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CARS

The Car Repairs You Can (Seriously) Do Yourself, Despite Your Abilities

DEC 15, 2011 8:00 AM 84,460 358 Docks

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Car repairs can drain your pocketbook fast, but you can do a wide range of repairs yourself, regardless of your technical skill. 379,762 people like this. Be the first Like of your friends. We're not just talking oil changes; provided you can hold a wrench, you can fix everything ranging from fuel filters to alternators. We'll detail the tools necessary for your DIY toolkit, where to turn to for help when you're making the repairs, and how to tackle some of the most common car problems yourself.
Title image remixed from an original by Laralova (Shutterstock).

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The biggest hurdle in convincing someone they can handle car repair is the fear factor, but here's the thing: It's actually pretty hard to permanently screw up a car. You might break something temporarily, or a fix might not work in the long run, but you probably won't set yourself or your car on fire just because you banged too hard on a valve. Cars are resilient machines and regardless of the year or make, there are plenty of repairs even the clumsiest and technically challenged can handle provided they have the confidence to push through.

The Free Tech That Will Help You on Your Way

For a little background, I didn't own a car for about eight years, and before that, I had a small car I barely had the sense to put gas in, let alone repair anything on. Then, a couple years ago, I was handed down a small truck. Within the first couple weeks, a hose connection leading to the radiator cracked. I took a picture of the part that seemed to be leaking, walked into an auto parts store, showed it to them, and they found the replacement part for me. Twenty minutes later it was in and the truck was working

again. Since then, I've helped friends with a wide range of repairs so I could learn more and practice. For DIY repairs, your computer is your friend. AutoMD and Expert Village are both excellent resources of general purpose videos, how-to guides, and diagnostic assistance for the most common car problems. AutoMD also has an iPhone app with guides optimized for mobile viewing. If you need help deciding if a repair is worth your time, RepairPal is an excellent resource for checking the average cost of repairs in a shop and can help you decide if it's worth the time and effort to do it yourself. As for the repair work, consider your phone, tablet, or computer the manual. Bring it out to the car with the video guide loaded up or the walkthrough in front of you. Watch and read over the directions several times so you feel comfortable, but keep your technology ready in case you need to reference a step. Take a picture of the section you're going to work on with your phone or a digital camera before you start so you know exactly how the engine is supposed to look if you get lost in the directions. If you feel like you need paper, you can always print directions or purchase your car's official guide. For this guide, you can watch the videos embedded within or find step-by-step text instructions linked at the end of each section.

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The Common Tools You Need and How to Shop for New Parts
Every car is different, but the myth foreign cars require special tools isn't exactly true. Nearly all cars use basic nuts and bolts for the most common repairs you need to make. Here's a short list of what you typically need: Adjustable wrench Torque wrench Socket and ratchet set Pliers Phillips and flat head screwdrivers Jack (usually included with your car) There's no real secret to picking out tools, but they need to have a good grip. Buy tools with hefty handles. You will also need to purchase new parts for your car if you're doing a replacement. If you purchase these from an auto parts store online, you will enter your car's year, make, and model into a form before searching for the part you need. If you're unsure of the technical name for a part, you can find the part number on the piece in your car, or you can head into a parts store for expert advice. Every car is slightly different, so make sure you enter the correct information to get the correct part and always hold onto your receipt in case it doesn't match up.

Replace a Broken or Worn Drive Belt

How to know when to replace your drive belts: If your car squeals when you start it or when you use certain accessories, it might be a drive belt. You can quickly give the car a visual inspection and check the belts for cracks, wear, and looseness. Even if you're not hearing noises, if the belt is cracked or worn, it's best to replace it. If it's loose, you might need to tighten it up instead of replace it. Terms you need to know

