She’s right, I wish her the best in the future. I went through a similar experience as she did. I retired, went to automotive school, graduated and no one was willing to hire me due to my age. So I build a garage and worked for myself. I wish her luck and to remind her to remember……people talk behind your back because you’re in front……..
Jerks is too mild a term, for those types. I am super glad Athena stuck with it. In workplaces that I liked, where certain people are less than welcoming, I’ve always adapted the Sun Tzu adage. “If you wait by the river long enough, you will see your enemy float by.” May good fortune find Athena. And may her future coworkers be ever welcoming.
I’ll be honest…impressive diagnostic and mechanical skills for someone just out of school. Athena knew exactly how to properly remove the wheel and recognized her error in removing all of the lugs on the first wheel (on a higher lift, it could fall on her or damage the wheel). Use gloves to help protect the nails and hands. I would also be careful with the longer hair, even tied back…could be a significant hazard around a vehicle with belts, axles, and other rotating parts (applies to all mechanics, of course).
Athena, you have an excellent attitude for this field and a desire to do automotive work. I've been an auto technician since 1987 and a shop owner since 2022. You have my deepest respect. There are a lot of "jerks" in this business, please don't let that hold you back. My advice to you, continue to learn! This industry is constantly changing. Learn as much as you can on diagnosing drivability/computer related issues. Matt is an excellent mentor to work with. ScannerDanner is another excellent teacher to learn from. This is a challenging industry but it is a very rewarding one as well. Don't think of it as just fixing cars, think of it as helping other people fix there vehicle problems. Athena, you have my best wishes for your success!
Congrats to Athena and I'm sure she will succeed in her career with her professional and teachable attitude. It sucks when someone else's ego is a hurdle you have to overcome but we are confident in her abilities and we here in the comment section are rooting for her.
Congratulations on your graduation, Athena. I've seen you working with Matt, and I've seen the enthusiasm you bring to learning and growing your skills. You have the right attitude and the desire to excel at this. You've got this, girl! So proud of you!
The girls done well now what she needs is a place to grow and learn I very much that she will find and fit in to a decent shop soon good luck young lady.
I'd love to teach her how to build automatic Transmissions great money plus your mostly on the bench i think she'd love it. Great diagnosing thanks keep us posted on her out come if you can.
This video went by sooo fast! She's quite competent and really challenges the stereotype of women not wanting to get their hands dirty. She's a dynamo.👍👍
A tale as old as time. Good on Athena for her positive attitude which should give her plenty of time to excel in her field. She was extremely competent in her diag
One tip I picked up from another channel, when you're done with the current measurement, ALWAYS move your meter leads back to the voltage position. That habit will keep you from blowing fuses.
Shoot that was my advice on this channel too hahahah! I so seldom ever use a meter for amp measurements - I really only do it for videos and I get distracted as a result.
Congratulations Athena, i only hope for more techs like you because looks like your already passing a lot of tech up in your abilities and leaving them in your dust, you remind me of a friend and she passes all the other people i have ever seen in her abilities and if she doesn't know something all i have to do is explain it once and she has it and me and my man brain is dumbfounded that she can learn so fast and run circles around the men. Keep up the good work Athena and God bless
Thank you Matt for mentoring Athena and give her a chance to show her work. I’m a female and started to worked on car the last few years bc I lost respect for many mechanics that rip me off over the years. I learned to fix, replace and do all the maintenance on my car and enjoy doing it with pride. I’ve done jobs that dealerships and mechanics wants to charged me thousands of dollars for a fraction of the price and feel amazing that I no longer being scammed and treated like a dumb woman that doesn’t know anything about cars. Athena should inspire girls how to fix and take care of the cars bc women needed to arm themselves with knowledge so we can take care of our car and not becoming a victim of scams. Wish you luck and don’t let anyone put you down, prove them wrong by being a badass!
Congratulations Athena and so sorry that you were treated so badly by co-workers. It's safe to say that's not a good place to take a car so maybe it's a blessing in disguise?
Congratulations on your graduation, Athena. May your automotive career take you far. I hope you find the right shop to work at or start your own shop someday. One thing I can tell you is never stop learning. Vehicles have changed a lot in the 32 years I have been in the dealership world. In all that time I have only worked with 1 woman as a technician and she is doing a great job and fitting in with everyone else in the shop. Do not give up on your ambitions because of a few asshats. Good luck with your future in this sometimes fast-moving industry. Oh yeah get certified, that will stir the envious ones up.
I remember when I was in tech school, we had quit a few woman in our classes (people graduated every 3weeks/started every 3 weeks). I chewed out a lot of my fellow students because of their views on it. I remember one time some of the guys were complaining about one of the girls was 'unknowledgeable'. I said, none of us are knowledgeable, thats why we're here at a school to learn.
@@SchrodingersBox I have 4 older sisters, 2 of them out wrenched me growing up. Bolts dont care about what chromosome youre packing, neither should we. its annoying that we still have this in the industry. Ironically, as a diesel tech; I've found there's less sexism here compared to the auto world.
Great job Athena! Now that you no longer work there you should report the conduct of that shop to the labor board. My wife had a similar situation at a place she worked. They did go in and straighten things out at her former job. all the other women there were very thankful. It will not benefit you, but hopefully it will change the attitude of the bosses.
Yes we discussed this. Athena is justifiably concerned about making a reputation for herself at this very delicate stage in her career development. She believes it best to just move forwards and let her work talk for itself. I don’t disagree but I also see your point!
I've graduated from an automotive tech school myself and from my experience, the night classes general have people who could be labelled worse than "Jerks". Night classes are also for the best people who have a busy schedule but are bettering themselves, like Athena, so it feels like 2 separate poles of people rather than a spectrum of attitude. I wish Athena the best of luck, knowing of the challenges in the field that she's already described in probably the kindest way. I plan to open a shop in the future myself to help the community and offer the best in-field education possible with all being welcomed. I hope to be able to educated and let people like Athena learn and grow to do the best they can do.
