A Hand Full of Wrenches: Mastering Mechanical Systems Non Visually

I have roughly 20 years of mechanical experience. I've worked around engines large and small, generators, construction equipment, large jet boats and agricultural implements. By age eight I could explain the basic principles of the internal combustion engine. Four years later, maintaining my father's ranching equipment became a standard after-school chore, along with feeding the livestock and gathering firewood. During high school most of the "gear heads," in my class were familiar with auto makers such as Ford, GM, Dodge, Toyota and Honda. I however, learned to work on such brands as Case, International Harvester, Caterpillar, Detroit, Cummins, John Deer, Four Wheel Drive CO (FWD)and the commercial versions of Ford, GM and Dodge. I was responsible for checking and maintaining drivetrain fluid levels, changing oil, replacing fuel filters, charging batteries, greasing Zerk fittings, changing tires, and the occasional removal and replacement of something more challenging, such as a hydraulic pump. Like most things in my life, I came up with many non visual methods for the safe maintenance and operation of this equipment. checking fluids: Engine oil, transmission fluid and anything else measured with a stick was relatively easy to accomplish. Most dipsticks have either two raised dots or notches pressed into the metal. Hey, what do you know? I'm good with feeling dots! The dot closest to the bottom of the stick (or end farthest from the handle) is the "add fluid mark." The dot three or four inches up the stick is the "full mark." I feel for the full mark with one finger, then with the other I gently feel for the liquid. I have to be delicate or my finger could accidentally remove the liquid on the stick, which would give an inaccurate reading. I repeat this process once or twice more to ensure I'm getting consistent readings. Engine coolant is the easiest fluid to check. I employ what I call the "pointer finger test." I remove the radiator cap and stick my pointer finger into the opening. If my finger touches coolant, there's enough; if I can't feel it I add coolant by the quart. The most challenging fluids to measure are fuel and gear grease. Fuel is of course stored in a tank and measured by a gage. I resort to an old-school method of knocking on the tank. I start at the top and listen for the sound to change. If the tank echoes, it's at least partially empty; if the tank has a more dead, non-reverberating sound, it is full or contains some fuel. The point at which the echoing of my knuckles wrapping on the tank change from reverberation to a dampened, dense sound is roughly the level of the fuel. (give or take a couple of gallons). I sometimes use a stick to check fuel levels, but it depends on how long and what shape the fill tube is. Gear grease is the hardest and most messiest thing to measure. Unlike other fluids it is injected into specific moving parts via a small (about a half inch in diameter) tube called a zerk fitting. Sometimes I can tell if there is enough grease by the amount of it I feel splattered around the fitting. Other times I have to use my keen sense of hearing to listen for unusual sounds of the machine during startup. A more accurate method is to take note of how often the equipment is used and follow the manual's suggestions for greasing. The Handling of Fluids: I've gotten really good at pouring liquids in large quantities, and I've also gotten really good at cleaning up messes. haha Heavy duty mechanical fluids such as engine and hydraulic oil, hydraulic fluid and engine coolant often come in five gallon containers because of the large size of the vehicle they are going into. A funnel and a one quart container were my best used tools wen measuring fluids. Like anything else practice brings success. Picture this: I've got four five gallon pales that all look and feel alike, how do I tell them apart? Remember in science class when the teacher taught you how to waft the smell of a chemical toward your nose? I employ the very same technique. Each fluid has a very unique smell, which I learned to memorize. Renches and other Tools: Simple, I feel them! I am unable to read the printed size stamped into the wrench. At first it was trial and error, I would feel the nut or bolt I was working with and try to find a similar sized wrench. Often times it would take three or four tries before I found the correct one. As I progressed, I began to mentally associate the size of the wrench relative to the size of the nut or bolt simply by feeling them both. I can't do it with every size, but I've got the more common one's down, such as 1/2 or 7/16 of an inch. Personally, I like metric sizes the best because a smaller number equals a smaller size. No trying to remember if a 1/2 inch wrench is larger or smaller than a 9/16 inch wrench. Sockets and screwdriver sizes are determined in the same fashion. Batteries: These are not your AA batteries that you put in your TV remote. Actually, one of those AA tubes is called a cell; notice how most of the time you need two? That's because for electricity to flow you need positive and negative circuits and terminals. Automotive batteries require some caution when working around them. Usually they are connected to the vehicle by two cables; a positive and negative. They are color-coded red for positive and black for negative. Hook them up backwards and you can potentially cause the battery to explode, or force the engine to turn in the opposite direction, which can cause problems. So naturally, working around batteries non visually posed some unique challenges. Fortunately, most batteries today have the positive sign (denoted by a +) and the negative sign (denoted as a -) embossed as raised signs. I simply have to feel for the raised signs to know which terminal is which. The battery cables too have their own unique tactual designations. Most of the time the positive cable has a slightly larger connection then the negative one. This is because the positive cable sends power to the vehicle's starter, while the negative cable acts as a grounding wire to complete the circuit. I can not claim that I learned everything I know about mechanical systems on my own. I come from a long line of mechanics, and most of what I know today was the result of my father including me in his work. He believes that I should be treated like anybody else and working around heavy equipment was no exception. He helped me to develop and refine my tactual workarounds, so it's him I thank for this wide body of knowledge. My interest in how things work started at a young age, and was a large motivator in me learning what I know about mechanical systems today. This post just scratches the surface; I think I could write a whole book on this topic.