Drive Belt: A drive belt is the rubber belt that connects and loops around pulleys on the your car's engine and is located at the front of the engine. These belts typically control accessories like the cooling system, battery charging, windshield wipers, and power steering. In older cars, you may find multiple belts for each system, but newer cars often use a belt called a serpentine belt, which is a single belt that loops through all of your car's systems. When working properly, you will not hear or notice the belt's existence, but if it's starting to fail, you will hear a loud squealing sound. Serpentine Belt: The serpentine belt is the main drive belt in new vehicles. It wraps around several of your cars components instead of individual systems. Pulleys: These are the small wheels with grooved rims the belt wraps around. When force is exerted, they spin, giving power to the systems they're attached to. Tensioner pulley: A tensioner helps the pulleys work properly by allowing you to adjust the tightness of the belt in one place. Belts often stretch over use, so this keeps the system tight so belts don't fall off. Tools you need: Ratchet, sockets, wrenches, screwdriver How to replace a drive or serpentine belt yourself (step-by-step guide).

Replace Your Battery and Alternator

How to know your alternator or battery needs replacement: If your car isn't turning over and your accessories aren't powering on, two possible culprits are the battery and the alternator. You can test your alternator and your your battery with a multimeter to see if either are dead. If one of them isn't measuring enough power with the multimeter, you will need to replace it. If you have trouble locating your battery or alternator, your car's manual will include a chart with their location. If you left lights on overnight, your battery might just need a jump, so make sure you know how to jump a car. If your battery or alternator have failed, a jump start will often work to at least get you home. Terms you need to know

Alternator: The alternator is the device that works with your battery to generate power for the electrical parts of your vehicle. An alternator is almost always found near the front of the engine, with a belt connected to the front. Battery: The battery is usually a large black box found near the front of a vehicle that supplies the initial power to the alternator. It is connected to your car with positive and negative terminals. Multimeter: To test and replace a battery or alternator, you'll want a digital multimeter. A multimeter measures electrical properties like current and resistance. You'll use this to test your battery and your alternator to figure out which is causing the problems you're experiencing. Accessories: Accessories refers to all your electronically powered parts in your car. These might include your stereo, power windows, power locks, or clock. Tools you need: Wrenches, socket set, multimeter, screwdriver Keep your battery in good shape: It's good to keep your battery clean to increase the battery life and cleaning isn't hard to do. You can clean your battery with baking soda, water, and little elbow grease to ensure the connection between the car and the battery is strong. It's not a bad

idea to mix in cleaning your battery terminals to your yearly maintenance. How to replace your battery (step-by-step guide). How to replace your alternator (step-by-step guide).

Replace Your Brake Pads

How to know when your brake pads need replacing: If you hear a squeal when you apply the brakes, the pads need to be replaced. However, if you hear a grinding sound instead of a squeal, it usually means the rotor needs replacement. In the early stages of your car repairing life, you should probably take your brakes into a shop for service if you hear grinding. The brake pads, however, are an easy replacement you can do yourself. Terms you need to know

Brake pads: The brake pads are the part of your brakes that apply the frictional force to stop the car. These pads have a built-in warning system that squeals when the brakes are applied and the pad is worn down. Rotor: The rotor is the main disc part of your brake system that the pads clamp onto. It's connected to the wheel and when the pads hit it, the car slows down. The pads are held on the rotor by calipers. Calipers: The calipers are the part of your brakes that push the brake pads against the rotor, which causes the car to slow down. The calipers are usually located at the top of the rotor, like bicycle brakes. Tools you need: jack, torque wrench and ratchets, tire iron, c-clamp How to replace your brake pads (step-by-step guide).