I’m happy for Athena hope she does well in her future endeavors great diagnosis she did well I was bullied in my tech class and you know what I proved them wrong and I got a intern job with the school I went and got paid to teach the class on how to do a brake change
Great stuff Matt. My faith in the younger generation has , to say it nicely been wearing a little thin as of late But every once in a while a little light shines through, and I would say Athena is one of those stars. My hats off to Her and to You Matt. This was inspiring to say the least. 👍👍🇺🇸
Very well said. Yes I agree- it’s always refreshing to see someone from the latest generation that has work ethic and pride in their work like that. Athena has many other things she’s been involved with as well such as girls club of America and when she was high school she received all kinds of awards.
Athena has definitely paid attention in school. Has a positive attitude. That would be tough with hearing loss, but she pushed through. Good for her, and good luck to her! The output shaft seal job on the Edge - pass, haha.
Congratulations Athena, don't let the jerks get you down. Hopefully you will find an open a d accepting place very soon. It's so sad that you even have to worry about such things.... Real men (and women) don't have to be little others to boost their ego.
What a terrific attitude even through her challenges! in my opinion she would be an asset to any auto repair shop. Id wish her luck but she doesnt need it. Great attitude and very professional...🎉🎉🎉🎉
good job! and good luck in the field! Just an DIY here, so I know the trade is a life long learning process. My first warning is that it is tempting to get the best of the best tools. The only tools that last forever are the ones you store between your ears. You are in good hands with Matt. He has the ethics and solid grasp of the basics (and obviously the advanced stuff too, but one step at a time.) Keep on smiling, keep on working, and keep the naysayers in the rearview mirror.
Congratulations to Athena! All young techs go through the "initiation" process when they enter a shop. The guys will tend to joke around with apprentices. When other techs hide tools on you to slow you up and make you look bad then that is harassment and is uncalled for.
Such an uplifting video; Athena is a breath of fresh air! (Not quite sure what that says about Matt's usual content.) 😂 Wishing you every success in your auto career, Athena!
I’m glad you’re finding your way Athena, it’s inspiring to see you and hear about your experiences, but it is also less than inspiring in some aspects -rather intimating-! But I’m glad you’re sticking with it and figuring out how to navigate around the ridiculous things that happen to women in the automotive field! If I could start again in my twenties knowing what I know now, I would have gone to school for it💪
Athena you have a positive attitude and I think you will do very well in the field. I definitely had experiences like you and that didn't stop me from succeeding. Very good work and I wish you the best.
Good luck Athena! I’m a female mechanic, but more of what Matt does as a DIY from my garage. I actually never wanted to work in the field because I have a great daily job and I love working on cars so much I didn’t want to start hating it from doing it as a regular job. The mechanic field can definitely use more technicians like you though (why I started working on cars in the first place) and I wish you the best of luck on the front lines!
Ps. My biggest challenges have been that I’m not as strong/big as some of the male mechanics I know, but it motivates me to get stronger, be more creative/inventive, and the right tools can make a big difference (ie. extendable breaker bars, etc). Keep fighting like the goddess of war that is your namesake😉🤜
Such a great video, I'm so amazed that I dont even know where to start. Let's start with message to Matt. Thank you so much for making this video, this is the best video besides series "typical weekend in garage if I was not filming". So informative and motivating. Please do more like this! Let's continue with with Athena. Dear Athena, I loved your attitude and passion, please keep it! It will always help you to overcome any type of obstacles at work (even in life!) Please consider creating automotive content. Wishing all he best! For everyone with no experience who decides to change the battery, just because you've just seen even girl can do that. Please be aware, that she wasnt here to teach you how to do it (even she would be a great teacher) She was here to do the job. (hoping we will see the teaching series soon!) With no experience you'll became welder/special FX character, if you dont disconnect negative lead on chassis end like she did. (but didnt mention) good day everyone!!!
As a mechanic for a good few years it is nice to see a woman take a trade in a male dominant trade. We need a change in this industry the young need a good place to work
Just saw a video on royalty auto service RUclips channel where they used a tool where you places sensors on the area you want and it detects frequency of noises. Would be great for her. Keep your head up Charles Barkley says when you're successful half the people gonna hate you. Athena has a great attitude and great knowledge!! Learn something new everyday and welcome to the 2%ers!!
Yes they are called “chassis ears”. I actually have a set myself. These dont always work for Athena either- for example a stethoscope is useless for her. But- using the chassis ears and converting the signal to an oscilloscope trace she can see- that works better. But what works best is simple working with someone who can help- but she has had terrible time with that as mentioned.
I think I was the viewer that pointed out the "no crank, no start" redundancy. It's the same thing with "hot water heater". It's just a water heater. Why would you be heating hot water? Congrats to Athena! It's appalling that she had to go through harassment. She's a bright young lady that seems genuinely excited and happy to be doing what she's doing. I see her as nothing but an asset to the profession! I wish her the best!
As a male who got to work on cars from a very early age i like to see and work with women who have learned the field so well , as an older male who also has an age and field related hearing loss, i need help with rattles and squeaks also! Good diag and i never understand the lack of battery hold downs i have seen including used cars that the dealer can’t understand why i insist on a stable mount for the car batteries. Keep up your dedication to the automotive repairs!
Hahaha I always offer her gloves but she only accepts them for really greasy jobs. I have had the same box of extra small gloves in my cabinet for over a year now lol.
You gotta get used to gloves 24/7... Cleanup is easier/faster. And the side of motor oil cans declares that used motor oil CAUSES CANCER. If surgeons can wear gloves all the time you can too! JUST DO IT.. especially if you're gonna do RUclipss.
👍 for Athena amazing attitude & approach in a few years she’ll be a master mechanic & a great teacher. Hats off for Chrysler mounting the battery in the wheel well. Easy access. Not.
