The DIY Way On Car Repair And Maintenance |
|---|
|
Steven Magill
15 January 2013
The DIY tradition of is no less respected and honoured in the automotive world as it is anywhere else. There are several of car repair and maintenance tasks that can be done in your own garage or backyard even with little experience and simple tools. By creative troubleshooting, you will be able to do repairs and save yourself and your family some much needed money for your daily budget. The following are the key areas you can sink your DIY teeth into.
Regular Maintenance
These are the inevitable things you have to do for your car, regardless of whether it is broken or not. Maintenance has to be done in order to keep your vehicle in good condition and pre-empt any unnoticed damage or consequences of regular use from doing permanent damage to its built and function. It is only a matter of choosing to do it yourself (DIY) or let some mechanic of car technicians do it for you.
The immediate notion of regular maintenance is the changing of oil, maintenance of tire pressure and other rudimentary details that is included in the routine check-up before a driver should start an engine and set out for the road. Technically this is not yet what maintenance is, although it is a critical element of it.
Regular maintenance is the seasonal routine wherein you have to check and/or replace key parts of your car. You have to maintain a seasonal maintenance checklist to keep track of all the maintenance jobs you have to do for your car on a timely regular basis. This list is actually a schedule that you must faithfully follow if you want to keep your car at its tip possible condition. They are critically necessary not only in keeping your car in good condition but also to ensure your car is fit for travel every time you drive it off the road.
This regular maintenance schedule includes Anti-lock braking sensor cleaning, battery maintenance, brake pad replacement, change of oil, air vent cleaning, fuel filter replacement, car tire replacement including alloy wheel refurbishment if necessary, performing a radiator flush, replacement of air filter, spark plug replacement, checking your wheel bolts and replacing the lug ones, and last but of course not in any way less significant is windshield wiper replacement. Each of these parts and components has their own lifespan of maximum quality service or utilization. That is why they need to be regularly checked and replaced.
Easy Fixes
Novice DIY car handyman can start with modest repairs of car accessories. There will always be minor glitches of your car's systems. The more you attend to them yourself, the more you will have better feel about your car anatomy. You can start with such jobs as brake pad replacement, replacing fuel gauge sender, replacing a clogged fuel filter, replacing a headlight bulb, and replacing worn brake disc. These are not really for a new car owner with zero car knowledge but for DIY enthusiast still dabbling to be good with applying his DIY curiosity on car handiworks. On the other hand, other fixes like alloy wheel refurbishment, though may seem easy, will actually need a lot of experience to perfect.
Electrical Repairs
It is not mechanical but electrical repairs that actually make up a large percentage of the attention of professional mechanics. Your car especially if it's one of those modern models is actually more electric than mechanical. If you're already good with electrical DIY works, you'll come into this aspect of automotive DIY with a good head start.
Car repair and maintenance can take a significant parcel of your financial resources depending on the frequency of your trips to car repair shops. Doing it the DIY is then immensely economically helpful especially in times of financial challenges. Moreover, it will give you more personal relationship with your car, affording you a better sense of its condition even if you are simply driving it.