Diesel TechnologyAS DegreeCertificate of Achievement
- Community of interest
- Industrial Technologies & Agriculture
- Award
- AS Degree
- Program code
- 38059.01AS
- Department
- Diesel Tech
- CIP code
- 47.0605: Diesel Mechanics Technology/Technician.
- TOP code
- 0947.00 - Diesel Technology*
Program detailsAward, code, department, CIP/TOP
Program Snapshot
- Community of interest
- ITAG Industrial Technologies & Agriculture
- Award
- AS Degree
- Program code
- 38059.01AS
- Department
- Diesel Tech
- CIP code
- 47.0605: Diesel Mechanics Technology/Technician.
- TOP code
- 0947.00 - Diesel Technology*
Next Steps
AS Degree — expand to learn about this award
The Associate of Science is typically awarded for Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) and Career Technical Education (CTE) programs. Like every Butte College associate degree, it has two parts: a general-education curriculum that gives you a broad base of knowledge, and an academic program where you specialize.
About General Education. GE is an integrated program of learning designed to foster intellectual curiosity, cultural understanding, critical thinking, creative reasoning, oral and written communication, and the capacity for ethical reasoning. By graduation, you'll have developed the ability to think critically, communicate clearly, apply quantitative reasoning, understand how the major academic disciplines ask their questions, comprehend diverse cultures and historical periods, and assess ethical problems — alongside the depth you build in your major.
Semester-by-Semester Map
Term 1
Class Schedules
course details
This course introduces the theory, operation, and repair in the areas of electrical/electronic systems. Battery function and diagnosis are covered. Topics also include vehicle lighting systems, starting and charging systems, and supplemental restraint systems of a modern vehicle.
Prerequisite: AUT 3 (or concurrent enrollment)
course details
In this course students will develop and demonstrate the hands-on skills needed to repair automotive electrical/electronic systems. Topics include verification, diagnosis and repair of vehicle charging and starting systems, lighting systems, and supplemental restraint systems.
Prerequisite: AUT 3 (or concurrent enrollment)
course details
This course introduces the theory, operation, diagnosis and repair in the areas of base brake systems, anti-lock brake systems, and steering and suspension systems. Topics include: the application of Pascal's Law, disk and drum brake systems and their related components, drum brake systems, anti-lock brake system operation, diagnosis and repair, suspension system operation, diagnosis and repair including electronic suspension and steering systems.
Prerequisite: AUT 3 (or concurrent enrollment)
course details
In this course students will develop and demonstrate the hands-on skills needed to verify, diagnose and repair vehicle systems, sub systems, and components. Topics include: brake systems including both drum and disc brake systems, Anti-lock Brake Systems (ABS), steering and suspension systems, and electronic steering and suspension systems.
Prerequisite: AUT 3 (or concurrent enrollment)
General Education: Area 1A
about Area 1A
English Composition
Baccalaureate-level academic writing — expository and argumentative. The foundation for every other course you'll write in.
Term 2
Class Schedules
course details
This course covers the operation, design, construction, fault diagnosis, service and repair procedures of the internal combustion engine.
Prerequisite: AUT 3 (or concurrent enrollment)
course details
In this course students will develop and demonstrate the hands-on skills needed to repair the internal combustion engine and related components. Students will learn the proper use of hand and power tools and test equipment used in the automotive industry.
Prerequisite: AUT 3 (or concurrent enrollment)
course details
In this course students study the theory and principles of operation of automotive Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems as well as engine cooling system operation and repair. Basic laws of heat transfer, refrigeration and compression/expansion of liquid/vapor are introduced.
Prerequisite: AUT 3 (or concurrent enrollment)
course details
In this course students will develop and demonstrate the hands-on skills required to diagnose, adjust, repair and maintain modern automotive Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) and engine cooling systems. Students will use modern test equipment for diagnosis. Specific skills are developed by the use of special tools used in servicing and repair of automotive HVAC and engine cooling systems.
Prerequisite: AUT 3 (or concurrent enrollment)
course details
This course develops the skills needed to safely diagnose, repair and maintain the systems and sub-systems specific to heavy duty and over-the-road diesel powered vehicles. Topics will include: Diagnosing problems in mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, and electronic systems with industry standard test equipment; Troubleshooting the sophisticated electronic controls that govern engine performance and horsepower as well as transmission and braking systems; Troubleshooting steering, hydraulic, pneumatic systems, brakes, axles, differentials, electric motors, and compressors. Students will learn heavy-duty industry standardized safety inspection procedures.
course details
In this course, students will develop and demonstrate safe work habits along with the hands-on skills needed to diagnose and repair refrigeration units, mobile hydraulic components, heavy duty powertrain units, pneumatic systems, and truck wheel alignments. Emphasis will be placed on the ability to accurately perform heavy-duty maintenance and safety inspections in a timely manner.