Matt, how old is this video? That new battery has a date of 10/23 for manufacture. That PTU (transfer case) in the Edge, there is a little more to that than just popping in a new seal. I know from experience. The short version, replace the transfer case. The long version, that fluid inside is black from the discharge I can see. There is no drain plug to drain/fill in that particular model. You can drill a hole and tap it with an npt plug in the bottom to drain/replace the fluid, but there is a good chance that fluid turned into mud. Just replacing the seal may be time wasted due to a total transfer case failure in the near future. To replace the seal, you do not have to split the case. Take a slide hammer puller (its like a large version of a pilot bearing puller) and slam the plastic retainer out. There are then 2 seals, one that holds trans fluid in and one that holds the transfer case fluid in. In that vehicles case, the fluid is black so the transfer case seal is leaking. If it was the trans seal, you would get trans fluid leaking. You replace both seals at the same time using a few specialty tools.
As a professional, ms Athena has a great future ahead of her. That place she talked about and that “hazing” is bullshit. Wouldn’t be allowed at my shop by either my boss, manager or us, the techs. Keep working and learning young lady! I do have ONE critique: on Chrysler products: when the alternator is producing excess AC ripple, it will cause the instrument cluster to be stupid. So the only other thing that could have been done is checking the AC ripple of the alternator. Otherwise good stuff
Athena is a lovely girl, the garage i use has a girl mechanic shes been there for 25 years i think and is held in the highest regard by other garages and by me. Best wishes for the future.
I am so excited for this girl. It is a challenge to perform under a pair of judging eyes. 😂 I usually don’t use multimeter, I just grab a battery tester (Kingbolen BM580) and it shows me the voltage drop, internal resistance, and ripple test which is more assuring. And I do that before disconnecting cables and looking for parasitic drain.
Yes I have shown her better methods for doing amp draw tests however this is what she is able to do with her existing equipment and she wanted to stick with her comfort zone. It’s was her project so I let her do it the way she normally does, but it will change for sure as she gets better tools!!
Kingbolen BM580 is only good for Battery 6V 12V Load Tester,100-200 CCA Motorcycle ATV, Boat. Plus a Volt meter when one knows how to use it can work on many problems around the shop or your house. And they are reasonable inexpensive. Just saying. I do agree, a battery tester works, but for Parasitotic draw you need the Multi meter or something similar. For an extra $10 bucks Here is a better choice on battery tester plus TOPDON BT100 100-2000 CCA Automotive Alternator Tester Digital Auto Battery Analyzer Charging Cranking System Tester for Car Truck Motorcycle ATV SUV Boat Yacht.
I just use my picoscope to generate amperage and voltage curves during cranking and use the battery algorithms to determine the capacity and load. Was going to do that for the video but decided to let Athena do her way since it was her project today.
A literally 2 minute battery test is overkill for this job?????? On what clearly is a voltage supply issue? Are you kidding? H Have you done that procedure before? A battery test is the very minimum you would do on this job. Not overkill- the minimum very first step.
Great job Athena! Thanks Matt for promoting her with this video. She's good at applying some of what she learned in tech school. There's something I noticed with the meter readings with the new battery at the end of the video. The voltage when first connected was 12.4V and at the end of video was less than 12.1 and falling as the camera stopped. Is there an explanation for this? Was it due to editing? I believe the key was turned off.
Yes good observation. It’s editing. We actually started the car many more times than shown just to be certain of the diagnosis is all. I didn’t show it due to repetitiveness.
Those Chryslers will do some weird things with the instrument cluster with dead batteries and I have also see it with loose battery cables. I had one person that changed out the instrument cluster and all it was, was a loose battery connection.
Great to have another person on. I know anecdotally from my various work environments that Athena's story is highly unusual. I have seen no such anti female behavior like she was describing. Especially not comments about appearance which is a very well known no go area in the workplace. I'm impressed that her hearing loss is not appearing to be a major professional setback.
Hmmm interesting, and thanks for the perspective but I can tell you i have talked with maybe a dozen female technicians and every-single-one had similar experiences. in fact many of them acknowledged they left the profession because of the same challenges we heard about from Athena.
@@SchrodingersBox Yeah it is very interesting. I know that in my talks with other males I never hear any of them say a single bad or even questionable word about females in the work place other than comments about professional choices but those have nothing to do with gender, they don't even hint at it being a gender issue. In fact I will hear more comments questioning professional choices by males than I hear about professional choices by females. But I have to assume that there are two reasons for that, there are simply more males in the work environment and that I think men know to be very careful these days in how they refer to women. These are all strictly working class environments BTW. In my observations people in these environments are generally very well behaved. Anyway, take that anecdotal info for what it is worth. I hope Athena has a happy and productive career and that I am glad she has good mentors like yourself.
What a lovely intelligent lady. Sad to hear how some people treat one another. By watching the way see works and her work ethic I’m sure she worth 10 times more than the dickheads that we’re giving her a hard time.
Athena, AWESOME GRAD, maybe she can teach you where the name of the car is located including the year and the engine size, one of my pet peaves with mechanics not knowing this info, where to find it on or in the car, or reading it from some sort of work order, OMG, thanks for the video as usual, cheers.
I liked that she used disheveled the correct way... "Ray" used it once and I was like ???? I can tell you that my experience being 6'4" has not always worked out so well... Now in my 70's, getting on the ground is for someone else..
Matt, FYI, from my experience the women I have trained working at dealers are usually better at diagnosing than most of the men with the same amount of training. They try harder and it shows. I hire them without ever giving it a second thought. Unfortunately, HR is to protect the business, not the employee.
Matt and Athena: - It looks to me like Athena has pretty good presence on camera, and seems quite "take charge" of the diagnosis process. It could be a good idea to shoot an ongoing series of videos with her running the procedure, or with her narrating and explaining Matt doing the procedure. This would build up a bit of a portfolio of videos that potential employers could look to for some confidence that her work quality and style would be an asset to them. Along with those videos bringing more value to your channel. Might even build up a YT career for her, and the heck with employers!
