11 ms·

The art of auto engineering

523 points by andersentobias 3y ago

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
AndrewOMartin 3y ago
For $20. > Will this course teach me to fix my car? > I am asked this a lot. If you just want to fix one thing on a car then you don't need to understand automotive engineering or how things work. You can find videos on YouTube that will show you almost any repair, and you just follow those videos. But if you want to be able to diagnose and fix any car, any engine without spending hours Googling then you want a deep understanding of car mechanics.
- moffkalast 3y ago
  Why spend hours Googling when I can just ask the latest version of GPT in <current year> and it'll tell me how to work the problem and diagnose it.
  - Reason077 3y ago
    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.
    - tyronehed 3y ago
      [dead]
    - dsfyu404ed 3y ago
      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 "average google result" answer is not the correct answer or there is situational circumstances that make the generic answer inappropriate. Sure you might get an "expert" answer on Reddit and GPT might scan over the "right" answer to your question in its computation but in most cases the generically correct but wrong in this instance answer is going to be more popular and more prolific and be what gets spit back at you and it'll be faster for you to just dig up the right answer yourself than coax the right answer out of whatever you're asking.
      - HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
        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.
        dsfyu404ed 3y ago
        >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.
    - ljf 3y ago
      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 miles out to sea (where a windfarm is) telling me that the sea is only 2 to 10 meters deep there, and safe to snorkel. This is not true, and it would be a very dangerous place to snorkel there. But its confidence was scary.
      - moffkalast 3y ago
        Well why don't you tell me about the hiking trails around my house? Oh you don't know them? It's too specific information and you couldn't possibly know that? Ah interesting... The trick is to ask it only things that are both physically possible and also possible for it to actually know or provide the required extra context from which to deduce the answer. Otherwise it acts not unlike someone pushed against a wall by a guy with a knife demanding info it just doesn't have. It'll say anything.
        ljf 3y ago
        With prompting it knew about the snorkel trail here (it is well documented online and in local media) but blended facts about the snorkel trail, with facts about the local windfarm. Some sponsorship from the windfarm had gone into promoting the snorkel trail, which may have led to the confusion for the model, but they are two very different things in different locations.
        LastTrain 3y ago
        That is like asking for travel tips from someone that has never been there.
        pedrosorio 3y ago
        What they won't do is pretend they know about them, including mentioning the names of the trails, while mixing up which trails are strenuous and easy while sounding 100% confident.
    - moffkalast 3y ago
      True, but anything it says is generally easy to verify before you do something stupid. And for things as common and relatively standardized as cars I would expect it to do very well.
      - lezojeda 3y ago
        But if you add the verification to the asking process you might as well just skip GPT altogether... It becomes a waste of time asking if you have to check every thing you ask it.
  - ly3xqhl8g9 3y ago
    "Never spend 6 minutes doing something by hand when you can spend 6 hours failing to automate it" [1] becomes 'never spend 6 minutes searching for something when you can spend 6 hours arguing with ChatGPT on the nature of truth'. [2] [1] Zhuowei Zhang, https://twitter.com/zhuowei/status/1254266079532154880?lang=en https://twitter.com/zhuowei/status/1254266079532154880?lang=... [2] Incidentally, great book, The Nature of Truth, Second Edition, Classic and Contemporary Perspectives https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262542067/the-nature-of-truth https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262542067/the-nature-of-truth
  - ca_tech 3y ago
    In this case, I paid for the course which includes a PDF. Using Bing I can query the document and get summary information along with page number references. Only a matter of time until we can do the same query for a site and get video timestamps. I don't expect GPT to act like an oracle, but I do expect that it will function as a curator and cataloger of content.
Eldar_ 3y ago
Would be nice to have similar course for EV
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- martin_a 3y ago
  Are you looking into fixing the drivetrain or the "car stuff" around that? I'd rather not fiddle around with the 400 V system of my EV, but I think most of the other things are still the same.
  - pornel 3y ago
    There's an aura of mystery around EVs (e.g. people assume they're all some self-driving black box magic), so it may be useful to teach how they work even if people aren't going to do DIY repairs.
  - Reason077 3y ago
    Any similar course for EVs would start with high-voltage safety. If you're doing any high-voltage work, you'd start by physically isolating the high-voltage battery from the rest of the car by pulling the main isolation fuse. Then, you'd check everything with a voltage detector just to be absolutely sure. And you'd wear electrical insulating gloves whenever touching anything that could potentially be live. All high-voltage components in your EV are well protected and clearly marked in bright orange: there isn't much danger of accidentally running in to them when working on anything else.
