learn basic car maintenance

So when I finally have a car, I’ll have some idea of what is in it and how it works and maybe fix some things myself rather than get ripped off.

Plus I just want to know how a car works.

Last week I replaced the spark plug WIRES in our car. You wouldn’t believe what the mechanic was going to charge us! I paid less than half for the wires themselves, and I paid for NONE of the labor, since I did it myself. That felt pretty awesome.

Last week my husband and I changed the spark plugs on our car. We bought a fuel filter and were going to try to change it, too, but in a Camry, it is very difficult to get to without the right equipment. So we might not be able to do that ourselves after all, but we’re going to keep learning what we can!

I recently spent an afternoon working on my car with my Dad to do some basic repairs. Someone had backed into my car smashing my right turn signal and pushing the headlight in, which also broke all of the bracket which holds said lights and bent in my hood. My driver’s side mirror was also dangling by the power cable. We went to a salvage yard and for $40 got together new lights with bracket and a mirror which contained the spring that attaches the mirror to the car. It was really a matter of having the right tools to switch out the lights. The mirror was a pain in the ass since it’s one continuous spring that had to be threaded through the mirror like a horseshoe and hooked onto the car. But now my car has no tape on it!!

Jake and I went to Pep Boys on Sunday and got the manual to our cars. Fortunately both our cars on in the same guidebook because they’re both Nissan built with in a similar time frame and a similar size. We saved about $20 because we needed the same book! I am looking forward to fixing smaller car problems ourselves. It makes me feel more self-sufficient and I love saving $$!!!

After mass today

a friend of ours came back to our school
and gave us a tutorial on cars

We learned how to change a tire and went through all the motions, getting the spare out of the trunk, using the jack, all the screws and bolts and such. It was quite empowering to learn that. (Though I may not be able to use it for a while- simply because well my tires aren’t flat and I don’t have a jack).

We also learned about windshield washer fluid and some other things under the hood.

I feel a lot more comfortable now.

He was very patient with us and we applied what he was saying- it was hands on- and that helped a lot, for me.

the DVD “Basic Car Maintenance for Pretty Hands” and the book “Basic Car Maintenance for Dummies.” The book goes into more depth about how to perform basic car maintenance and why you need to do certain tasks. The movie was okay, I did learn some stuff but it seemed a little rediculous at times. For example it said something like, “One common misconception about the octane ratings of fuel is some think the number is related to the year of the car.” My fiance and me looked at eachother, paused, and then burst out laughing. Now I’ll admit I don’t know much about cars but that was just hilarious.

I think this video would be perfect for absolute beginners who are still learning to drive. I did learn about all the fluids I needed to add, how to add air and check pressure to the tires, and a little about burst fuses. And the narrorators accent drove me crazy. But then again this is one of the very few videos out there on car maintenance, and I learn by seeing and hearing…whereas reading the Dummies book I got a little confused. So I guess I’m a bit of a dummy then.

I’ll consider this a work in progress.

...yet to learn, how to change a tire.

I’ve gone 4 years with my engine light on. I was supposed to change my EGR Modulator back in 2004…. as far as I can tell I’ve gotten away with it to this point.

Saves you alot of money too!

I need to learn how to check and add my oil, among a zillion other things, but right now this is going to come first.