The fact that she had to go through two kinds of the worst people is tough. Some hating her for no reason the others using her to show inclusivity. In my class we have only two out of thirty students female we treat them no different
Diagnostic question: I'm wondering if the old battery is still good and if the low power readings were due to the corrosion on the post-terminal. The disadvantage of the wheel well battery is quick testing is done indirectly without direct access to the posts. Curious if you later confirmed the old battery out of the vehicle with a battery analyzer (or equivalent? Agree with you the lack of battery clamp is high suspect for cause of accelerated corrosion (vibrations loosening terminal) and dead battery (vibration plate/joint damage) if it's dead? It's also been cold the last week in Denver which could support the terminal connection cause, hypothesizing cold metal distorts more as it heats from the starting amps and therefore why it unexpectedly started for you in your warmer garage. Good to hear real life testimony of battery issue causing "possession" symptoms. Any knowledge on how mechanistically this happens? Does the vibration in the bad connection introduce exogenous voltage ripple which the ECUs are interpreting as intentional pulses in they PWM protocol, perhaps?
Great video! She is going to do very well as a technician. I have a question. The car with the bad battery. Was it really a bad battery or was the problem do to corrosion?
Oh and funny story. I worked with a guy that had a Chrysler 300M. He said he was late to work because he had a bad battery and had to have AutoZone put one in. He didn't know I worked on cars. I said AutoZone won't put one of those in. He was like, "yeah they put in batteries for free." I was like "not yours, because it is inside the wheel well and you have to jack it up, take the tire off, and remove the inner wheel well to get to it." He whispered "Shut up TOM" at me, because our boss was standing there.
Sounds like she needs to start her own shop and have female mechanics. Also if I still lived in denver and knew her and heard about that I'd be whooping some @$$. But all that aside congratulations and I think its cool that a female is into wrenching and learning about cars and she did a good job and she will do great she has passion amd excitement. Good job girl 👍
I am a female viewer, I hate working on cars but I love cars. I mostly know what I know out of necessity. I understand what its like trying to make it in a trade as a woman, I tried unsuccessfully to get an apprenticeship to become an electrician.
@@SchrodingersBox its just the culture here in Australia, its seen as a mans profession. Things are changing as GenX and Millenials become bosses but women in trades are rare.
still same here honestly. i would say it’s changing as far as DEI programs force inclusion- but that doesn’t mean there is acceptance. if that makes sense.
@@SchrodingersBox DEI just breeds more contempt. It's equal opportunity that is important, not equality of outcome. Athena is succeeding on merit, which DEI despises.
Ya kno.... I'm so into John 13:34: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another"
That’s a good question! In my opinion the best way is to develop her skill set so that even people who will be overly critical simple can’t deny that she is an equal. I edited it for time, but I gave an example during the video of when I was flipping through car shows on TV on a Saturday morning and came across a show called “All Girls Garage”. Well of course I had to see if the ladies on the show really had any mettle. Well they didn’t- it was the predictable eye candy wrenchers that clearly got coached through EXCEPT for one of the women named “Bogi” (Sarah Lateiner). You could very quickly see that Sarah held her own. In fact I looked her up and saw videos of her doing fuel trim analysis, using a scope, identifying VVT issues on a BMW… And even then she was “really really good for a woman” but after I followed her a bit I now just see her as one of the best mechanics and most successful shop owners in the industry.
She’s right, I wish her the best in the future. I went through a similar experience as she did. I retired, went to automotive school, graduated and no one was willing to hire me due to my age. So I build a garage and worked for myself. I wish her luck and to remind her to remember……people talk behind your back because you’re in front……..
Hey ! I am doing that soon. Thanks for the heads up. I will have to change my expectations because I WILL be wrenching one way or another.
Only halfway through the video and can already tell she's ahead of the crowd and a has great attitude.
Totally!!!!
Slow clap for Athena! Keep her coming back! She knows her stuff.
Jerks is too mild a term, for those types. I am super glad Athena stuck with it. In workplaces that I liked, where certain people are less than welcoming, I’ve always adapted the Sun Tzu adage. “If you wait by the river long enough, you will see your enemy float by.” May good fortune find Athena. And may her future coworkers be ever welcoming.
Well said! I do love Sun Tzu's Art Of War. Its my bible lol!!
Congratulations, Athena!
I’ll be honest…impressive diagnostic and mechanical skills for someone just out of school. Athena knew exactly how to properly remove the wheel and recognized her error in removing all of the lugs on the first wheel (on a higher lift, it could fall on her or damage the wheel). Use gloves to help protect the nails and hands. I would also be careful with the longer hair, even tied back…could be a significant hazard around a vehicle with belts, axles, and other rotating parts (applies to all mechanics, of course).
Athena, you have an excellent attitude for this field and a desire to do automotive work. I've been an auto technician since 1987 and a shop owner since 2022. You have my deepest respect. There are a lot of "jerks" in this business, please don't let that hold you back.
My advice to you, continue to learn! This industry is constantly changing. Learn as much as you can on diagnosing drivability/computer related issues. Matt is an excellent mentor to work with. ScannerDanner is another excellent teacher to learn from.
This is a challenging industry but it is a very rewarding one as well. Don't think of it as just fixing cars, think of it as helping other people fix there vehicle problems.
Athena, you have my best wishes for your success!
Thanks for your great input!!
Congrats to Athena and I'm sure she will succeed in her career with her professional and teachable attitude. It sucks when someone else's ego is a hurdle you have to overcome but we are confident in her abilities and we here in the comment section are rooting for her.
What a pleasant young lady, Lovely manner and superb attitude. Also well done for you in supporting her. She will go a long way.
Thank you!! Yes I agree!
