REVVING UP FOR REPAIR CONTEST : AGOURA HIGH SENIORS STUDY FOR EVENT.Byline: Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writer Tuesday's torment for auto aces Steve Terry and David Rice involved a failing alternator alternator: see generator. alternator Source of direct electric current in modern vehicles for ignition, lights, fans, and other uses. The electric power is generated by an alternator mechanically coupled to the engine, with a rotor field coil and a malfunctioning mal·func·tion intr.v. mal·func·tioned, mal·func·tion·ing, mal·func·tions 1. To fail to function. 2. To function improperly. n. 1. Failure to function. 2. air conditioner. After a brief diagnosis under the Ford Contour The Ford Contour is a North American variant of the European Ford Mondeo sedan previously sold by Ford Motor Company. It was sold in North America from 1994 (as a 1995 model) through 2000. hood, the Agoura High School Agoura High School is a four-year high school, freshman-senior, in Agoura Hills, California, United States. It is the largest high school in the Las Virgenes Unified School District, with an enrollment of approximately 2,400 students. seniors replaced the main power fuse and reconnected the vacuum line - the latest bugs set by auto shop instructor Bob Anderson
Bob Anderson (b. 19 May 1931, Hendon, London - d. 14 August 1967, Northampton) was a Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and racecar driver from England. . ``He bugs the car and then torments us,'' Steve said after the latest practice session heading into Friday's state finals of the Student Auto Skills National Quality Care Challenge. Despite two years of auto shop under Anderson and countless hours after school working on cars, Steve and David said they still needed plenty of practice for the timed competition. ``They're pretty good cars. Everything's pretty easy,'' David said. ``What takes the time is diagnosing the problem.'' The Agoura team is competing against 29 others selected after a written test for the annual contest sponsored by the American Automobile Association American Automobile Association (AAA), federation of American automobile clubs, est. 1902. AAA provides a number of benefits to its members, including emergency road service; national and international travel assistance, e.g. and Ford Motor Co. Agoura is one of 15 teams competing at the Pomona Fairplex with another 15 teams competing at the same time Friday in San Jose San Jose, city, United States San Jose (sănəzā`, săn hōzā`), city (1990 pop. 782,248), seat of Santa Clara co., W central Calif.; founded 1777, inc. 1850. . Teams are given 90 minutes to repair a dozen tuning and electrical problems. The top finishers, though, often get the job done in 30 minutes or so. ``With this contest, you really see the cream of the crop,'' said Floyd Garrett, the Auto Club official overseeing the competition. California's top team will compete in the national finals in Washington, D.C., in June. The top team members from each state each receive a $3,000 scholarship. Garrett said the competition is intended to encourage high school seniors with automotive repair skills to enter training programs and consider a career as an automotive mechanic. ``The shade-tree mechanic can no longer work on today's cars,'' Garrett explained. ``They've really gone to electronics and computers, and unless you really understand electricity and mathematics, you're stuck replacing parts until you find the problem.'' Anderson said his two top student mechanics have enough experience with engines to do well both in the competition and in careers as mechanics. Steve, 18, and David, 17, already work part time at area auto garages. Both plan to complete an automotive training program at the Wyoming Technical Institute after graduating from Agoura this semester se·mes·ter n. One of two divisions of 15 to 18 weeks each of an academic year. [German, from Latin (cursus) s . ``Most of the guys that get this far in the competition, they've got the skills,'' Anderson said. ``They take a pretty tough written test to get in, and we're hoping to take first place.'' CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: (1--Color) John Anderson John Anderson may be: Science:
Bob Halvorsen/Special to the Daily News |
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