Fix Exterior Coolant Leaks

How to know when to replace hoses and other parts: If after driving your car you notice a pool of green, orange, or yellow liquid on the ground when you park, you might have a leak. The liquid on the ground is antifreeze and if you're lucky, it's coming from a hole or crack in one of the exterior hoses. Right after you stop the car, pop open the hood and look for the same colored liquid draining from a hose or plastic piece, but be careful not to touch it because it will be hot. If you can see the leak, you can fix it yourself. All you need to do is unclamp the leaking hose, put on a new one, and then reinstall the clamp. It's about as complicated as attaching an accessory to a vacuum. If you cannot locate the leak, it might be inside the radiator. For this, you are best off taking your car into a shop until you have more experience. Terms you need to know

Radiator: The radiator is the large, air conditioner-looking part in front of the engine. When the engine gets hot, it's the radiator's job to keep the temperature down. To do this, it

sends antifreeze through the hoses and to the engine. These hoses erode over time and eventually start to leak. When a hose is leaking, the engine isn't getting enough coolant and can overheat. Water Pump: The water pump acts as the heart of your coolant system and pumps the antifreeze to and from the engine and the radiator. Like the radiator, it has hoses that can become brittle and cracked over time. Hoses: While mostly self-explanatory, the hoses in the coolant system are what transfer the antifreeze between the radiator, engine, and water pump. These are made of rubber and often crack over time. They are usually attached with spring clamps or worm gears. Tools you need: wrench, pliers How to fix exterior coolant leaks (step-by-step guide).

The Regular Maintenance You Can Do in an Afternoon

How to know when your car needs a tune-up: It's recommended you get a tune-up every 30,000 miles or every two years, whichever happens first. If you're close to either of those marks, it's a good idea to do some maintenance before taking a long road trip. Nearly every facet of your regular maintenance, or tune-up, in car speak, is easy to do yourself. Each part of a tune-up is a separate procedure, so we've broken it down into individual sections that guide you through the process. With regular maintenance, your car will last longer and run better over time. We're not going to walk through each of these, but you'll find how-to guides by clicking the link on each section. Terms and procedures you need to know to perform your own tune-up

Replace a Fuel Filter: The fuel filter does exactly what the name describes. It filters dust, particles, and anything that falls in your fuel line before it gets to the engine. Replacing your fuel filter can be a little terrifying since you're tapping into the gas line, but despite the inherent danger and caveat that you can't go around lighting fires while doing this job, it's usually a quick fix. Despite the name, the fuel filter often looks like a soda fountain cup with one or two straws sticking out of it. Replace the Air Filter: The air filter is the part of the car that keeps dirt and particles from outside from getting into the engine when the engine sucks in air. It's incredibly important to your vehicles operation and a dirty filter can affect gas mileage and engine performance. There are few replacements on your car that are this simple. You need to unscrew a plastic lid, usually on the side of your engine, then take out the old filter, put the new one in, then screw the lid back on. Check and Replace Spark Plugs and Wires: The spark plug is the part of your engine that ignites the gas and the air that cause combustion. When spark plugs fail, your gas mileage goes down, you may have trouble starting the car, a rough idle, or you might fail an emissions test. Replace Distributor Cap and Rotor: The main job of the distributor cap is to distribute voltage from a coil to the correct cylinder. It essentially makes it possible for ignition to happen, which ensures the car starts. It's an easy replacement you'll do alongside replacing the spark plugs. Oil Change: You have likely heard that you need to change your oil every 3,000-7,000 miles, but it's also good to do it when you do your tune-up. Not changing your oil can lead to contamination and will begin to affect your engine's performance. The problem is that it's often hard to properly dispose of the oil, so check online to make sure you have a disposal

area near you, otherwise it may be cheaper to do it at a shop. How to perform a basic engine tune-up (step-by-step guide). Tools you need: ratchet and socket set, screwdrivers, torque wrench, spark plug gap tool, spark plug socket