- kotaKat 3y ago
  Not to steal thunder from the OP site but WeberAuto has amazing YouTube videos on a LOT of EVs, systems, transaxles, motors, gearboxes, and everything. https://www.youtube.com/@WeberAuto https://www.youtube.com/@WeberAuto The professor that teaches it (John Kelly) is amazing and very well experienced in the industry: https://www.weber.edu/automotive/j_kelly.html https://www.weber.edu/automotive/j_kelly.html
test1235 3y ago
This is just an advert, right?
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
bluetomcat 3y ago
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.
- fl7305 3y ago
  I went from zero knowledge to changing my timing belt with the aid of the mfg manuals and YouTube videos. A general series like this really helps putting individual YT videos into context. A YT video on changing the timing belt might show me all the steps, but not how the engine internals look and what "interfering" means.
  - bluetomcat 3y ago
    You can do many small repairs and maintenance activities without much specialised tools and equipment, but to confidently disassemble and rebuild engines, fuel and exhaust systems, body parts, driveline components, etc., requires more than a few hours of videos.
    - dsfyu404ed 3y ago
      Everyone's first time with each of those subjects is prefaced by "a few hours of video" (or equivalent). Nobody goes from doing nothing to doing everything in one go. It's the sum of many iterations of education then experience on many smaller subjects.
    - technothrasher 3y ago
      It does require more than a few hours, but certainly starting with a few hours of video to understand the basics of automotive engineering is incredibly useful when you want to learn to fix cars. I taught myself years ago starting with a basic Time-Life book and worked my way up to factory technical manuals and research papers. I learned the theory first from books and then the practical later by getting my hands dirty and eventually being mentored by others who knew what they were doing. What I discovered from this path is that many of the mechanics out there have never really learned the first part, and while they're good at repairing what they know, they get stumped when they actually have to diagnose something new because they do not understand the underlying theory.
nitin87 3y ago
just a promotional video . make it free that would work ....
- ofrzeta 3y ago
  Why not pay 20 bucks to an indy content creator?
  - Dah00n 3y ago
    Nothing wrong with paying but if you have to pay then why is it here? Then it is just an advertisement on HN.
    - amelius 3y ago
      This reminds me of the Apple adverts that get posted on HN whenever they have a new product. Why is that "ok", and this isn't?
    - turing_complete 3y ago
      You could say the same about any software tool or company shared here.
    - joshvm 3y ago
      Lots of posts on HackerNews are adverts. That's what the "Show" tag is (partly) for. People aren't sharing their startups on here out of altruism, they want signups and conversions to paying customers. This isn't a show post, because the author didn't post it, and I don't think it's astroturfing. There are also plenty of posts for things that you can buy, because we (as hackers) think they're interesting. I think that kind of targeted advertising is OK. On pricing, compare this to how much people charge for programming courses and textbooks. Not unusual for people to upwards of $200 ("Best Value!") for an ebook and some sample code. I have no idea who buys those, but presumably the payback is good enough and maybe for professional development it's worth it. For 14 hours of professionally produced content, even if incomplete, 22 Euros a great deal.
    - inconceivable 3y ago
mellosouls 3y ago
Looks like just an advert but there is what looks like sample content (or at least sample quality) on his YouTube channel here: https://youtube.com/@howacarworks https://youtube.com/@howacarworks Enthusiastic feedback in some of the video comments.
benoliver999 3y ago
I paid for these and found it really interesting and well made. However, there have not been any new videos for a while, and there are some glaring bits that need covering (gearbox? suspension?).
- AlexMuir 3y ago
  Loads to do! I am working on it. I have a pot of money set aside from the sales and my plan is to hire a production company and rattle through it in one long shoot, rather than do one video at a time and then do all the production.
AlexMuir 3y ago
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 but I'm not there yet. Babylon JS is amazing though. EDIT: I'll throw down some random notes because I've never really talked about this: - I've learned a LOT over the three years since I made these videos - about cars, life, boats, love, fabrication, quaternions and myself. - I made these videos in a backstreet garage in Budapest. A personal situation arose and I left Hungary and tried to get going again back in the UK. - I built a new garage/studio in the UK and kitted it all out in preparation. - Then lockdown struck and I had to get involved in a real-world business that I co-owned. The people who did my video production couldn't travel, and when they could, the UK had become so difficult that they had no desire to stay. So I had to find a new team which wasn't easy. - I also had to rebuild my own life and that took a lot of time and effort. I didn't have the energy to go back into videos - it's something that I did at a certain time of my life, and I knew that I needed to be stronger to revisit it or I would risk my own happiness. - I feel a combination of emotions - I am immensely proud of what we achieved with this, and I'm embarrassed by my failure to finish it. That said, I don't think I've ever been more excited by this project. Edit 2: Go and watch Tim Hunkin's Secret Life of... series @ https://www.youtube.com/@timhunkin1 https://www.youtube.com/@timhunkin1 You'll be glad you did!
