Automotive Repair

Ask Dallas Makerspace
1

Yes, Greetings. Im a retired mechanic and looking for a spot to work on a car. I would need to reserve time on a lift, as I need to drop the tank and chase down a wiring problem. I dont know if the shop has a trasmission jack or something suitable for lowering the tank. It looks like I need to get signed off on using the lift. please advise. Patrick

2

Patrick;

Your best bet to get signed off on the lift is to become a member and swing by on Thursday night during Motorsports and ask then. As for transmission jacks and other things like that, I’ll let some of the Automotive folks answer here.

Welcome to DMS.

Ian

3

With the additional caveats that:

  1. It has to be your car. Unlike many of the other areas in DMS that allow commercial work (on a first come - first served basis) Auto does not as it would be a violation of our lease. You can help another member work on their own car.
  2. You can’t reserve anything it the shop. It’s first come - first served. That said, weekday mornings are generally pretty safe. Even better if you get trained on both lifts. I’ll also add that you’ll want to locate it before you work, and make sure it’s complete. It is a community worksop with all that implies.

You can see what’s going on it auto by looking at the cameras on line at Dallas Makerspace Area Cameras – Dallas Makerspace Scroll down to the ‘Automotive Area’ Be sure to note the image time stamp as sometimes connection issues happen. You’ll also need to do a page refresh to keep it current as it does not auto-update.

4

There are a couple automotive rules that you should also know before you signup.

  1. We do not allow work to be done on other people’s cars - so no paid gigs.
  2. You must take the Automotive 100 [online @ learn.dallasmakerspace.org] and be trained on the lift [they offer classes throughout the month - and at times on demand if you happen to catch a volunteer at the right time].
  3. You must be present while your car is on the lift or bay [exceptions being a quick bite to eat or a parts run to an auto store]. You can’t leave it overnight or for a few hours - without permission from the auto chair.
  4. All tools and equipment are first-come-first-use, no reservations permitted. With the exceptions of classes - Classes trump everything, so a class can require a person to stop using the tool [so watch the calendar before starting a project that will require several hours].
  5. We are not allowed to do any work on cars in the parking lot, all work must be done within the building. We are not allowed to park vehicles overnight [unattended] or in other property spaces [during normal business working hours].
  6. Automotive has a ton of tools and a great group of members that are always willing to lend a hand & knowledge. Consider joining the committee and teaching some classes to spread your knowledge - you will find it very rewarding.

The most I get to use the automotive area is for changing my oil - but you’ll have fun.

5

I think they’ve covered most of it, but we do have a transmission jack that should work for you.

The lift is indeed first come first serve, but there’s no time limit. With a few exceptions, once you get on the lift you’re free to use it as long as you can manage to keep working.

6

Yeah, first rattle out of the bag. Tried to log in with username and password in order to take test. Nogo…i wrote it down so i know its right. Still not taking it. Im trying to get the car inspected. But a short or open in the wiring for the sending unit is throwing a code. So it dosnt matter that it doesnt affect emissions, if a car throws any code you cant get it inspected. So, today the registration is expired. I just now found out about you guys or i would done all this much sooner. If someone could possibly tell me why my log in is failing it would help thanks Patrick

7

So you can only log in to the “learn.dallasmakerspace.org” site if you are a member.

The username & password for “talk” [this forum] are not necessarily the same [unless you set them up that way]. You will need to log in using the username and password that was set up for the billing service.

If that doesn’t work, you can login here: Login - Dallas Makerspace
And then “Open a Ticket”. It might take a little bit to get a response [since we are all volunteers]; but they are fairly prompt. But you do need to be a dues paying member to get access to the learn.dallasmakerspace.org site.

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