Getting training as diesel tech

I was a diesel mechanic before I started driving. It has helped me A LOT. Even though I am still a company driver, I will still pull in to the shop and work on the truck myself so that I know it is done right. However, most of the "diesel tech" stuff is the same as working on a car. There are a few differences here and there and some weird quirks each brand has (i.e. D12 egr valves or ISX fuel solenoids) but that is when you can get on a site like this and ask questions. Most of the REAL deisel mechanic stuff you will not do yourself unless you have the $ to buy a $10,000 program for a laptop to hook it up to a truck or spend thousands of dollars for specialty tools that you will only use once. Most everything that you will be able to do on your own will be outside of the engine (except injectors). If you have any questions shoot me a PM and I'll help you any way you can but I wouldn't go spend money to attend a diesel "school".

 

Request to try and get me to act like an idiot for no reason is stupid. I am an o/o, but this thread seems more about mechanical skills. The OP says he's not jumping into O/O now but its never to earl to think about it. I dont need to give one of my canned O/O is not for you speeches, because he knows he's not ready.

 

I disagree whole heartedly with this. For example, I can tear my engine apart and put it back together with very few "specialty" tools. As far as the schooling, the vast majority of the techs I've met at dealers and shops go, make me question how much they teach. I know two mechanics I would allow to open the hood on my truck. Two out of hundreds I've encountered.

 

Depends on the truck/engine. We were all volvo. The newer the volvo's got, the more specialty tools we were having to buy for the shop and a few were so expensive that we just started sending them to volvo. We're split now. Half volvo and half KW. I'm in a KW and my dad (at the same company) is in a Volvo. When my truck goes down, it gets fixed relatively quickly and I'm back on the road. When my dads goes down, it gets sent to volvo for a week or 2. So a lot of it depends on the year and the make of the truck and engine as far as tools go.

As far as the schooling goes, like I said, I wouldn't waste the money to go to an actual school to be a diesel mechanic unless you plan on working full time in a shop at a dealer or starting your own shop. I just don't see the cost benefit of spending a ton of money to learn what you can learn for free by getting out there, asking questions, and doing it. I've seen people who have barely even seen a truck tear stuff up just as much as an ASE certified mechanic. Most of the stuff is simple to do. 99% of the stuff, if you're unsure or don't know torque specs or sequencing, you can just call the local dealership and tell them what you're replacing and get them to email you a diagram for free. I've had to do that a few times when we had a problem that none of us had seen before.