- tclancy 3y ago
  This is exactly what I've been looking for. Purchased! One request if you get time/ it's easy: can you add a Chromecast option to the mobile app? At least on iOS I don't see an option.
  - AlexMuir 3y ago
    Yes - I’ll move he videos across to Mux’s native player soon and that will provide what you need!
- devnullbrain 3y ago
tyronehed 3y ago
[dead]
ughitsaaron 3y ago
A bit unrelated, but I’m curious if others had small engines or auto shop classes offered in their high schools?
- nbar1 3y ago
  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.
  - kube-system 3y ago
    Unfortunately in my experience these are seen as something for 'non-college track' students and not part of a well rounded education.
climb_stealth 3y ago
Oh wow, this looks really good! Just preordered as I have been meaning to learn more and I like your style from the video. No rush though in finishing it all. Some questions if I may ask: Is it possible to order the How A Car Works pdf in print? Also did you actually write all of it? It looks like an old fashioned instruction manual. You know one of the good ones that explain concepts well. I only read a few pages and love the style. I'm glad this popped up on hn!
eggfriedrice 3y ago
OMG, I had no idea Tim Hunkin was churning out YouTube videos these days! I was exactly the right age to appreciate the Secret Life of Machines, and it looks like I have several hours of quality stuff to watch there.
aynyc 3y ago
Is there an equivalent but focus on maintenance? Going from windshield wiper changes, to oil/fuid changes to advanced (brake pad inspection, changes).
- HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
  The thing with maintenance is that it tends to be very vehicle-specific. e.g., the procedure for removing brake pads, while generally similar, can have points where if you don't do it exactly right for that particular vehicle, will break something. I find that vehicle model-specific forums are really helpful for this kind of thing. And many times the posters themselves have made videos of the process.
efortis 3y ago
Startup idea: - Crawl the nhtsa.gov technical bulletins (manufacturer communications [pdfs]) - Make them searchable (good enough) - Some AI (optional) --- What for? For example, the mechanic or used car buyer searches for: `Oil leak S5 2019` Response: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10155709-9999.pdf https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10155709-9999.pdf
- teacpde 3y ago
  Seems like Google is already capable of that?
  - efortis 3y ago
    Only with PDFs that have been exposed on another website. Why? Inspect the network traffic when expanding an `nhsta` item, and notice that it requests `api.nhsta.gov/...` for the PDF link.
pwillia7 3y ago
OK you got me because I too have an mx5 21 and want to know more about how it works
nbar1 3y ago
Multiple people are saying it's $20 but I see it as $25. Did Alex change the price due to this post gaining traction?
- AlexMuir 3y ago
  It was $20 when I first started and about three years ago I put the price to $25 because I felt like I’d made a lot of progress. That’s the last time it changed.
  - nbar1 3y ago
    Got ya, I bought it. I have wrenched before on cars and bikes but it's a fair value to increase my knowledge.
chefandy 3y ago
I'm curious if anybody would be interested in this sort of cliff's notes breakdown of any other mechanical engineering topic? My dad's a retired mechanical engineer and many of my cousins are also mechanical engineers. I'm media savvy. Should I prompt them to doing something like this? Auto engineering seems much more broadly appealing than, say, fluid dynamics in ventilation systems. Maybe more youtube-channel-level appealing than pay-for-lifetime-access appealing?
- smokelegend 3y ago
  Yes, and yes, there's an argument to be made that if something shows up on HN and it's engineering related, it's going to attract a certain amount of eyeballs... "if you build it, they will come"
swimfar 3y ago
Somewhat related, there's a series of German videos made for kids that show how a car is manufactured. It's mostly the bodywork and assembly, not engine stuff, but it's still a good overview. If you're interested in this stuff, it could be worth watching, even if you don't understand German. Autobau Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVNX--ROvtU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVNX--ROvtU Autobau Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on-PhI5Rlyc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on-PhI5Rlyc Autobau Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeqY03HUmlU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeqY03HUmlU Autobau Part 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3cpM6jbqNA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3cpM6jbqNA
greenie_beans 3y ago
sick. i've been wanting to learn about engines. seems like a better use of my time than learning how to code better with the impending ai job displacement!

