Monday, February 2, 1998

Grease Monkeys

LIFESTYLE The Women's Resource Center puts together a forum for females to learn more about cars

By Rachel Munoz

Daily Bruin Staff

Did you know a front-wheel transmission pulls the car in the snow? Or that Coke takes the corrosive off a battery? And that too much anti-freeze can make a car overheat?

These were only a few of the automotive hints passed along to female students in a car maintenance workshop put on Saturday by the Women's Resource Center. The workshop was conducted by Rebekah Fleischaker, a Van Nuys mechanic who works in an all-male garage.

Looking at about 10 different cars, all of which belonged to workshop attendees, 24 women spilled out more automotive questions than new car buyers on a lot, asking about everything from distributor location to the best oil. (Fleischaker recommends Mobil.)

"It's good that she went from car to car," said Ronnie Jordan, a third-year English student. "By the eighth car you knew what you were looking at." For somebody that had never looked under the hood, Jordan now feels secure in the ability to check things out for herself.

Fleischaker taught the class some basic maintenance. To keep a car's engine free of dust and grime, she said, always keep the fuel tank at least one-quarter full.

It's important to keep a car's engine clean, she continued, because dirt acts as an insulator, keeping excess heat in the engine.

Tips like these received warm responses from avid listeners, like public health student Jennifer Musick, who says she knew virtually nothing about cars before coming to this workshop.

"I've always wanted to know more about what is going on," she said. "I learned a lot."

Outside of identifying the different components of an engine or learning how to change a tire, the material was taught in a special way.

"I thought Rebekah was great, very informative and patient," Musick said. "It was woman to woman. You didn't feel intimidated at all."

Fleischaker warned her pupils about the dangers of being uninformed. Women between 19 and 35 years old get ripped off when they take their cars to automotive repair shops, she said.

Her word of advice: "Be smart, get a second or third opinion."

Fleischaker, a female mechanic who works in a shop with five men, has been getting her hands dirty for 12 years.

"I got out of the service and needed my truck fixed," Fleischaker said of her beginnings as a mechanic. She started working in a Florida shop just answering the phones and making coffee. Two weeks later she was bored and wanted to learn how to work on the cars. With help from her boss after work, and by reading plenty of books at home, Fleischaker found her profession.

She began teaching college students about cars while she was still in Florida. "I had huge classes," Fleischaker said.

Even though Fleischaker packed a guidebook full of information into three hours, her students didn't yet feel like kings (or queens) of the road.

"It is something that you can't take in all in a day," said Aine Yung, a second-year biochemistry student. "I think that we need a checklist of how often to do certain things to your car. And a diagram would be nice."

And in those inevitable moments when a driver finds her car misbehaving, Fleishchaker said, remember to vocalize.

You should always try to imitate the noises your car makes to a mechanic, she said, demonstrating some of those squeaking and rattling sounds to her audience.

Even with so much information, students agreed that they would definitely recommend the class.

"It's good for everybody, not just girls," Jordan said. "Guys don't know what they are doing either."

photos by JAMIE SCANLON-JACOBS/Daily Bruin

(above) Rebekah Fleischaker instructs students on car maintenance during an event sponsored by the Women's Resource Center on Saturday.