Congratulations on your graduation, Athena. I've seen you working with Matt, and I've seen the enthusiasm you bring to learning and growing your skills. You have the right attitude and the desire to excel at this. You've got this, girl! So proud of you!
The girls done well now what she needs is a place to grow and learn I very much that she will find and fit in to a decent shop soon good luck young lady.
I'd love to teach her how to build automatic Transmissions great money plus your mostly on the bench i think she'd love it. Great diagnosing thanks keep us posted on her out come if you can.
This video went by sooo fast! She's quite competent and really challenges the stereotype of women not wanting to get their hands dirty. She's a dynamo.👍👍
She is so amazing and fortunate to also have met a great guy like you, Matt. Splendid right there!!
A tale as old as time. Good on Athena for her positive attitude which should give her plenty of time to excel in her field. She was extremely competent in her diag
I love her attitude and as always love her teacher :)
One tip I picked up from another channel, when you're done with the current measurement, ALWAYS move your meter leads back to the voltage position. That habit will keep you from blowing fuses.
Shoot that was my advice on this channel too hahahah!
I so seldom ever use a meter for amp measurements - I really only do it for videos and I get distracted as a result.
Congratulations Athena on graduating
Congratulations Athena, i only hope for more techs like you because looks like your already passing a lot of tech up in your abilities and leaving them in your dust, you remind me of a friend and she passes all the other people i have ever seen in her abilities and if she doesn't know something all i have to do is explain it once and she has it and me and my man brain is dumbfounded that she can learn so fast and run circles around the men.
Keep up the good work Athena and God bless
Wow! I loved this concept.....the industry is short on techs entering the field. I enjoyed this from start to end.
So glad to hear. We are welcome to any of your advice as well as you are a respected member of the community!!
Thank you Matt for mentoring Athena and give her a chance to show her work. I’m a female and started to worked on car the last few years bc I lost respect for many mechanics that rip me off over the years. I learned to fix, replace and do all the maintenance on my car and enjoy doing it with pride. I’ve done jobs that dealerships and mechanics wants to charged me thousands of dollars for a fraction of the price and feel amazing that I no longer being scammed and treated like a dumb woman that doesn’t know anything about cars. Athena should inspire girls how to fix and take care of the cars bc women needed to arm themselves with knowledge so we can take care of our car and not becoming a victim of scams. Wish you luck and don’t let anyone put you down, prove them wrong by being a badass!
Great comment!!!
Congratulations Athena and so sorry that you were treated so badly by co-workers. It's safe to say that's not a good place to take a car so maybe it's a blessing in disguise?
Thanks Bernie and Ms Vikki. ,🙂
Congratulations to Athena! And Matt looks good in his Bar Mitzvah suit.
Hahahahahahaha hey I like that suit!!
Congratulations on your graduation, Athena. May your automotive career take you far. I hope you find the right shop to work at or start your own shop someday. One thing I can tell you is never stop learning. Vehicles have changed a lot in the 32 years I have been in the dealership world. In all that time I have only worked with 1 woman as a technician and she is doing a great job and fitting in with everyone else in the shop. Do not give up on your ambitions because of a few asshats. Good luck with your future in this sometimes fast-moving industry. Oh yeah get certified, that will stir the envious ones up.
Thanks for the advice and encouragement!!
I remember when I was in tech school, we had quit a few woman in our classes (people graduated every 3weeks/started every 3 weeks). I chewed out a lot of my fellow students because of their views on it. I remember one time some of the guys were complaining about one of the girls was 'unknowledgeable'. I said, none of us are knowledgeable, thats why we're here at a school to learn.
Thanks for taking a stand!
@@SchrodingersBox I have 4 older sisters, 2 of them out wrenched me growing up. Bolts dont care about what chromosome youre packing, neither should we. its annoying that we still have this in the industry. Ironically, as a diesel tech; I've found there's less sexism here compared to the auto world.
Congratulations Athena on your graduation. Great job on the diagnosis.
Thanks for writing Wayne!
Great job Athena! Now that you no longer work there you should report the conduct of that shop to the labor board. My wife had a similar situation at a place she worked. They did go in and straighten things out at her former job. all the other women there were very thankful. It will not benefit you, but hopefully it will change the attitude of the bosses.
Yes we discussed this. Athena is justifiably concerned about making a reputation for herself at this very delicate stage in her career development. She believes it best to just move forwards and let her work talk for itself. I don’t disagree but I also see your point!
I've graduated from an automotive tech school myself and from my experience, the night classes general have people who could be labelled worse than "Jerks". Night classes are also for the best people who have a busy schedule but are bettering themselves, like Athena, so it feels like 2 separate poles of people rather than a spectrum of attitude. I wish Athena the best of luck, knowing of the challenges in the field that she's already described in probably the kindest way. I plan to open a shop in the future myself to help the community and offer the best in-field education possible with all being welcomed. I hope to be able to educated and let people like Athena learn and grow to do the best they can do.
Much appreciated!!!
I’m happy for Athena hope she does well in her future endeavors great diagnosis she did well I was bullied in my tech class and you know what I proved them wrong and I got a intern job with the school I went and got paid to teach the class on how to do a brake change
Great stuff Matt. My faith in the younger generation has , to say it nicely been wearing a little thin as of late But every once in a while a little light shines through, and I would say Athena is one of those stars. My hats off to Her and to You Matt. This was inspiring to say the least. 👍👍🇺🇸
Very well said. Yes I agree- it’s always refreshing to see someone from the latest generation that has work ethic and pride in their work like that. Athena has many other things she’s been involved with as well such as girls club of America and when she was high school she received all kinds of awards.
Athena has definitely paid attention in school. Has a positive attitude. That would be tough with hearing loss, but she pushed through. Good for her, and good luck to her!
The output shaft seal job on the Edge - pass, haha.
Yeah passing on that for sure lol.