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

For $20. > Will this course teach me to fix my car? > I am asked this a lot. If you just want to fix one thing on a car then you don't need to understand automotive engineering or how things work. You can find videos on YouTube that will show you almost any repair, and you just follow those videos. But if you want to be able to diagnose and fix any car, any engine without spending hours Googling then you want a deep understanding of car mechanics.

moffkalast 3y ago
Why spend hours Googling when I can just ask the latest version of GPT in <current year> and it'll tell me how to work the problem and diagnose it.
- Reason077 3y ago
  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.
  - tyronehed 3y ago
    [dead]
  - dsfyu404ed 3y ago
    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 "average google result" answer is not the correct answer or there is situational circumstances that make the generic answer inappropriate. Sure you might get an "expert" answer on Reddit and GPT might scan over the "right" answer to your question in its computation but in most cases the generically correct but wrong in this instance answer is going to be more popular and more prolific and be what gets spit back at you and it'll be faster for you to just dig up the right answer yourself than coax the right answer out of whatever you're asking.
    - HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
      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.
      - dsfyu404ed 3y ago
        >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.
  - ljf 3y ago
    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 miles out to sea (where a windfarm is) telling me that the sea is only 2 to 10 meters deep there, and safe to snorkel. This is not true, and it would be a very dangerous place to snorkel there. But its confidence was scary.
    - moffkalast 3y ago
      Well why don't you tell me about the hiking trails around my house? Oh you don't know them? It's too specific information and you couldn't possibly know that? Ah interesting... The trick is to ask it only things that are both physically possible and also possible for it to actually know or provide the required extra context from which to deduce the answer. Otherwise it acts not unlike someone pushed against a wall by a guy with a knife demanding info it just doesn't have. It'll say anything.
      - ljf 3y ago
        With prompting it knew about the snorkel trail here (it is well documented online and in local media) but blended facts about the snorkel trail, with facts about the local windfarm. Some sponsorship from the windfarm had gone into promoting the snorkel trail, which may have led to the confusion for the model, but they are two very different things in different locations.
      - LastTrain 3y ago
        That is like asking for travel tips from someone that has never been there.
      - pedrosorio 3y ago
        What they won't do is pretend they know about them, including mentioning the names of the trails, while mixing up which trails are strenuous and easy while sounding 100% confident.
  - moffkalast 3y ago
    True, but anything it says is generally easy to verify before you do something stupid. And for things as common and relatively standardized as cars I would expect it to do very well.
    - lezojeda 3y ago
      But if you add the verification to the asking process you might as well just skip GPT altogether... It becomes a waste of time asking if you have to check every thing you ask it.
- ly3xqhl8g9 3y ago
  "Never spend 6 minutes doing something by hand when you can spend 6 hours failing to automate it" [1] becomes 'never spend 6 minutes searching for something when you can spend 6 hours arguing with ChatGPT on the nature of truth'. [2] [1] Zhuowei Zhang, https://twitter.com/zhuowei/status/1254266079532154880?lang=en https://twitter.com/zhuowei/status/1254266079532154880?lang=... [2] Incidentally, great book, The Nature of Truth, Second Edition, Classic and Contemporary Perspectives https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262542067/the-nature-of-truth https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262542067/the-nature-of-truth