Once You're Comfortable Under the Hood the Possibilities Are Endless
Once you're comfortable fixing minor car problems and doing your regular maintenance, you're likely going to want to try more complicated repairs. With the exception of major engine work, you can do many repairs from the comfort of your own garage or street. Diagnosing the problem is the hardest part of more difficult repairs, but Car Trouble make the diagnosing process a little easier. If your problem is a Check Engine light, remember that most auto parts shops will test your car for free. For the repairs, using a website like AutoMD will give you a difficulty estimation to help you decide if you can handle it. The difficulty bar is based on the amount of time it takes, the location of the replacement or repair you need to make, and the tools needed to make the repairs. Every car is going to have quirks and there will inevitably be a few things you can't figure out or can't get to. The main point to remember is that car repairs are not as difficult as they look and it's pretty hard to screw things up. Even newer cars with more electronics have parts that can be repaired in your driveway and it's just a matter of trusting yourself to do it. Getting over your fear of car repair is similar to teaching yourself Photoshop in a lot of ways, and fixing your car is more willpower than anything else. Do you do your own car repairs? Share your tips and favorite guides in the comments section.

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DISCUSSION THREADS FEATURED ALL START A NEW THREAD

timgray

15 Dec 2011 8:42 AM

Replacing the battery and air filter on modern GM cars is not that easy anymore. Last GM car it took 1 hour to replace the air filter as the engineers jammed it in a location where you have to remove the entire intake plumbing to get it open. Also battery replacement took 2 hours as I had to remove a FENDER to get to the battery on a 2002 buick. MY wife's 2004 Town and country is also easy to deal with EXCEPT the back 3 spark plugs on the engine, it requires engine removal to change the spark plugs. Yet my 2007 civic I can change the air filter and battery in a few minutes without problems. So it depends on if the car you own was designed by people that have a Engineering degree or someone that puts things randomly where they will fit. GM must have a drag and drop car design program. while everyone else uses engineers. I have not seen a distributor cap and rotor on a car since 1988. So unless people are driving very old classic cars this is not applicable. Edited by timgray at 12/15/11 8:46 AM

Sandrockcstm @timgray I was going to post something similar. I have an 01 Pontiac Sunfire, and my father-in-law decided that I wasn't a real man until I changed my own oil ("Those places are just ripping your off of easy money!") We got the car up on two tire ramp things (which let me tell you, was a terrifying experience as the driver), and got under the car. Turns out, the darn oil filter was wedged up against the firewall. It took both of us 30 minutes just to get the filter off, and getting the filter on was even worse. We finally managed to get it done after over an hour, but my father-in-law then turned to me and said "Um, for this model, I'd just take it into the shop." TheTater @timgray My old truck (1996 F-150) and my current car (2003 Saturn) both have distributor caps. I don't know about anything newer, but it's not just classic cars that have them. protodad @timgray The lesson here is don't buy GM :D Honestly, the most complicated cars I have ever worked on were Chrysler's. The most basic repairs required 4-5 metric and standard sockets and wrenches. Compared to a Honda which I have dropped the motor with a 10, 12, 14, and 17 socket.
Edited by protodad at 12/15/11 9:37 AM

mikesaiztx @timgray Actually I still own several Honda's made as new as 2000 and they still have a Cap and Rotor, while most fuel injected vehicles these days use coil packs, don't be so quick to say cap and rotor went the way of the dinosaur in the 80's BobSmith100 @timgray I wonder if you were doing it wrong. A talked to a guy who spent 6 hours changing the battery in his C4 Corvette. He didn't know there's a panel that comes off with 3 screws and the battery comes out the side of the car. 10 minute job. As for the spark plugs on the rear bank of that V6, there's a trick to that. Unbolt the upper motor mounts, rock the car back and forth until the engine tilts forward, and stab the parking brake. Then you're staring at all three of plugs. 10 minute job. Everything you mention is common to U.S. and foreign cars, but I can tell you just don't like American cars. Wait until you have to do the drive belts or timing belt on that Civic. That's fun.
timgray approved this comment

