Young Mechanics Compete At State Auto Repair Championships

Tag: Automobile Relay

In a parking lot, in the middle of a Danville shopping center, the future of auto repair is trying to figure out why a burgundy SUV won’t start. He consults with his partner, then the manual, then back to the engine – eyes darting back and forth behind plastic safety goggles.

A clock wrapped in slices of duct tape ticks away just a few feet from him. Suddenly it hits him. A fuse is blown. A relay is broken. He races to fix it.

SLIDESHOW: Young Mechanics Compete At State Auto Repair Championships

The repairman isn’t a grizzled veteran who has worn the engine grease of every car known to man. He’s a Northern California high school student, hoping to outthink, and out-repair 17 other budding mechanics.

This scenario is all part of the American Automobile Association’s annual Student Auto Skills contest. It’s a competition that pits nine, two-man teams of students against each other in a race to see who can diagnose and repair a broken car in the shortest amount of time.

Nine Ford SUVs sit in a parking lot with identical, mysterious ailments. The teams, each representing a different high school run through a mental checklist, trying to figure out why a tail light won’t blink, or a rear window hose won’t spray.

Each team is assigned a judge who monitors the progress from several feet away. There is an hour and a half to finish the task. Once done, a new set of judges will go over their repairs, adding time to their total score for each mistake.

Student Michael Kraft from Susanville says his team began preparing for the contest weeks ago. “Triple A sent us manuals, we call them bibles,” he said. “We sit there and train, we try to learn everything about every circuit.”

Kraft and his partner finished first, coming in just under a half-hour. But five demerits essentially assured his day was done.

One team will be chosen from Northern and Southern California to represent the state in the national championships on June 24. There are $6 million in scholarships and tools at stake.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the need for qualified auto technicians will grow 14 percent through 2016. It means that a group of students toiling away today in a Danville parking lot, may someday become the saviors under your hood.