- ca_tech 3y ago
  In this case, I paid for the course which includes a PDF. Using Bing I can query the document and get summary information along with page number references. Only a matter of time until we can do the same query for a site and get video timestamps. I don't expect GPT to act like an oracle, but I do expect that it will function as a curator and cataloger of content.

Eldar_ 3y ago

Would be nice to have similar course for EV

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
martin_a 3y ago
Are you looking into fixing the drivetrain or the "car stuff" around that? I'd rather not fiddle around with the 400 V system of my EV, but I think most of the other things are still the same.
- pornel 3y ago
  There's an aura of mystery around EVs (e.g. people assume they're all some self-driving black box magic), so it may be useful to teach how they work even if people aren't going to do DIY repairs.
- Reason077 3y ago
  Any similar course for EVs would start with high-voltage safety. If you're doing any high-voltage work, you'd start by physically isolating the high-voltage battery from the rest of the car by pulling the main isolation fuse. Then, you'd check everything with a voltage detector just to be absolutely sure. And you'd wear electrical insulating gloves whenever touching anything that could potentially be live. All high-voltage components in your EV are well protected and clearly marked in bright orange: there isn't much danger of accidentally running in to them when working on anything else.
kotaKat 3y ago
Not to steal thunder from the OP site but WeberAuto has amazing YouTube videos on a LOT of EVs, systems, transaxles, motors, gearboxes, and everything. https://www.youtube.com/@WeberAuto https://www.youtube.com/@WeberAuto The professor that teaches it (John Kelly) is amazing and very well experienced in the industry: https://www.weber.edu/automotive/j_kelly.html https://www.weber.edu/automotive/j_kelly.html

test1235 3y ago

This is just an advert, right?

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

bluetomcat 3y ago

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.

fl7305 3y ago
I went from zero knowledge to changing my timing belt with the aid of the mfg manuals and YouTube videos. A general series like this really helps putting individual YT videos into context. A YT video on changing the timing belt might show me all the steps, but not how the engine internals look and what "interfering" means.
- bluetomcat 3y ago
  You can do many small repairs and maintenance activities without much specialised tools and equipment, but to confidently disassemble and rebuild engines, fuel and exhaust systems, body parts, driveline components, etc., requires more than a few hours of videos.
  - dsfyu404ed 3y ago
    Everyone's first time with each of those subjects is prefaced by "a few hours of video" (or equivalent). Nobody goes from doing nothing to doing everything in one go. It's the sum of many iterations of education then experience on many smaller subjects.
  - technothrasher 3y ago
    It does require more than a few hours, but certainly starting with a few hours of video to understand the basics of automotive engineering is incredibly useful when you want to learn to fix cars. I taught myself years ago starting with a basic Time-Life book and worked my way up to factory technical manuals and research papers. I learned the theory first from books and then the practical later by getting my hands dirty and eventually being mentored by others who knew what they were doing. What I discovered from this path is that many of the mechanics out there have never really learned the first part, and while they're good at repairing what they know, they get stumped when they actually have to diagnose something new because they do not understand the underlying theory.

