AUBURN - Just 64 minutes into Thursday's competition, the hood went down on the silver Ford Escape that Bangor's Zac Byers and Jacob Thomas had been working on.

They weren't the first ones to drop their hoods, signaling they'd finished their work at the Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills competition at Central Maine Community College, but they were the first to keep it down. Two other teams had dropped their hoods about 40 minutes earlier, only to notice a pesky warning light on their car's dashboard. Both hoods went back up and the timer clock kept right on ticking.

Byers and Thomas were the first to drive across the finish line Tuesday, confident that they'd found most of the problems judges had left behind to test them.

"I feel pretty good, but I'd like to feel better," Jacob said, smiling nervously and waiting for the judges' scores to be tallied.

Byers and Thomas, seniors at Bangor's United Technological Center, felt fine by the end of the day. They'd found and repaired nine out of 10 bugs in the car faster than any other team. That gave them them the win, $50,000 worth of educational scholarships and the right to represent Maine at a national competition in Dearborn, Mich., later this summer.

Judges had sabotaged 10 identical 2008 Ford Escapes donated by Hertz, leaving identical problems in each. Problems included clogged window washer jets, busted tail lights, faulty electrical relays and broken automatic window switches.

Ten teams of two students from around Maine had 90 minutes to diagnose the problems and make necessary repairs.

"This goes well beyond the real world," said Tom Giasson of AAA of Northern New England. "To find all 10 bugs in 90 minutes takes a lot of skill. It's not something you'd normally expect."

All the contestants are students at high school tech programs. Thursday's field included teams from Augusta, Westbrook, Portland, Ellsworth, Sanford and Paris.

The competition began at exactly 10 a.m., with Central Maine Community College automotive instructor Lester Ordway shouting into a bull horn.

"Gentlemen, start your engines ... if you can," he said.

Contestants ran right to their vehicles, popped the hoods and turned the keys. Over the next 90 minutes, they'd use a written work order and the car's own diagnostic computer to zero in on the problems.

Some would be simple. A faulty electrical relay was keeping the cars from starting. A team from Augusta found that problem quickly and had their car started 15 minutes into the contest. Others were easy to miss or difficult to repair.

"I asked before if they were nervous yet, before we started" Ordway said. "None of them were. But I guarantee, they're nervous now."

Judges weren't just looking for time and accuracy, but efficiency and safety. Contestants had to wear protective glasses at all times, could use only the proper tools and had to keep the car in the best condition.

"Not a scratch on it, and they can't leave any tools behind," Giasson said. "The car has to be in factory condition when they finish."

Winners Thomas and Byers missed only one bug, two fewer than any other competitor. They neglected to replace a faulty latch in the SUV's rear gate.

Erik Arntsen and Dillon Trundy, the team from the Oxford Hills Technical School in Paris, finished fifth. They missed replacing the rear latch, as well as clogged windshield washer jets on the front and back of the SUV and the left rear window switch.