Area Students to Test Auto Skills Today

To the non-handy, it sounds like a nightmare.

Your gleaming new right-off-the-lot Ford somehow has contracted at least a dozen mechanical flaws. Forget the tow truck--you and your partner have to figure out what’s wrong and then fix it. And, by the way, the clock is ticking.

That is the formula for today’s Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills National Quality Care Challenge. Students from Agoura and North Hollywood high schools will compete against 13 other Southern California teams at Pomona Raceway for a possible berth in the national finals.

Ford technicians will line up 15 identical cars--of a model not revealed to participants until today--on the racetrack’s straightaway.

“They go through each car and make sure they’re in perfect working order,” said Jeffrey Spring, a spokesman for the Automobile Club of Southern California. “Then they make sure that they’re perfectly not running.”

Technicians will have rigged each car with at least 12 “bugs,” such as faulty fuses or worn-out belts. When the starting gun sounds, students will begin diagnosing and fixing the problems. Repairs are judged according to speed and effectiveness.

At last year’s state finals, a team from North Hollywood finished fifth, the best showing by a Los Angeles-area school. They took one hour, 17 minutes and 37 seconds to fix their car. The winners, from Ramona High School near San Francisco, needed just 37 minutes 51 seconds.

The winning California students will earn $3,000 scholarships to one of 60 schools participating in Ford’s training program, which leads to a two-year associate degree in automotive service.

Auto specialists with degrees can earn nearly $30,000 a year and experienced technicians can earn more than double that, Spring said. Given the complex technology in most new cars, formal scholastic training is usually required for the best-paying jobs.

“The days of the backyard mechanic are about over,” Spring said.