nitin87 3y ago

just a promotional video . make it free that would work ....

ofrzeta 3y ago
Why not pay 20 bucks to an indy content creator?
- Dah00n 3y ago
  Nothing wrong with paying but if you have to pay then why is it here? Then it is just an advertisement on HN.
  - amelius 3y ago
    This reminds me of the Apple adverts that get posted on HN whenever they have a new product. Why is that "ok", and this isn't?
  - turing_complete 3y ago
    You could say the same about any software tool or company shared here.
  - joshvm 3y ago
    Lots of posts on HackerNews are adverts. That's what the "Show" tag is (partly) for. People aren't sharing their startups on here out of altruism, they want signups and conversions to paying customers. This isn't a show post, because the author didn't post it, and I don't think it's astroturfing. There are also plenty of posts for things that you can buy, because we (as hackers) think they're interesting. I think that kind of targeted advertising is OK. On pricing, compare this to how much people charge for programming courses and textbooks. Not unusual for people to upwards of $200 ("Best Value!") for an ebook and some sample code. I have no idea who buys those, but presumably the payback is good enough and maybe for professional development it's worth it. For 14 hours of professionally produced content, even if incomplete, 22 Euros a great deal.
  - inconceivable 3y ago

mellosouls 3y ago

Looks like just an advert but there is what looks like sample content (or at least sample quality) on his YouTube channel here: https://youtube.com/@howacarworks https://youtube.com/@howacarworks Enthusiastic feedback in some of the video comments.

benoliver999 3y ago

I paid for these and found it really interesting and well made. However, there have not been any new videos for a while, and there are some glaring bits that need covering (gearbox? suspension?).

AlexMuir 3y ago
Loads to do! I am working on it. I have a pot of money set aside from the sales and my plan is to hire a production company and rattle through it in one long shoot, rather than do one video at a time and then do all the production.

AlexMuir 3y ago

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 but I'm not there yet. Babylon JS is amazing though. EDIT: I'll throw down some random notes because I've never really talked about this: - I've learned a LOT over the three years since I made these videos - about cars, life, boats, love, fabrication, quaternions and myself. - I made these videos in a backstreet garage in Budapest. A personal situation arose and I left Hungary and tried to get going again back in the UK. - I built a new garage/studio in the UK and kitted it all out in preparation. - Then lockdown struck and I had to get involved in a real-world business that I co-owned. The people who did my video production couldn't travel, and when they could, the UK had become so difficult that they had no desire to stay. So I had to find a new team which wasn't easy. - I also had to rebuild my own life and that took a lot of time and effort. I didn't have the energy to go back into videos - it's something that I did at a certain time of my life, and I knew that I needed to be stronger to revisit it or I would risk my own happiness. - I feel a combination of emotions - I am immensely proud of what we achieved with this, and I'm embarrassed by my failure to finish it. That said, I don't think I've ever been more excited by this project. Edit 2: Go and watch Tim Hunkin's Secret Life of... series @ https://www.youtube.com/@timhunkin1 https://www.youtube.com/@timhunkin1 You'll be glad you did!

