Call a local auto shop or just drop by and ask if you can talk to someone about being a mechanic. Be ready to ask questions, like what someone who wants to work in this field should do to get started.

Interview a mechanic.

Try these quick projects from Khan Academy that you can do at home. Build a simple motor, a ping pong ball launcher, or something else from the list!

Develop mechanics knowledge with hands-on projects!

Outboard motors brought the same freedom to boats that gas engines brought to cars. Read an article to learn how outboard motors work to make boats go!

Discover how outboard motors work.

Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians

Repair and adjust electrical and mechanical equipment of inboard or inboard-outboard boat engines.

Work involves designing, building, or repairing of equipment, materials, or structures, engaging in physical activity, or working outdoors. Realistic occupations are often associated with engineering, mechanics and electronics, construction, woodworking, transportation, machine operation, agriculture, animal services, physical or manual labor, athletics, or protective services.

Realistic

Work involves following procedures and regulations to organize information or data, typically in a business setting. Conventional occupations are often associated with office work, accounting, mathematics/statistics, information technology, finance, or human resources.

Conventional

Work involves studying and researching non-living objects, living organisms, disease or other forms of impairment, or human behavior. Investigative occupations are often associated with physical, life, medical, or social sciences, and can be found in the fields of humanities, mathematics/statistics, information technology, or health care service.

Investigative

Work involves managing, negotiating, marketing, or selling, typically in a business setting, or leading or advising people in political and legal situations. Enterprising occupations are often associated with business initiatives, sales, marketing/advertising, finance, management/administration, professional advising, public speaking, politics, or law.

Enterprising

Work involves helping, teaching, advising, assisting, or providing service to others. Social occupations are often associated with social, health care, personal service, teaching/education, or religious activities.

Social

Work involves creating original visual artwork, performances, written works, food, or music for a variety of media, or applying artistic principles to the design of various objects and materials. Artistic occupations are often associated with visual arts, applied arts and design, performing arts, music, creative writing, media, or culinary art.

Artistic

Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed

Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.

Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.

Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.

Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.

Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.

Controlling operations of equipment or systems.

Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.

Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.

Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.

Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.

Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

Small Engine Mechanics

Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations

Vehicle and Mobile Equipment Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers

Start motors and monitor performance for signs of malfunctioning, such as smoke, excessive vibration, or misfiring.

Document inspection and test results and work performed or to be performed.

Mount motors to boats, and operate boats at various speeds on waterways to conduct operational tests.

Repair engine mechanical equipment, such as power tilts, bilge pumps, or power take-offs.

Perform routine engine maintenance on motorboats, such as changing oil and filters.

Replace parts, such as gears, magneto points, piston rings, or spark plugs, and reassemble engines.

Idle motors and observe thermometers to determine the effectiveness of cooling systems.

Inspect and repair or adjust propellers or propeller shafts.

Adjust carburetor mixtures, electrical point settings, or timing while motors are running in water-filled test tanks.

Set starter locks and align and repair steering or throttle controls, using gauges, screwdrivers, or wrenches.

Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians

Overview

Career

What Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians Do

Other Job Titles Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians May Have

Tasks & Responsibilities May Include

Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians

Overview

Career

What Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians Do

Other Job Titles Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians May Have

Tasks & Responsibilities May Include

Education

Level of Education Attained by Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians

Majors Related to Career

Related Careers

Related Leaders