Video Games Can't Fix Your Car, But They Are Getting Better At Teaching You How Cars Are Put Together

Setting the scene, the non-car car YouTuber explained, "The reason why my car became a project car is because it can make oil vanish into thin air — which I did not know about when I got it. Now the engine makes really funny noises and the crankshaft pulley wobbles, and according to the internet [pauses for dramatic effect and typing noises] the engine is potentially fixable or probably very cooked. Out of pure ignorance we're going to try to fix it."

His first observation: "The engine is very engine." Most of his descriptions of things in the car, like referring to hoses and wires as "spaghetti," provide a decent indicator of just how little he might know going into this massive project. This is where "Wrench" came in.

"Wrench" allows gamers to get fairly close to the wrenching experience without actually getting oily and learning expensive mistakes on a real-life car. In TalksWithNoise's video, he was guided to purchase proper tools like a socket wrench and sockets — standard fare for getting this kind of project going. While attempting to remove bolts, the game forced him to try different socket sizes until he had the proper fitting one. It even lets you know the torque settings bolts should be tightened to, or loosened with. All of this was done without accidental oil spills, greasy hands, or a gallon of orange scrub at the sink waiting for you to wash it all off.

Now, TalkWithNoise's video game experience didn't directly translate part-for-part to his real-life project car. He does a great job editing the video to show viewers what he's learning in the game, and the next bit of what he did on his own broken car. It's not perfect, but by learning how to basically take apart a car in a game, the information was translating to real life, despite realizing the engine wasn't coming out (in the game) because he missed disconnecting the fuel hoses. He does learn that he should do a few extra checks to ensure he disconnects everything on the real-life motor before lifting it out of the engine bay. Good news is that he managed to remove the engine in both the game and in real life unscathed, before moving on to an engine teardown. For the uninitiated, that's just taking the engine apart.

The downfall to this approach, and the conclusion TalksWithNoise comes to, is that the video game can't teach you how to figure out what's wrong with your car. You'll understand how everything is meant to fit together, and come apart, but not how it works or how to diagnose it. Except maybe if there is a really obvious broken part. Alas, that's what internet search browsers, car-specific forums (like the Mercedes-Benz one I have saved for when I'm in a pinch on my own car), and YouTube is for. There's also always the option of calling up that more mechanically-inclined friend on speed-dial. 

Regardless, "Wrench" is a game that could help visual learners understand how cars are put together and how they work without having to invest in a pricey project car themselves. As someone who grew up in the household of a well-respected master mechanic, I never fully grasped the automotive literature explained to me throughout childhood. I've found that playing around with games like this (and playing around with the real thing) has helped immensely in my retaining that information, as well as better understanding cars altogether. Here's hoping something like this can help you or the ones in your life who want to learn more about cars, too.