The development of automobiles has been one of the greatest creative inventions in human history. Ever since the first car was made, cars have ever evolved and been remodified to be suitable for diverse eras. With the evolution of the automobile industry, came the rise of the auto repair industry as well. In fact, in this century, the auto repair industry is lucrative as the number of car owners is on the Increase.
Anytime your car develops a fault, if you are like a lot of people, the next thing that comes to mind is to take the car to the auto repair or mechanic’s shop. But the truth is, not every fault your car develops requires a visit to the mechanic’s shop. There are quite a lot of car issues that you can do on your own with just a few tools and little mechanical know-how. You can be your own mechanic.
If you have never repaired your car on a DIY basis; here a few ways to get started:
How To Learn About Cars
- Make The Internet Your Friend
If you have a smartphone, a tablet or a laptop with access to data services, you are not far away from the internet. The internet is wealthy with knowledge. It’s a great place to tap into knowledge about anything that ails your car. You can begin by entering into any search engine to know about the parts of your car and their functions. For example, you can access the Honda Service Manuals which includes information from the carmaker on how to maintain different car parts.
Through the internet, you can also gain access to other online car repair forums, where you can ask questions about whatever fault your car has and how to go about it. In addition, there are various online repair videos you can leverage on to learn to perform basic car repairs.
- Study The Owner’s Manual
Each car is unique, and the first place to get the best information about your car is in the owner’s manual of your car. You will find details of various mechanical parts of your car and tips on how to change certain parts in the manual. If you have misplaced the owner’s manual to your car, then the internet remains a good option.
- Get Your DIY Toolkit
A car is typically a mechanical giant device, with various parts working together to allow it to serve it’s purpose. To be your own mechanic, you will need to get equipped to simple tools you will use in fixing faulty mechanical parts of your car. Some of the most popular tools for car repairs are plier, jack lift, adjustable wrench, a socket/ratchet set, screwdriver and torque wrench. Make sure that all of your tools are in a good working condition.
- Document Everything
Now that you are armed with the right knowledge and relevant toolkit, the next thing is to get down to business- fix the fault! But before you start losing nuts and bolts, it’s wise to document or take a picture of how whatever part of the car you want to work on looks like, before you remove or add anything. This is because, this awareness will help it to know if you have fixed it correctly in the end or not.
As you go through from step to step in repairing your car, endeavor to label/document anything you remove or replace in the car in the right order to avoid any error.
- Shop For The Right Replacement
Most DIY repairs will involve replacements of faulty car parts such as replacing a flat tire, replacing the fuel filter, replacing a broken windshield, replacing a broken headlamp etc. It’s important you shop around for the right replacements. To get this, pay attention to the faulty one you are removing and buy that exact type.
- Do Away With The Fear
Quite often, in learning how to be your own mechanic, there is this fear that grips you as if you will do wrong. Having gotten the right knowledge and tools, you can proceed with repairing your car. You can have an expert or a colleague who knows about repairs guide you as you repair.
Why You Should Be Your Own Mechanic
- It saves you money
A major challenge that comes with owning a car is the frequent need to maintain and service the car. The cost of maintenance or repair can be huge sometimes. But, consider how much you will save if you can do a few basic repairs on your own? Being your own mechanic will save you money.
- You won’t get stranded
Imagine you are on a long journey, and in the middle of nowhere, your car suddenly has a flat tire. Or your car battery needs to be changed. What will you do? Changing a flat tire or a battery is a basic repair any car owner can do.
- Build your confidence
The satisfaction that comes with repairing a car fault by yourself is inspiring. It builds your confidence, and you are better able to repair the next car fault.
- Get bonded with your car
It’s one thing to know all the information out there about your car’s make and model, it’s another level of experience entirely to get your hands dirty when repairing your car. It brings you into a level of awareness about your car, such that you are better able to describe your car to your mechanic when it develops a major fault.
Basic Car Repairs You Should Be Able To Fix
- Air filter replacement
- Spark plugs replacement
- Windshield wipers replacement.
- Headlight bulbs replacement.
- Brake pads replacement
- Fixing Dangling exhaust pipes
- Changing of fuel filters.
- Car radiator flush
- Cleaning of ABS sensors
- Changing of brake discs.
- Car batteries replacement
- Cat tyres replacement
- Fixing of car thermostats.
- Fixing of blown fuses.
- Jumpstarting a car.
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