Term 3
Class Schedules
course details
This course provides theory and principles of operation in automatic transmissions/transaxles, to include diagnostic, testing and repair of each system.
Prerequisite: AUT 3 (or concurrent enrollment)
course details
This course enhances skills in diagnosing, testing, and repair procedures of automotive transmissions/transaxles, drive lines and axles. Shop practice includes diagnostics, testing, and repairing of each system.
Prerequisite: AUT 3 (or concurrent enrollment)
course details
This course provides theory and principles of operation in automotive manual transmissions/transaxles, drive lines and axles. Shop practice includes diagnostics, testing, and repairing of each system.
Prerequisite: AUT 3 (or concurrent enrollment)
course details
This course provides theory and principles of operation in manual transmissions and transaxles, front and rear axles, drive lines and transfer cases. Shop practice includes diagnostics, testing, and repairing of each system.
Prerequisite: AUT 3 (or concurrent enrollment)
course details
In this course, students will be introduced to welding and cutting processes applicable to the heavy equipment industry. The course includes oxyacetylene cutting (OFC-A), plasma arc cutting (PAC), air carbon arc cutting and gouging (CAC-A), shielded metal arc welding (SMAW), gas metal arc welding (GMAW) processes, and flux cored arc welding (FCAW) processes, in the flat, horizontal and vertical positions on various joint details. It will also include safety procedures, electrode identification, joint fit-up and alignment, base metal preparation, weld quality, beads and fillet welds, with focus on theory and practice. All welds will be based on the American Welding Society (AWS) standards. Pass/No Pass.
General Education: Area 4
about Area 4
Social and Behavioral Sciences
The systematic study of people as members of society — cultural anthropology, cultural geography, economics, history, political science, psychology, sociology — and the methods these disciplines use to ask their questions.
Term 4
Class Schedules
course details
This course introduces the theory, operation, and repair of the ignition, fuel, engine management, and emission control systems on gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles. It will help students identify, analyze and devise comprehensive assessments and diagnostic procedures of vehicle issues or abnormal operations commonly seen in the industry.
Prerequisite: AUT 3 (or concurrent enrollment)
course details
In this course, students will develop and demonstrate hands-on skills required to diagnose and repair ignition, fuel, engine management, and emission control systems found in modern gasoline and diesel vehicles. Students will learn to identify and analyze common vehicle issues or abnormal operations encountered in the industry, devise comprehensive diagnostic and repair procedures, and effectively demonstrate these skills.
Prerequisite: AUT 3 (or concurrent enrollment)
General Education: Area 2
about Area 2
Mathematical Concepts and Quantitative Reasoning
College-level mathematics or quantitative reasoning — the toolkit behind science, business, and informed citizenship.
Term 5
Class Schedules
General Education: Area 1B
about Area 1B
Oral Communication and Critical Thinking
Baccalaureate-level oral communication and/or critical thinking — speaking with structure to a live audience, analyzing arguments, identifying assumptions.
General Education: Area 3
about Area 3
Arts and Humanities
How people and cultures, across time, respond to themselves and the world through artistic and cultural creative production. Visual and performing arts, art history, foreign languages, literature, philosophy, religion.
General Education: Area 5
about Area 5
Physical and Biological Sciences
The physical universe, its life forms, and its natural phenomena — astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, meteorology, oceanography, physics — taught alongside the scientific method that makes them work.
General Education: Area 6
about Area 6
Ethnic Studies
The histories, experiences, and contributions of the four autonomous disciplines: Black / African American / Africana studies, Native American studies, Chicano/a/x and Latino/a/x studies, and Asian American studies.
Career Connections
2-Year Degree Paths
Entry points students may pursue after associate-level study, technical preparation, or licensure pathways.
Example roles: 1
- Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists
4-Year Degree Paths
Roles that more often open up after transfer and a bachelor's degree.
No locally mapped occupations in the current dataset are grouped into the 4-year pathway for this program.
Graduate School Paths
Advanced roles commonly associated with graduate, professional, or post-baccalaureate study.
No locally mapped occupations in the current dataset are grouped into the graduate-school pathway for this program.
Local Job Market
Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine SpecialistsSOC 49-30311 nearby opening
Top employers in sample
- Butte County 1
Where the postings are
- Thermalito, Butte County 1
Sample current postings
Posting counts come from Adzuna's index of US job boards, covering the last 30 days within 25 miles of ZIP 95965. Coverage and salary visibility vary by employer. Empty searches expand the radius and posting window before the section gives up.
Source Notes
Course sequencing is generated from the Acadia Program Mapper cache. Career groupings use local CIP-to-SOC mappings and BLS occupation data when available. Confirm education plans with Counseling and Advising.
Live wage data was not available from the BLS helper for the mapped occupations, so some pay fields may be blank.
Last generated 2026-07-05T16:55+00:00