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The art of auto engineering

howacarworks.com

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Re: The art of auto engineering

#111

Post by Pawka »

ofrzeta wrote: post #67
bluetomcat wrote: post #9

Good stuff, but to do all this "at home" requires ample garage space and a solid investment in tools and equipment. It also helps to have non-busy roads in the vicinity, in order to do "test flights" after the fixes. It is certainly helpful as a guide to understand the basic automotive systems and not get scammed at repair shops, but for most people to start wrenching on their car confidently, not so much.

> a solid investment in tools and equipment That's true. You need a lot of special tools for modern cars. When you acquired the required tools you'd best stick to that manufacturer with future car purchases or you'll have to buy the whole set again for your new brand.

Same with bicycle repair. Each major brand has own proprietary toolset.

Re: The art of auto engineering

#112

Post by dsfyu404ed »

HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #99
dsfyu404ed wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. Asking GPT is basically like asking Reddit or some other "non expert" commentary system that's basically a pool of existing high level information. It works fine if you want to know how to change a generic wheel bearing on a trailer (wouldn't surprise me if it erroneously lectured you about using high temp grease for disc brakes along the way tho). It falls on its face in almost every case in which the generic…

That's a very odd example. I'm sure that if I went into a car subreddit and asked "how do I change a front wheel bearing on a 2006 Nissan 350Z," not only would I get lots of responses, but I'd get many from people who have actually done it, done it recently, and could tell me pitfalls to watch out for along the way. I'd trust a relevant subreddit far more than I'd trust GPT for something like that.

>That's a very odd example.

You don't understand. I specifically chose an example of a part for which there's a generic answer (all old school pair of tapered bearings on a spindle are changed about the same way) that will work in a wide array of vehicles and situaions but which that procedure is also not right a huge fraction of the time (a huge fraction of the cars on the road today).

>I'd trust a relevant subreddit far more than I'd trust GPT for something like that.

My point is I don't trust either. If you're lucky enough to have an enthusiast car or very, very common car you might be able to use the specific sub assuming the owners aren't generally dolts. If you ask how to change the wheel bearing on your Tacoma they'll say take it to the dealer. If you ask the mechanic sub a bunch of 14yos who know how to google will give you generic steps or just link you to the youtube video. That's the level chatGPT is on right now. If you don't know what you don't know it's dangerous advice.

Re: The art of auto engineering

#113

Post by einpoklum »

ljf wrote: post #36
Reason077 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The main problem with GPT is that it will sometimes quite confidently give you incorrect information. It's like a kid who will just make up some elaborate story rather than admit they don't know something. So it can't be considered a trustworthy source. Yet.

I asked GPT about some snorkel trails near my house, as I wanted to know what it knew of them and see if there was anything I didn't know about that I should find out before I snorkel again. First of all it told me that the area is not suitable for snorkelling, and that it is dangerous here. When I corrected it and reminded it about the snorkel trail it confidently corrected itself, then directed to me to snorkel 6 m…

> This is not true, and it would be a very dangerous place to snorkel there.

For some reason people have the idea that truth is something ChatGPT optimizes for. Or safety of its conversant. That is absolutely not the case. IIUC, it optimizes for its answers sounding like an answer someone might give in a conversation (or on a web page or whatever). That often coincides with truth and safety, but - no more than that.

But its confidence was scary.

Re: The art of auto engineering

#114

Post by inconceivable »

Dah00n wrote: post #18
ofrzeta wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not pay 20 bucks to an indy content creator?

Nothing wrong with paying but if you have to pay then why is it here? Then it is just an advertisement on HN.

i literally laughed out loud when reading this comment. this entire site is an advert for yc and their portfolio companies. it's also a job board with restricted access.

Re: The art of auto engineering

#115

Post by runlaszlorun »

AlexMuir wrote: post #15

Oh no! I come to procrastinate on HN and find my own site at #2. After many years, it's still not ready to share!! I've got so much more I want to do with it. Even though I'm sure it looks abandoned, I have been working hard on getting back into this. The last couple of months I've been developing a 3D viewer for mechanical components that lets you disassemble/rebuild/step through processes. I wish I could share it b…

Looks great.