Vincent Wright @timgray You are actually pretty wrong on a lot of points. First, many cars and trucks have distributor caps and rotors in to the 2000s. Yes, they went to distributorless ignitions which are much better, but your statement is inaccurate. As far as the spark plugs, I really doubt you need to remove the engine. I have never seen a car that had to have the engine removed. Most likely, you will need to remove the plenum to get to them. Pretty simple. The problem that most people find when working on cars is the lack of knowledge. Just because

you have to remove a fender to get the battery out doesn't actually mean that is what you have to do. If you had the service manual or the knowledge to do it, you would have seen an easier way. I have worked on 100s of cars and trucks. I have also "fixed' many mistakes from people who call a standard screwdriver a minus and the phillips a plus. :) promoted by cvananden steveburnard @Vincent Wright Things get even better when the service manual is incorrect. Haynes manuals are infamous for that, especially with Ford trucks for some reason: typos galore, incorrect diagrams, wrong or missing pictures, incorrect procedures.... I'd advise using a Mitchell for those vehicles, or better yet, an original Ford manual (paper or CD) if you can obtain it. I do agree with your point that knowledge is power, absolutely. You and I seem to have been working with these machines (and their owners lol) long enough to have appreciation for it. beausoleil_m @timgray Sometimes there are special tools that mechanics will use. My olf VW Golf VR6 required you to remove the mounts and jack up the engine to remove a few of the spark plugs, but there was also a tool that you could use so you wouldn't have to. I created a tool that did the same thing out of a ski pole. Mechanics could have billed it out as a minimum 2 hours, but it could also take them 10 minutes. A lot of mechanics have a lot of tips that can help any DIYer out, you just have to talk to the right one's. Same with your story of having to remove a fender, in my VW Jetta, for an aftermarket air filter it is recommended you either remove the bumper or remove the battery. Or jack the front end of the car up and then you can actually get to it from the bottom (it's in a tight spot, but it saved me at least an hour and only cost me a dirty jacket and a couple cuts) Sometimes there are no ways around things, but even when the the Hayes instructions say for you to do it one way....some mechanics have work arounds and shortcuts that can help people out. promoted by cvananden rfneimad @TheTater No Saturn has ever had a distributor cap in US, not even the ones with a Honda engine, nor the ones with an Opel engine. cvananden @timgray In regards to the distributor cap and rotor. This actually is applicable to some cars newer than "1988". Chevy was still using a distributor cap in their 2004 Blazers. So to some people it may actually be applicable. Also in regards to your Town and Country. You should be able to get the back spark plugs from underneath. Unfortunately it's still a pain regardless. A socket that pivots may help and you can get a spark plug remove to try and get a better clamp on it to pull it out when it's loose and to begin tightening it when you replace it. And the batteries and air filters...yea some of the new ones absolutely suck with them being tucked.

cvananden @beausoleil_m Which VR6 was this? I had the mk4 vr6 and it definitely wasn't that way at that point. Some of the late mk3 had them easily accessible at the top as well. A lot of german cars use Torx also and some like the VW and Porsche do absolutely have special tools to get some of the jobs done. I had to acquire a few tools to make replacing the head on a vr6 more manageable. cvananden @Vincent Wright He's actually right about the difficulty of spark plugs #1 #3 and #5 (the back 3). While you don't need to remove them you generally have to go from under the car to get #3 and #5 out and for #1 you sometimes need to remove an alternator bracket. timgray @BobSmith100 Following the GM shop manual procedure, so unless GM is telling people wrong. And the spark plugs engine rock trick does not work on a minivan when you have to get it to tilt well over 6 inches or more and you are still doing it blind because it's nearly the middle of the dashboard back. I have built engines and cars by hand from the ground up since I was 12, I know more than a master mechanic about cars. (I also program ECM's and have done ECM swaps or upgrades to make GM cars run a lot better) I don't like US cars because GM screwed me 3 times on crap cars and crap engineering. I was a huge pontiac guy. I am from a UAW family and GM cars are hands down complete garbage. looking back of the cars I have owned, Suzuki was the most reliable but rusted out fast, and honda went forever. GM actually told me that I should not have bought GM as I was fighting them over an engine failure in a Grand AM with their garbage 3400 engine head gasket failure at 37,500 miles. and yeah, that timing belt will be a trick as the Civics from 2006-2009 have timing chains.

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