What kind of maintenance do you do yourself for your cars?

M

MikeWinLDS

New member
Trying to work out a nice list of DIY maintenance that I can do on my car without specialized tools or knowledge, short of having to take the car in to a shop to have a mechanic work on it. Feel free to add more easy things you can do to take care of your car; here's the short list that I have done before:



Changed the oil, oil filter, air filter, replaced a dead battery, spark plugs, and spark plug wires, added more windshield washer fluid, and rotated the tires. The only tools I've ever used for it all was a socket wrench, deep-socket tool for the wrench, tire iron, jack, and jack stands.



Was thinking about changing out the brake pads with my dad, but we took the wheel off and the brake pads were still in good shape. Probably needed a C-clamp to clamp back down the pison for that job. Never changed the fuel filter, but something I wanted to do. Don't have the owner's manual or a repair manual to know where the fuel filter is or how to change it out.



Anyway, are there any other easy-to-do maintenance works I can do on my car? I've never replaced any of the other fluids (power brake, power steering, transmission, etc) in the car, but I think it should be straightfoward at looking at the level of the fluid and adding more when necessary, right? Is a transmission flush easy to do like an oil change? I'm guessing they just empty out all of the transmission fluid and then replace it, or is there more?
 
If you're handy and have courage, you can do a lot. I've done disc brakes, drum brakes, install most options on my cars (power steering cooler, auto transmission cooler, trailer hitch, cold air intake), new battery leads, new headlights and a few other things. This is all with pretty basic tools, nothing fancy.



Get a repair manual (usually you can find them at Pep Boys, AutoZone, etc). I usually just take my car to the dealer for oil changes b/c it take them about 20 minutes to do it and costs about $25. The parts, oil and disposable cost me about $20 and as my car is lowered, I don't have an easy way to lift it (takes two jacks and about 10 minutes per side). I also don't do anything that takes really specialized equipment.
 
Another semi easy thing (although I have never done it myself) is radiator flush and adding Frion (sp) to the AC.

Transmission fluid can be a little more tricky....on my 5speed Civic you can only drain out what comes out of the side mounted drain plug (a little tricky explain), but when you add more, you add it to the same hole until it leaks out...then you put the bolt back on and thats it!



I would HIGHLY recommend picking up the Haynes manual.



One thing I like to do on my own............................you guessed it.............DETAIL!!!!!
 
Haynes is one of the auto-repair manuals right? What about other brands like Chiltons? Are these repair manuals much different than the owner's manuals? I got this car used from a private owner, so I don't have the owner's manual.
 
I bought my Acura used a month ago and I've already changed the engine, tranny, and differential oils, and flushed the coolant. I did some mods too such as hardwiring my radar detector, replaced the headlights to Silverstars, rewired the fog lights so they can come on with my parking lights, added splash guards, and added wheel locks. This weekend, I'll be changing the spark plugs. I think that's all I will do.



Oh yeah, I also detail our cars in the garage too. A whole lot less dust. :D
 
That's a good source. I bought a CD-ROM shop manual from Ebay for my '96 3.2TL for like $15 and the pages are exactly the same as the stuff Honda prints. It's a very good deal.
 
MikeWinLDS said:
Haynes is one of the auto-repair manuals right? What about other brands like Chiltons? Are these repair manuals much different than the owner's manuals? I got this car used from a private owner, so I don't have the owner's manual.
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Right, and IMHO, more often than not, the best.



Service manuals are waaaay different from "owners manuals". Owners' manuals are meant for the person operating the car. Service manuals (or shop manuals or repair manuals) are meant for somebody who's working on the car.



Haynes manuals are meant for the DIYer. To write them they get one of the cars, take it apart and take pictures as they rebuild everything. Since they're actually doing the work themselves they'll tell you when something doesn't go the way the factory claims it will or if it looks impractical for the DIYer.



For the cars I've owned (mostly foreign) the Chilton's have been pretty lame but I buy them anyway.





PC.
 
Aside from buying the manual it might also be a good idea to check if there are any local car DIY training courses.



One of the big advantages of the Haynes is they list how hard each job is.



The best advice I can think of is to take your time and make sure you have all the tools and materials before you start any job. Remember, no one likes or cares for your car more than you do. You dont have the time pressure and garage has, so you can make sure everything is perfect.
 
Lowejackson said:
Aside from buying the manual it might also be a good idea to check if there are any local car DIY training courses.



One of the big advantages of the Haynes is they list how hard each job is.



The best advice I can think of is to take your time and make sure you have all the tools and materials before you start any job. Remember, no one likes or cares for your car more than you do. You dont have the time pressure and garage has, so you can make sure everything is perfect.
Click to expand...



Agreed. Sage advice.
 
The service manuals are good, but they are usually quite expenses (at least new they are) and sometimes they can get a little complicated unless you have a little bit of knowledge with mechanical stuff and some of the "professional" shop tools. I bought one for my motorcycle when I crashed it. I did all the repairs myself and it helped to know where everything came from.



I like Haynes better than Chiltons too. Just an easier read and better pictures. Of course, another good thing to find is a forum for car owners of your vehicle. I haven't been here for quite a while, but it used to be pretty good: Honda-Acura.net Different boards will cater towards different interests such as DIYers, tuners, show cars, etc. Just spend some time in your favorite search engine.
 
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