Weird title, but I don't really know what else to put up there. Basically what I want to know is what things can I learn to do by myself to my car that are easy, slowly increasing in difficulty while increasing my aptitude.
I've only ever installed an intake on my car, but I eventually want to know how to replace pretty much anything I'd ever need or want to. I'm sick of going to a mechanic for oil changes, or to replace a broken axle (see suspension/break forum :\ ), or a coil pack going out. So I've installed an intake, and when I get my B&M short throw I'm planning on doing that myself as well, but what else would you guys recommend a newbie to working on cars could do by him/herself without breaking something? I have no problem with spending 2-3 hours on something that should take a knowledgeable person 1 hour so long as I come out of it having learned something.Thanks for any ideas.
get a shop manual. then study it from cover to cover. you'll learn a lot from that. this site is also a great place to find information. read as many technical threads as you can before trying to undergo projects you're not sure about. as you said, you don't mind taking your time to do something, which is a good thing. too many people rush work and end up messing up.
Shop manual? You mean like a GM repair book or something to that effect?
Also, I love this site. My girlfriend wonders how I can spend hours just reading these forums, and it's because I'm reading every informational post I can find
sndsgood wrote:engine swap. no better way to learn your ins and outs then that lol. best way is to find someone around that knows stuff to help you along other then that the shop manuel is a good guide and just when something breaks just study it, find out what you need and wether its within your ability or not.
pretty much. if you have someone that knows how to do something, just watch them. i didnt know how to do anything before i had this car and im not saying im the best but i know alot more and can do alot now.
Don't be scared or intimidated by it. It's only nuts and bolts. A shop manual is a good thing to have but your best friend will be your own ability to pay attention to things as you take them apart. I have rarely looked at the manual for my 04, but way back, about 7 or 8 years now, when I had a 91 sunbird and the timing belt broke and screwed up the head and it would have cost me about 1000 to have it fixed I decided to go get the manual and start to figure it out. Now there's nothing on My 04 that I would say is not within my ability. Also, don't be afraid to make mistakes, and above all take your time when doing something for the first time.
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4 Cams...32 Valves...5 Liters...This Could Get Fun!
agree'd.
When I first got my car I didn't know jack squat about it..
Now I can change the oil, radiator fluid, lights, remove the dash, gauges, ect..
Learning the electronics of the car, wiring up different things.
Stereos.. amps.. ect
I've paint the inside of my car, alot of forum members disagree'd with how I did it,
But it's my first time doing anything like this, I'm proud of it.
Theres something about being able to take care of your own vehicle that makes it worth so much more to you.
When you've done it yourself, you take more pride in it...
But def read the technical stuff around here, I waste hours a day reading all about that stuff.
<img src="http://www.majhost.com/gallery/HCAJosh/crap/shooshined.jpg">
- putting the pieces back together -
I never realized how easy it is to work on cars till one day i had to get an oilchange done and had nothing to do, so i decided to watch my mechanic do it... All it was is pull out plug, let it drain, put plug back in, change filter and refill... it was then that i decided to do everything myself.
That was 3 years ago, haven't been to a mechanic since...
Just buy a shop manual, and just do it. It's all nuts and bolts. As long as you put it back tight (try to use a torque wrench if you have one) you will never be able to break anything.
Once you start you'll realize how easy most things are.
Start by doing oil changes, then do brakes, then do plugs and wires, just whatever needs to be done.
Also, if you ever get any CEL's or stuff like that, buy the 80$ OBD scanner, and scan it yourself. Then look on this site, it has all the codes in a thread somewhere.
And if you get stuck on something, search this site! 99% of the time someone else will already have gotten stuck on the same thing / someone wrote a how-to on it.
Good luck. It's a great feeling when you accomplish something yourself (And when you can save the 60-100$/hour for the mechanic)
lots of reading!! when i first started out, i didnt know a thing about cars, not even how to change the oil.......but with research, and a little hands on testing, ive managed to learn damn near everything i could possibly want to know, or know how to do.
see sig for what my cav looks like for an idea on how much ive truly learned
Well, since this is a J-body forum and you drive a J, I do have a bit of advice. Buy a crappy high mileage J-body for like 100 or 200$ as a daily driver. You know, something that needs constant mechanical attention but isn't totally burnt out and needing expensive repairs yet. You'll be fiddling around with it all the time and you'll learn mighty quick how things work for your good J That way you don't have to worry about breaking something. Keep it 6 months or a year and just goof off with it. Then, if it's still running, sell it for the same price you bought it (or even a little bit more) and make your money back.
That's how I learned to fix cars. Driving crapboxes.
I had common knowledge of cars back when I was younger (could do minor maint)... then I learned just about everything there is to know about automotive maintenance when I joined the military as an automotive mechanic.
Besides getting a shop manual and fiquring it out yourself.... having a friend help you that knows what he's doing extreamly helps the learning proccess.... another way to do it would be to find a junk car and just start tearing it apart to see how everything works.
If understnading how moving parts work together once you see them in action comes naturally at all... you will usually be able to fiqure out how to put it back together once you take it apart.
For everything else.... there's books... or schooling..
I've always just looked online for help doing whatever it is I need to do at the time. Slowly, by taking different things apart and putting them back together as you need to, you'll begin to figure out where everything goes and how it all fits together.
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2000 Cavalier Coupe, 138k miles, 2.2 Auto, Silver (alive)
1999 Cavalier Sedan, 237k miles, 2.2 Auto, White (dead)
Find an intact, but junk engine, offer to haul it away or buy it for $20 and dismantle it. You'll be amazed how many times you'll say "Oh...so THAT'S how this works..." while doing it.