Congratulations Athena, don't let the jerks get you down. Hopefully you will find an open a d accepting place very soon. It's so sad that you even have to worry about such things.... Real men (and women) don't have to be little others to boost their ego.
Best wishes for the future Athena.
What a terrific attitude even through her challenges! in my opinion she would be an asset to any auto repair shop. Id wish her luck but she doesnt need it. Great attitude and very professional...🎉🎉🎉🎉
good job! and good luck in the field! Just an DIY here, so I know the trade is a life long learning process. My first warning is that it is tempting to get the best of the best tools. The only tools that last forever are the ones you store between your ears. You are in good hands with Matt. He has the ethics and solid grasp of the basics (and obviously the advanced stuff too, but one step at a time.) Keep on smiling, keep on working, and keep the naysayers in the rearview mirror.
Congratulations to Athena! All young techs go through the "initiation" process when they enter a shop. The guys will tend to joke around with apprentices. When other techs hide tools on you to slow you up and make you look bad then that is harassment and is uncalled for.
Such an uplifting video; Athena is a breath of fresh air! (Not quite sure what that says about Matt's usual content.) 😂
Wishing you every success in your auto career, Athena!
Thanks Andy!! Great to see you back!!
I’m glad you’re finding your way Athena, it’s inspiring to see you and hear about your experiences, but it is also less than inspiring in some aspects -rather intimating-! But I’m glad you’re sticking with it and figuring out how to navigate around the ridiculous things that happen to women in the automotive field!
If I could start again in my twenties knowing what I know now, I would have gone to school for it💪
Good for her!! Keep on trucking and don't let anybody get you down.
Congratulations to her! She will do well I’m sure.
She did a very good job. 👏💪💯👍
Athena you have a positive attitude and I think you will do very well in the field. I definitely had experiences like you and that didn't stop me from succeeding. Very good work and I wish you the best.
Great video Matt. Athena, you keep doing you girl. You’re amazing and I hope to see more videos of you.
Nice video. Congratulations to Athena, and much success!
Good luck Athena! I’m a female mechanic, but more of what Matt does as a DIY from my garage. I actually never wanted to work in the field because I have a great daily job and I love working on cars so much I didn’t want to start hating it from doing it as a regular job. The mechanic field can definitely use more technicians like you though (why I started working on cars in the first place) and I wish you the best of luck on the front lines!
Ps. My biggest challenges have been that I’m not as strong/big as some of the male mechanics I know, but it motivates me to get stronger, be more creative/inventive, and the right tools can make a big difference (ie. extendable breaker bars, etc). Keep fighting like the goddess of war that is your namesake😉🤜
Do your thang girl!! Lookin good!
Awesome job Athena! And thanks for talking about your experiences...fellas, are you listening?
Now I know how to check my battery, Athena thank you so much.
Such a great video, I'm so amazed that I dont even know where to start.
Let's start with message to Matt. Thank you so much for making this video, this is the best video besides series "typical weekend in garage if I was not filming". So informative and motivating. Please do more like this!
Let's continue with with Athena. Dear Athena, I loved your attitude and passion, please keep it! It will always help you to overcome any type of obstacles at work (even in life!) Please consider creating automotive content. Wishing all he best!
For everyone with no experience who decides to change the battery, just because you've just seen even girl can do that. Please be aware, that she wasnt here to teach you how to do it (even she would be a great teacher) She was here to do the job. (hoping we will see the teaching series soon!) With no experience you'll became welder/special FX character, if you dont disconnect negative lead on chassis end like she did. (but didnt mention)
good day everyone!!!
What a fantastic comment!! Thanks for taking the time to do that!
I went to ACC back in the late 80s. Saddened to hear how Athena's been treated. I'd be happy to take a car to her shop.
wish her well and I think she will do fine in a job. I trained alot of people at work and she is OK
As a mechanic for a good few years it is nice to see a woman take a trade in a male dominant trade. We need a change in this industry the young need a good place to work
We need Athena more in the videos her work is up to par
I would love it if Athena became a permanent part of the channel!
Keep up the good work Athena!
Just saw a video on royalty auto service RUclips channel where they used a tool where you places sensors on the area you want and it detects frequency of noises. Would be great for her. Keep your head up Charles Barkley says when you're successful half the people gonna hate you. Athena has a great attitude and great knowledge!! Learn something new everyday and welcome to the 2%ers!!
Yes they are called “chassis ears”. I actually have a set myself. These dont always work for Athena either- for example a stethoscope is useless for her.
But- using the chassis ears and converting the signal to an oscilloscope trace she can see- that works better.
But what works best is simple working with someone who can help- but she has had terrible time with that as mentioned.
@@SchrodingersBox glad she has you as a mentor I know she'll figure something out and be great
I think I was the viewer that pointed out the "no crank, no start" redundancy. It's the same thing with "hot water heater". It's just a water heater. Why would you be heating hot water?
Congrats to Athena! It's appalling that she had to go through harassment. She's a bright young lady that seems genuinely excited and happy to be doing what she's doing. I see her as nothing but an asset to the profession! I wish her the best!
Hahaha another great analogy!!
Haha another great analogous example of redundancy!!
As a male who got to work on cars from a very early age i like to see and work with women who have learned the field so well , as an older male who also has an age and field related hearing loss, i need help with rattles and squeaks also! Good diag and i never understand the lack of battery hold downs i have seen including used cars that the dealer can’t understand why i insist on a stable mount for the car batteries. Keep up your dedication to the automotive repairs!
Thanks for the comment John!!
You go Girl . 👏 I would hire you any day . One tip baby girl , wear gloves 😊
Hahaha I always offer her gloves but she only accepts them for really greasy jobs. I have had the same box of extra small gloves in my cabinet for over a year now lol.
You gotta get used to gloves 24/7... Cleanup is easier/faster. And the side of motor oil cans declares that used motor oil CAUSES CANCER. If surgeons can wear gloves all the time you can too! JUST DO IT.. especially if you're gonna do RUclipss.
