but the most important thing is you must LIKE doing this sort of thing. It won't be hard to get a foot in the door somewhere but you will start on the floor (installing). This job used to be pretty simple but now it is just as important as the bench work (overhaul).

When I started out there weren't any real places to learn (most of what you learn will be in the field anyhow) so I would study hydraulic flow charts to try to understand what was happening. This was good but what they don't show is what happens but isn't supposed to, such as a leak into a ciruit or the transission between two holding elements that creates a bindup and causes premature wear.

Another thing that is a problem is the preconcieved notions we have in this business. If a tranny slips, we have to stop the slip so we need to make it shift harder, yada, yada, yada. In many cases, when you feel a slip, it is because of a malfunction that lead to that slip, in other owrds the slip is the effect but not the cause of the problem. To fix the slip you must fix the cause, not just replace the worn out/burned parts. E-mail me direct if you want to go deeper into this as it might bore the rest of the people here.

 

I think I got the best job for doing transmissions. First of all, I get factory trainning from the people who designed and tested the tranny to begin with. Then I get all the support and tools I need to do it properly. Plus, its not something I have to do all the time. Granted, I like doing transmissions, but I don't think I would enjoy it every day, five days a week. My job, I can do a trans, then go do some drivability, or some services, whatever. Variety is the spice of life.

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i started out as a cleanup guy for a tranny shop, and one day my boss asked if i would start doing simple stuff. I do simple mechanic stuff at the shop but my boss is going to pay for school if i decide to continue doing transmissions. maybe you should try being a clean up guy and slowly move up. I am only 17 and i started as clean up at 16. Tranny's are hard and they require patients. If you like that stuff then go for it.

 

Thanks for replying.