Plus, it's an excuse to buy air tools.
1989 Z24 Convertible - Dust Covered
2006 tC - Dust Covered, but driven more
Skunk v.2K4 wrote:Don't be scared or intimidated by it. It's only nuts and bolts.
Honestly, that quote right there just made me so much more confident with toying with my car. Granted it seems silly, but if you take that attitude, it makes it seem so much more simple and so much less complicated.
Also, I love your ideas Knoxfire and Zline. For my "beater" car, I was planning on getting an older Cavalier with a bunch of miles on it to deliver/use for the winter. I feel like something with a couple hundred thousand miles would keep me busy. And Zline, that sounds like a great idea, it's what I'd really love to do, just sit there and tinker with an engine, take it apart, put it back together, etc. Thanks for the all the replies everybody, they're all appreciated.
I actually just posted a near perfect response to this in your post about the axle. I just got to thinking that if you have a relative or friend or become friends with someone on the site near you that can help you out when you are working on your car. Even if you just get their cell phone number and call them when you get to a point where you have a ? Just being aound and watching others work on cars will help you learn. You are off to a great start by reading all you can on here.
Also reread what skunk said. It is great advice and I agree with him 110% Another thing that might help you is if you are afraid you might not remeber how something came apart take some pics, write yourself some notes, and lay the parts neatly in the order they came apart.
FORGET GIRLS GONE WILD WE HAVE GOVERNMENT SPENDING GONE WILD!
one thing that always amazes me is how easy these cars are to work on. Granted I fix cars for a living (VW's) but man you get a cavalier and its like playing with legos. Just have some faith and go to town, you'd be surprised how easy just about everythign is on there cars.
I started by just fixing whatever broke. Buy a manual just in case and buy a good socket set. After that, buy any specialty tools you need as you need them and don't cheap out. One thing that helped me a lot is my friend had a car that the engine went out in and he was going to send it to the junkyard, so we tore it apart before he junked it. You can't be afraid to fix something yourself. If you get stuck, ask someone that knows more, but make sure you watch how they did it. I blew up the diff in my car in '04 and that was the last time it went to the mechanics. That was the time where i decided I was going to fix anything that broke. A friend always helps too, not necessarily one that knows more than you, but someone that is as willing to learn as you are.
As someone new to this too, this thread is helping me out quite a bit. Lots of great ideas. Now if only my car weren't so far away...
2010 Honda Fit LX
I think the best thing you can get is a good teacher. Find someone who knows what they're doing who will help you with some basic stuff.
When I got my first car, I wouldn't even install a strut brace myself. I didn't want to risk breaking something on my expensive new toy. Having friends around to hold my hand through the first few little things though gave me the confidence I needed and the knowledge that things really aren't that complicated so long as you understand how they work.
Now I can do just about anything that needs doing by myself and teach other people just as I was taught.
Incidentally... if you haven't already, now's as good a time as any to start buying decent tools. Buy hand tools that have lifetime warranties as the cheap stuff will fail on you at the worst times. Start with a great big socket set and then expand from there.
just get in there and get your hands dirty. get into a good club, and be there on mod days. offer to help people with modifying/repairing their cars, no matter what kind of car it is. find a good teacher (shut up Eric... I don't wanna hear it. LOL). ask LOTS of questions, even if you start annoying people. read a lot, and remember that Google is your friend. you will get frustrated at times, but just learn to roll with it.
automobiles are just giant puzzles. you just have to learn how to properly take the puzzle apart and put it back together again. if you gotta break out the note pad and a camera to help you, so be it.
Desert Tuners
“When you come across a big kettle of crazy, it’s best not to stir it.”
The last time I went to a mechanic was to get my radioator changed in March of 07. The guys forgot to bleed the coolant system after they swapped in a new rad
. So since then, I've down everything mself, brakes, oil changes, wheel bearings, fuel pumps, alternators, starters, etc.
This march 'm doing a 3400 swap myself, with some help along the way from a buddy if need be.
at autozone a haynes repair manual is 17.99 plus tax, probably the best investment you can make when you get a new car i think.
actually the best investment is a nice long extended warranty
One thing that will come in handy when youre learning, is a pen, and paper... Never hurts to drag a quick sketch marking what bolts go where... This is especially handy when there are bolts of different lengths in a part.
A digital camera would also be handy too... Take pictures of stuff before you begin work, so that way, if you get stuck you have a reference.
Someone suggested engine swap. only downside is that means spending your hard earned green. You can always take the same engine out and put it back in, after a good cleaning of course.. This allows you to see all sorts of connections, and offers a learning oppurtunity that does not cost money, but will take some time.
What ever you do though, dont give up. Admitting defeat does nothing good for yourself. Get help yes wether it be from a more knowledgeable friend, or manuals, or the org but never let someone do it all for you. its all about a learning experience after all. Just remember though, that if at a point you dont feel comfortable, its not always a good idea to tough it out. When you get lost or confused, come around. The org is here to help.
Congratulations though Ron. You have done two very important things with this post. You made the decision to quit funding stealerships, and you show youre willing to learn. Going to save yourself a fair amount of money through out your life
general maintence like oil change, plugs, etc are easy. most garages will take used oil or your local auto part store.
go to a auto store and buy a hayness manual and a good set of tools
Im a Xbox 360 fanboy...and damn proud of it!!
