7 Small DIY Car Repairs Everyone Should Know
Learning to drive is simple and common among most people, and people often get driving licenses during their teenage days. However, every vehicle requires regular maintenance, and you could save a lot of time and money if you know a little more about basic mechanics, and how to repair some smaller failures on your vehicle.
It`s frustrating when your car just won`t start, or brake in the middle of the road, which can disrupt your plans and ruin your day. On the other side, if you have some basic knowledge, and if the malfunction is minor, you could easily fix it all by yourself. There are some basic types of repair that every car owner should know, and here are the seven most important ones.
1. Changing the Spark Plugs
While most of us know what is the purpose of the spark plug, which is a small device in the cylinder that serves as sparking ignition for gasoline to start the engine, people are usually going to the service to change this part. A significant amount of people rather chooses to never open their hood and leave everything to a repairman. However, there are some simple repairs, such as changing the spark plugs, which you could change in less than 10 minutes.
Also, you should always keep some spare parts, especially ones that need to be replaced more often. There are many stores where you can get various types of parts for vehicles like www.stl.com.my, with a wide offer of all kinds of parts such as seal kits, couplings, hydraulic seals, and many more.
2. Oil Changing
Changing the oil in your vehicle is one of the basic and most important types of regular maintenance. Also, if you accidentally forget to change your oil on time, it could affect the engine of the vehicle, and cause serious damage to it. The process of changing oil is simple, and no one should have any problems to develop this skill.
In this simple process, you need to drain the oil by opening the oil filter and pour new oil in the engine. When you are finished, put back the filter and drain plug back. If you are not sure how to perform this, there are many tutorials on the internet, with simple explanations and examples that can help you.
3. Visual Repairs
One of the most annoying details that any car can have is scratches and collision traces. While for traces of collision you must visit vehicle tinsmith, there are ways to cover scratches by yourself. Also, these repairs could cost a real fortune, so learning to cover it would help you save a lot of money.
The basic steps for covering some scratch are to determine how deep is the scratch, and the required amount of sanding for that area. After that, you will have to clean it and apply a compound that will fill the scratch. When the process is done, you will have to wax and paint that area.
4. Changing a Tire
Changing a tire is another basic type of repair, that everyone should know. Always wear a spare tire in the trunk, since it would save you from frustration and paying a lot of money to the road service for something simple that you can do in 10 minutes. Also, with this skill, you can save your time, especially if your tire vent in an area which is not easily accessible, or while you are on a vacation.
The whole process is simple, and you have many tutorials on YouTube. Nevertheless, if you get into a situation that you have a flat tire on the open road, you could learn how to change it with these step-step-tutorials on the Internet.
5. Changing a car battery
The battery is also one of the parts that need often replacement. The common mistake which leads to emptying the battery is when you forget to turn off the lights, and many vehicles, especially older ones, don`t have sensors that would warn you to turn off lights, music, or anything else that could drain all the energy from the battery while the engine is not working.
Services can charge you a serious amount of money for some repairs, which is especially a frequent case when it comes to modern vehicles. A car battery replacement company can surely walk you through the process if you’re interested. You should find out more about car battery replacement before deciding. However, you could learn how to replace a battery, and save a lot of money on that. The process is not too complicated, and you will have to follow some steps to complete it. The basic steps are to remove the cover of the battery, disconnect it, move the clamp from battery post, remove the screws, and place the new battery. Also, pay attention to connect it properly, especially negative and positive cables.
6. Replace Windshield Wipers
That plastic part on your windshield is one of the parts that people often forget to change on time, which can lead to problems if they fail during some rain or snowy weather, and force you to stop and wait for it to pass. The wipers are cheap, and you should always have an extra pair in your trunk. The process of installation is simple, and it can save a lot of time if they fail during some heavy rain.
The process of installation involves several steps. The first step is to remove the broken wipers by pushing a small tab that connects them and connect a new pair in the same place. You can watch some step by step tutorials to make sure that you placed them correctly.
7. Jumpstarting the Engine
We have already mentioned how important it is to learn to change a battery, and why you should have a separate one. However, if you are on the open road, or you don`t have a separate one at home, there is a method to start your engine with the empty battery. You will need assistance since your vehicle must connect to the battery of another vehicle to start the engine.
Furthermore, always wear jumper cables, which can save you in this situation. If you are on the open road, just ask someone who is passing by to stop for a few minutes, and connect the batteries of both vehicles with cables. The red clips must be attached to the positive terminal on both cars, and black is for negative. This simple method would help you to avoid calling the road service, which can cost a lot.