tclancy 3y ago
This is exactly what I've been looking for. Purchased! One request if you get time/ it's easy: can you add a Chromecast option to the mobile app? At least on iOS I don't see an option.
- AlexMuir 3y ago
  Yes - I’ll move he videos across to Mux’s native player soon and that will provide what you need!
devnullbrain 3y ago

tyronehed 3y ago

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ughitsaaron 3y ago

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

nbar1 3y ago
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.
- kube-system 3y ago
  Unfortunately in my experience these are seen as something for 'non-college track' students and not part of a well rounded education.

climb_stealth 3y ago

Oh wow, this looks really good! Just preordered as I have been meaning to learn more and I like your style from the video. No rush though in finishing it all. Some questions if I may ask: Is it possible to order the How A Car Works pdf in print? Also did you actually write all of it? It looks like an old fashioned instruction manual. You know one of the good ones that explain concepts well. I only read a few pages and love the style. I'm glad this popped up on hn!

eggfriedrice 3y ago

OMG, I had no idea Tim Hunkin was churning out YouTube videos these days! I was exactly the right age to appreciate the Secret Life of Machines, and it looks like I have several hours of quality stuff to watch there.

aynyc 3y ago

Is there an equivalent but focus on maintenance? Going from windshield wiper changes, to oil/fuid changes to advanced (brake pad inspection, changes).

HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
The thing with maintenance is that it tends to be very vehicle-specific. e.g., the procedure for removing brake pads, while generally similar, can have points where if you don't do it exactly right for that particular vehicle, will break something. I find that vehicle model-specific forums are really helpful for this kind of thing. And many times the posters themselves have made videos of the process.

efortis 3y ago

Startup idea: - Crawl the nhtsa.gov technical bulletins (manufacturer communications [pdfs]) - Make them searchable (good enough) - Some AI (optional) --- What for? For example, the mechanic or used car buyer searches for: `Oil leak S5 2019` Response: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10155709-9999.pdf https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10155709-9999.pdf

teacpde 3y ago
Seems like Google is already capable of that?
- efortis 3y ago
  Only with PDFs that have been exposed on another website. Why? Inspect the network traffic when expanding an `nhsta` item, and notice that it requests `api.nhsta.gov/...` for the PDF link.

pwillia7 3y ago

OK you got me because I too have an mx5 21 and want to know more about how it works

nbar1 3y ago

Multiple people are saying it's $20 but I see it as $25. Did Alex change the price due to this post gaining traction?

AlexMuir 3y ago
It was $20 when I first started and about three years ago I put the price to $25 because I felt like I’d made a lot of progress. That’s the last time it changed.
- nbar1 3y ago
  Got ya, I bought it. I have wrenched before on cars and bikes but it's a fair value to increase my knowledge.

chefandy 3y ago

I'm curious if anybody would be interested in this sort of cliff's notes breakdown of any other mechanical engineering topic? My dad's a retired mechanical engineer and many of my cousins are also mechanical engineers. I'm media savvy. Should I prompt them to doing something like this? Auto engineering seems much more broadly appealing than, say, fluid dynamics in ventilation systems. Maybe more youtube-channel-level appealing than pay-for-lifetime-access appealing?

smokelegend 3y ago
Yes, and yes, there's an argument to be made that if something shows up on HN and it's engineering related, it's going to attract a certain amount of eyeballs... "if you build it, they will come"

swimfar 3y ago

Somewhat related, there's a series of German videos made for kids that show how a car is manufactured. It's mostly the bodywork and assembly, not engine stuff, but it's still a good overview. If you're interested in this stuff, it could be worth watching, even if you don't understand German. Autobau Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVNX--ROvtU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVNX--ROvtU Autobau Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on-PhI5Rlyc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on-PhI5Rlyc Autobau Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeqY03HUmlU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeqY03HUmlU Autobau Part 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3cpM6jbqNA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3cpM6jbqNA

greenie_beans 3y ago

sick. i've been wanting to learn about engines. seems like a better use of my time than learning how to code better with the impending ai job displacement!