Best and Worst Jobs For An Auto Mechanic
Have you ever wondered what jobs your mechanic hates doing? Well, I don’t know if it really qualifies as ‘hate” but there are just some jobs that are just no fun. Taking out the engine of a V10 Touareg for example.
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- Close up of the V10 turbo.
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- Notice the lack of any kind of belt. All the accessories are driven by a chain at the back of the engine
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- The entire front suspension comes out with the engine.
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- I had to get about 15ft away to get the whole powerplant in the picture
As you can see this is no small task. The tech that is doing this works across the shop from me. He is replacing both of the turbo charger. Basically the engine, transmission, and front suspension comes out from the bottom. That actually makes replacing the turbos really easy. 😉 This job totally falls under the worst category. Here are some other jobs that generally make for an unhappy mechanic
- Body wiring harnesses. These require every single bit of the interior to be removed. It is a huge job, and there is usually a rattle when you are done.
- Replacing engines. They are not hard, it just does not pay very well for the amount of work.
- Replacing Transmissions. Basically the same as engines.
- Sunroof assemblies.
- Certain oil changes. V8 Phaetons, 1.8t Passats, Newer V6 Touaregs.
Okay enough about the “no fun” stuff. There are some jobs that just plain rock. They are easy to do, and pay well. One of my personal favorites is a timing belt on a 1.8t Passat. The job is super easy, pays really well, requires little lifting. LOVE LOVE LOVE doing those. Well, except when it was my car and I had to buy the parts 😉
Some other really fun jobs are
- Brakes on just about any VW
- Wiring repairs(yes I like to do wiring repairs)
- CV boots(well minus the grease)
- Suspension bushings
- Cooling fans
We mechanics call that type of work “gravy work”.
This post does leave me with a question. Do other jobs have “gravy work”? I would be curios to hear about some of your jobs, and what a gravy would be. Throw a comment at the bottom of the page, and let us all know.
O.O you’d think that powerplant was coming out of an airplane…or a small ship!
Many thanks for sharing 😀
It’s really cool to see these ultra rare (I see *exponentially* more Ferrari’s than V10Tdi Touaregs) motors up close.
Crazy isn’t it? We sure don’t see many of them. Not surprising for a $75,000 vehicle.
But look how well that job pays! Stuff like this is ONE reason
I left the dealership.
Hey Walt, do you still wrench, or have you moved on?
Retired, just work on my stuff and very close old friends!
I feel your pain. I like VW but some of their stuff – Holey
Crap!
Ha done 3 tdi v10 turbos lol what a shit job ha.
I like timing belts gearboxes
Wiring issues love figuring out broken wires or canbus faults
I don’t like cv boots grease ha
Axle bushings and pretty much anything to do with interior trim or rear windows on passat or mk6 rear windows stupid white clip is impossible to get out??
I’ll be tackling this job here soon on my 08 Touareg V10 . It’s a unicorn, so it will be a labor of love, but I do not have the hydraulic table, nor do I have an alignment machine or A/C machine at my disposal, so I am concerned about my physical ability to complete the work. The dealership supposedly replaced both turbochargers and both cam-driven high pressure fuel pumps, but one pump is leaking oil onto the turbo, and the other bank has a significant exhaust leak from either EGR or a cracked manifold. Can your friend offer any words of wisdom or encouragement for me?
The routine interval service/inspections aren’t gravy? I figure most of it is just inspection. Fairly easy fuel and air filter, oil change, etc.
Man, my dealership must hate me. Our JSW has been in at least 6 or 7 times for a leaking sunroof amongst others. The second time, they replaced the entire assembly and drainage track. Third time, it drenched everything. Ruined the headliner. Carpets were so swamped there was water pooling in the driver floorpans. Still smells wet and “sweaty”. Obviously, it’s still not fixed. If it hadn’t been for the TDI nonsense, the cost of repairs had just surpassed the lemon laws in our state. Dieselgate just saved me the hassle of going to court. But I’ve had to wait 16 months in the meantime.