Photo by Bill Green Josh Colson has worked as an auto mechanic on all makes and models of cars and now works for Spectra Auto Services on East Street.

"A broken wire is really hard to find," he said Friday. "You have to get a wire diagram. Follow it. Scratch your head. Start digging."

One car he worked on had a problem with the seat. The power seat stopped working when the headlights turned on, Colson said. "It was pretty weird because they're not connected."

Colson tested the module computer that controlled the seat but didn't find anything.

"What it ended up being, the switch that moved the seat had a light in it to backlight it," he said. "The ground wire for that light was broken."

Colson, 28, is a fully certified mechanic who works for Spectra Auto Services on East Street in Frederick . His work space has two lifts and every fluid under the hood.

He moved to Frederick after graduating from Harrisburg Area Community College in 2001, he said. He grew up in a townhouse in Thurmont . At 14, he moved with his family to Fairfield, Pa., and graduated from Fairfield High School in 1999.

As a child, the mechanics of his toys fascinated him, but he never did a lot with engines until he went to college, he said.

"No one in my family is a mechanic," he said. "I picked the career out of a college career guide."

Now, he is the mechanic relatives call when they have engine failures. He tries to limit his help to immediate family, he said.