Bon jou from Jacmel, Haiti!

Greetings all.

I'm probably an odd-ball here, but I'm an electrical engineer from Johnstown, PA that is approaching 9 years as a resident of Haiti.
I'm not much of a mechanic, but I find myself in the role because of the lack of reliable technicians in our area. Most "mechanics" down here have learned exclusively through an apprenticeship with another self-trained mechanic. They tend to be serviceable on older systems, including vacuum based transmissions and carburated engines, but most don't even own a basic OBDII scanner.

I want to teach them, as well as fix our own ministry vehicles, so I'm going to work my way through the youtube videos and buy the book when I get the chance, but I'm also sure the forum will be a big help.

As a special challenge, our island will be a mix of US-market and foreign-market vehicles, like the 4 cylinder, 4 door, For Ranger Diesel that has been the best selling truck for several years down here.

I'll be starting by looking through what tools I need to gather to get a proper shop set up down here.
So far, we've been a metalworking, electical, and sometimes carpentry shop, but the mechanics end is still shaping up.

And, though I doubt anything will come of it, if anyone ever gets an itch to come to Haiti for a week, a couple weeks, a month, or whatever to teach mechanics work to a bunch of young men desperate for decent training, I have a place for you

God Bless,
Travis Knipple
www.f1engineering.org

P.S. Our current fleet it:
1999 Chevy 3500 dually, 5.7L
2000 Isuzu Trooper, 3.4L(?) V6
2002 Ford F150 5.4L
2003 Nissan Frontier V6
But we also let our whole community use our shop, so there will be many other random vehicles showing up too.

Welcome good to have you on the forum there are a fair number of members on the forum working in more difficult locations with limited facilities, modern high tech produces special challenges perating away from its home market.

Sounds great. I would love to learn from others who have walked the road of diagnostics in a remote environment

welcome we have a good number of great people here glad to see we added another

Welcome to the community

Welcome! Thanks for joining