Just my two cents… if it’s $25 for lifetime access you might want to make that more obvious (I was on mobile).

It’s not that I don’t think it’s worth it- actually the opposite. Hitting the landing page I actually assumed it’d far more, or have a series of upsells, etc. I started to navigate away when I noticed the smaller print.

Anyway, looks like great stuff. And thumbs up for Budapest.

Re: The art of auto engineering

#116

Post by hef19898 »

arnsholt wrote: post #103
AlexMuir wrote: post #15

Oh no! I come to procrastinate on HN and find my own site at #2. After many years, it's still not ready to share!! I've got so much more I want to do with it. Even though I'm sure it looks abandoned, I have been working hard on getting back into this. The last couple of months I've been developing a 3D viewer for mechanical components that lets you disassemble/rebuild/step through processes. I wish I could share it b…

The course description and the car is modern, but would this also be helpful for understanding a classic car? I’ve inherited a classic Jag which is great, but being reliant on others for understanding and repairs is sometimes a bit limiting.

Take good care of the Jag, it deserves it! And those classic Jags are just awesome!

Re: The art of auto engineering

#117

Post by quicksnap »

AlexMuir wrote: post #15

Oh no! I come to procrastinate on HN and find my own site at #2. After many years, it's still not ready to share!! I've got so much more I want to do with it. Even though I'm sure it looks abandoned, I have been working hard on getting back into this. The last couple of months I've been developing a 3D viewer for mechanical components that lets you disassemble/rebuild/step through processes. I wish I could share it b…

As a software engineer fascinated by cars/engine work, I instantly purchased this for $25, even if the content is incomplete.

I'm sure there are many more people like me. Please keep making more videos and information. We'll happily pay more to support the effort.

Re: The art of auto engineering

#118

Post by quicksnap »

quicksnap wrote: post #117
AlexMuir wrote: post #15

Oh no! I come to procrastinate on HN and find my own site at #2. After many years, it's still not ready to share!! I've got so much more I want to do with it. Even though I'm sure it looks abandoned, I have been working hard on getting back into this. The last couple of months I've been developing a 3D viewer for mechanical components that lets you disassemble/rebuild/step through processes. I wish I could share it b…

As a software engineer fascinated by cars/engine work, I instantly purchased this for $25, even if the content is incomplete. I'm sure there are many more people like me. Please keep making more videos and information. We'll happily pay more to support the effort.

Heck, I'd pay $25/month if there were early access to videos and many an hour live q&a session!

Re: The art of auto engineering

#119

Post by kube-system »

BlueGh0st wrote: post #54
AnthonBerg wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If useful, here’s an answer: The Suzuki DR-Z400S/SM motorcycle. As one example. It’s not a car! I know! The thing is that motorcycles are such good learning platforms. They’re small, man-portable (in a pinch), there’s almost everything in there that’s in a car – but much less of it and more accessible. Single-cylinder motorcycles are also good for learning because there’s only one cylinder and one set of valves and o…

This is a great comment because in my motorcycle group of roughly ~60 or 70 people over the years, maybe 25% have owned a Miata. Apparently the motorcycle+miata crossover is huge. Usually along with an SV650 or DRZ at some point as well. I never had a Miata but I did buy a DRZ and have a blast on it for about 4 hours. The following morning it wouldn't start and after spending all the time I was willing to spend on do…

> Apparently the motorcycle+miata crossover is huge.

Going fast is all about power/weight. Some gear heads love changing the numerator. Some realize that the best option is to change the denominator. :)

Re: The art of auto engineering

#120

Post by kube-system »

nbar1 wrote: post #79
ughitsaaron wrote: post #51

A bit unrelated, but I’m curious if others had small engines or auto shop classes offered in their high schools?

In my area, they offered such a class as a technical program that high school students could attend off-site at the technical school which also had classes like cooking and childcare.

Unfortunately in my experience these are seen as something for 'non-college track' students and not part of a well rounded education.
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