The first test session on the road to ASE World Class is in the books. I took T1 (medium/heavy truck gasoline engines) and T2 (medium/heavy truck diesel engines) back to back. The detailed score reports are in, and they say a lot about how these tests are weighted — and about how decades in the bay won't carry you through the mechanical fundamentals.

T1 gasoline: the mechanical fundamentals bite

T1 requires a 32 to pass. I scored 41 out of 50, which is a comfortable margin. Electrical, fluid systems, and computerized engine controls were a clean sweep.

The surprise was how deep T1 goes into block casting, machining detail, and the tolerances specific to cast-in sleeve designs. I took 1 out of 4 on Engine Block Diagnosis and 2 out of 4 on Cylinder Head and Valve Train.

If you're prepping for T1, don't skip the mechanical fundamentals.

T2 diesel: fuel systems carry the test

T2 requires a 34 out of 55 questions. I scored 48. The engine block section went the other direction here — 4 out of 5 — but ASE skews this test hard toward one category.

Category F, Fuel System Diagnosis and Repair, is 16 of the 55 scored questions. Nearly a third of the exam. Modern electronic injection behavior is where the study time belongs: high-pressure common rail, electronic unit injectors, and hydraulic electronic unit injectors.

Taking them back to back

Two tests in one session is 105 scored questions plus the unscored research questions. Somewhere around question 70, fatigue showed up and I started second-guessing diagnostic pathways I'd have called instantly in the bay.

Take the break between exams. Leave the testing room. Your brain needs the reset to switch from gasoline emissions to diesel engine brakes.

What's next

Two down, 12 to go. Long-form study guide videos for both T1 and T2 drop mid-next week, including the exact resources I used. Subscribe to catch those, and drop your T1 and T2 prep questions in the comments.