That was nice of you to show her skills in your video. I also hope that more female get into the auto profession.
Thank you for writing !!
👍 for Athena amazing attitude & approach in a few years she’ll be a master mechanic & a great teacher. Hats off for Chrysler mounting the battery in the wheel well. Easy access. Not.
Matt, how old is this video? That new battery has a date of 10/23 for manufacture.
That PTU (transfer case) in the Edge, there is a little more to that than just popping in a new seal. I know from experience. The short version, replace the transfer case. The long version, that fluid inside is black from the discharge I can see. There is no drain plug to drain/fill in that particular model. You can drill a hole and tap it with an npt plug in the bottom to drain/replace the fluid, but there is a good chance that fluid turned into mud. Just replacing the seal may be time wasted due to a total transfer case failure in the near future.
To replace the seal, you do not have to split the case. Take a slide hammer puller (its like a large version of a pilot bearing puller) and slam the plastic retainer out. There are then 2 seals, one that holds trans fluid in and one that holds the transfer case fluid in. In that vehicles case, the fluid is black so the transfer case seal is leaking. If it was the trans seal, you would get trans fluid leaking. You replace both seals at the same time using a few specialty tools.
Good idea on maybe replacing the transfer case especially if there is high mileage.
Good video Matt
Congratulations Athena
As a professional, ms Athena has a great future ahead of her. That place she talked about and that “hazing” is bullshit. Wouldn’t be allowed at my shop by either my boss, manager or us, the techs. Keep working and learning young lady!
I do have ONE critique: on Chrysler products: when the alternator is producing excess AC ripple, it will cause the instrument cluster to be stupid. So the only other thing that could have been done is checking the AC ripple of the alternator. Otherwise good stuff
Good point on the ripple.
Athena is a lovely girl, the garage i use has a girl mechanic shes been there for 25 years i think and is held in the highest regard by other garages and by me. Best wishes for the future.
Great to know!!
I am so excited for this girl. It is a challenge to perform under a pair of judging eyes. 😂
I usually don’t use multimeter, I just grab a battery tester (Kingbolen BM580) and it shows me the voltage drop, internal resistance, and ripple test which is more assuring. And I do that before disconnecting cables and looking for parasitic drain.
Yes I have shown her better methods for doing amp draw tests however this is what she is able to do with her existing equipment and she wanted to stick with her comfort zone. It’s was her project so I let her do it the way she normally does, but it will change for sure as she gets better tools!!
Kingbolen BM580 is only good for Battery 6V 12V Load Tester,100-200 CCA Motorcycle ATV, Boat. Plus a Volt meter when one knows how to use it can work on many problems around the shop or your house. And they are reasonable inexpensive. Just saying. I do agree, a battery tester works, but for Parasitotic draw you need the Multi meter or something similar. For an extra $10 bucks Here is a better choice on battery tester plus TOPDON BT100 100-2000 CCA Automotive Alternator Tester Digital Auto Battery Analyzer Charging Cranking System Tester for Car Truck Motorcycle ATV SUV Boat Yacht.
I just use my picoscope to generate amperage and voltage curves during cranking and use the battery algorithms to determine the capacity and load.
Was going to do that for the video but decided to let Athena do her way since it was her project today.
@@SchrodingersBox I would say that is overkill for this type of job.
A literally 2 minute battery test is overkill for this job?????? On what clearly is a voltage supply issue? Are you kidding?
H
Have you done that procedure before?
A battery test is the very minimum you would do on this job. Not overkill- the minimum very first step.
somehow the videos are always timely and relevant to something i got going on😂
Hahahahahaha!!!!! Man you must have a lot of car problems!!
@@SchrodingersBox Of course😂 love to keep busy!
Nice episode, need more of these. Thanks!
Great job Athena! Thanks Matt for promoting her with this video. She's good at applying some of what she learned in tech school. There's something I noticed with the meter readings with the new battery at the end of the video. The voltage when first connected was 12.4V and at the end of video was less than 12.1 and falling as the camera stopped. Is there an explanation for this? Was it due to editing? I believe the key was turned off.
Yes good observation. It’s editing. We actually started the car many more times than shown just to be certain of the diagnosis is all. I didn’t show it due to repetitiveness.
Those Chryslers will do some weird things with the instrument cluster with dead batteries and I have also see it with loose battery cables. I had one person that changed out the instrument cluster and all it was, was a loose battery connection.
Outstanding!
Bravo for that girl - diagnostic technician, indeed.
Great to have another person on. I know anecdotally from my various work environments that Athena's story is highly unusual. I have seen no such anti female behavior like she was describing. Especially not comments about appearance which is a very well known no go area in the workplace. I'm impressed that her hearing loss is not appearing to be a major professional setback.
Hmmm interesting, and thanks for the perspective but I can tell you i have talked with maybe a dozen female technicians and every-single-one had similar experiences. in fact many of them acknowledged they left the profession because of the same challenges we heard about from Athena.
@@SchrodingersBox Yeah it is very interesting. I know that in my talks with other males I never hear any of them say a single bad or even questionable word about females in the work place other than comments about professional choices but those have nothing to do with gender, they don't even hint at it being a gender issue.
In fact I will hear more comments questioning professional choices by males than I hear about professional choices by females. But I have to assume that there are two reasons for that, there are simply more males in the work environment and that I think men know to be very careful these days in how they refer to women.
These are all strictly working class environments BTW. In my observations people in these environments are generally very well behaved.
Anyway, take that anecdotal info for what it is worth. I hope Athena has a happy and productive career and that I am glad she has good mentors like yourself.
Good job 👏
What a lovely intelligent lady. Sad to hear how some people treat one another. By watching the way see works and her work ethic I’m sure she worth 10 times more than the dickheads that we’re giving her a hard time.
Great tutorials thinking of signing up on your web site, and your video intro needs a make over😉
You will love the website!!
Thanks for sharing.
Our pleasure!
I'd give her a job for sure!
Athena, AWESOME GRAD, maybe she can teach you where the name of the car is located including the year and the engine size, one of my pet peaves with mechanics not knowing this info, where to find it on or in the car, or reading it from some sort of work order, OMG, thanks for the video as usual, cheers.
I liked that she used disheveled the correct way... "Ray" used it once and I was like ????
I can tell you that my experience being 6'4" has not always worked out so well... Now in my 70's, getting on the ground is for someone else..
Matt, FYI, from my experience the women I have trained working at dealers are usually better at diagnosing than most of the men with the same amount of training. They try harder and it shows. I hire them without ever giving it a second thought. Unfortunately, HR is to protect the business, not the employee.
Matt and Athena: - It looks to me like Athena has pretty good presence on camera, and seems quite "take charge" of the diagnosis process. It could be a good idea to shoot an ongoing series of videos with her running the procedure, or with her narrating and explaining Matt doing the procedure. This would build up a bit of a portfolio of videos that potential employers could look to for some confidence that her work quality and style would be an asset to them. Along with those videos bringing more value to your channel. Might even build up a YT career for her, and the heck with employers!
Yes good idea! She was so incredibly nervous but she did very well and does have good presence and voices well.
The fact that she had to go through two kinds of the worst people is tough. Some hating her for no reason the others using her to show inclusivity. In my class we have only two out of thirty students female we treat them no different
Diagnostic question: I'm wondering if the old battery is still good and if the low power readings were due to the corrosion on the post-terminal. The disadvantage of the wheel well battery is quick testing is done indirectly without direct access to the posts. Curious if you later confirmed the old battery out of the vehicle with a battery analyzer (or equivalent? Agree with you the lack of battery clamp is high suspect for cause of accelerated corrosion (vibrations loosening terminal) and dead battery (vibration plate/joint damage) if it's dead? It's also been cold the last week in Denver which could support the terminal connection cause, hypothesizing cold metal distorts more as it heats from the starting amps and therefore why it unexpectedly started for you in your warmer garage. Good to hear real life testimony of battery issue causing "possession" symptoms. Any knowledge on how mechanistically this happens? Does the vibration in the bad connection introduce exogenous voltage ripple which the ECUs are interpreting as intentional pulses in they PWM protocol, perhaps?
good question but no because the voltage drop confirmed there was drop from the load source- not across a resistance.
Great video! She is going to do very well as a technician. I have a question. The car with the bad battery. Was it really a bad battery or was the problem do to corrosion?
it was a bad battery. voltage drop test proved that there was still conductance despite the corrosion.
@SchrodingersBox good too know thank you!
Oh and funny story. I worked with a guy that had a Chrysler 300M. He said he was late to work because he had a bad battery and had to have AutoZone put one in. He didn't know I worked on cars. I said AutoZone won't put one of those in. He was like, "yeah they put in batteries for free." I was like "not yours, because it is inside the wheel well and you have to jack it up, take the tire off, and remove the inner wheel well to get to it." He whispered "Shut up TOM" at me, because our boss was standing there.
Hahahahahahahaha!!! Yeah I have personally seen arguments at the parts store over this exact thing!!!!
Sounds like she needs to start her own shop and have female mechanics. Also if I still lived in denver and knew her and heard about that I'd be whooping some @$$. But all that aside congratulations and I think its cool that a female is into wrenching and learning about cars and she did a good job and she will do great she has passion amd excitement. Good job girl 👍
Good luck
I am a female viewer, I hate working on cars but I love cars. I mostly know what I know out of necessity.
I understand what its like trying to make it in a trade as a woman, I tried unsuccessfully to get an apprenticeship to become an electrician.
Curious if because of the challenges others presented on you?
@@SchrodingersBox its just the culture here in Australia, its seen as a mans profession. Things are changing as GenX and Millenials become bosses but women in trades are rare.
still same here honestly. i would say it’s changing as far as DEI programs force inclusion- but that doesn’t mean there is acceptance. if that makes sense.
@@SchrodingersBox DEI just breeds more contempt. It's equal opportunity that is important, not equality of outcome. Athena is succeeding on merit, which DEI despises.
Amen!!!!!
good luck Athena
Good luck Athina
Joking and teasing is normal
But messing with your livelihood means war
I have an electrician that runs away when he sees me
I suppose if you have a car that's starting but not cranking, then you don't need a mechanic, you need an exorcist.
Ya kno.... I'm so into John 13:34: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another"
Wow❤
WAIT How do we know starter is good? Not drawing too much amps??
Because we saw the improvement in voltage drop. Ohms law dictates the starter is fine because it is the independent variable.
Athena should start her own RUclips channel. I'd be watching all of her...videos.
The awkward … pause there lol
Good Athena
What if it doesn't crank but will bump start?
Lots of things could cause that. Bad battery still being one. Bad starter, mechanical interference, hydrolock, high resistance in cables….
@@SchrodingersBox hahahaha i was giving that as an answer to no crank no start being redundant. I am evidently a semantics enthusiast.
How can we help Athena?
That’s a good question! In my opinion the best way is to develop her skill set so that even people who will be overly critical simple can’t deny that she is an equal.
I edited it for time, but I gave an example during the video of when I was flipping through car shows on TV on a Saturday morning and came across a show called “All Girls Garage”. Well of course I had to see if the ladies on the show really had any mettle. Well they didn’t- it was the predictable eye candy wrenchers that clearly got coached through EXCEPT for one of the women named “Bogi” (Sarah Lateiner). You could very quickly see that Sarah held her own. In fact I looked her up and saw videos of her doing fuel trim analysis, using a scope, identifying VVT issues on a BMW… And even then she was “really really good for a woman” but after I followed her a bit I now just see her as one of the best mechanics and most successful shop owners in the industry.