Who Works on Their Car?
 

The following article recently appeared in a magazine:

"A recent British survey revealed that an alarming number of drivers couldn’t point to the most basic engine components, much less name them on sight. A similar survey performed by Goodyear earlier in the year indicates that 60% of American drivers did not know how to check tire pressure on the car much less change a flat tire if it was needed.

With reliability quickly becoming non issue and the complexity of internal systems on modern vehicle on the rise, the typical consumer is being forced to forego many services to outside facilities rather than perform the most basic service. Our question to you is do you perform any maintenance on your vehicle, or simply trust another individual to do it for you?"

I guess we are in the minority? ;)

RE: Who Works on Their Car?
 

Just the other day I had a young man tell me he wanted to change the oil in his car, and he never has so he wanted to know how many quarts of oil did he need to buy. I almost laughed out loud but then I answered his question. Then in almost the same breath he says I know you have a Supercharger and I want to put one on my car so how hard was it to do? That time I did laugh and replied, lets try the crawl, walk, run process here son. You're not ready to go there yet.;)

RE: Who Works on Their Car?
 

I work on my own cars and bikes. Unless it is a warranty problem. The only times I didn't do my own oil was when I was back in VA living in an apartment. It was against the rules, and it wouldn't have been worth it getting caught. And now on the Mustang, I get scheduled mainteneace that came with the warranty I got. This way it is logged and if I should need warranty work, i don't have to get in any arguements.

RE: Who Works on Their Car?
 

Currently, I will not work on a company car for obvious reasons and our Ford F-150 Supercrew is still under a 7 year warranty and nothing
has really broken on it except the radio which they will replace for free and the tail gate luggage extender. I replaced the $20.00 part on the
the extender myself.

Regarding maintenance. I wash my engines twice a year. So most of the time you can eat off of my car. I certainly know how to check levels. While I use to change the oil and flush the radiator due to environmental issues, it is easier and almost as cheap to have some else do it. When I was younger I used the oil to edge my yard, later I threw
it away in the garbage, then when I got older I used the free Walmart service of disposing of my oil but that is always a mess to transport old oil.

Radiator fluid is dangerous for the environment so I do not flush it in my driveway anymore like back in the 70's.

I would much rather have somebody else change my oils and they check and adjust all of the fluid levels for free and vacuum my car as well.

Unless I am making mods to the car, I hardly do any work on my car anymore. I do however, plan on working on modding my future Challenger.

RE: Who Works on Their Car?
 

I try to do minor maintenance on my cars but it is getting increasingly difficult due to all the electronics and extremely tight working area (ususally require special tools).

Some people shouldn't even try. My brother, who is not mechanically inclined, tried to change his oil once and forgot to put the oil drain nut back. He had 5 quarts of synthetic oil running down his driveway! The was the last time he tried to work on his car. :D

RE: Who Works on Their Car?
 

I do all of the maintenance (Jiffy Lube? - I think not!) and MOST of the repairs on our cars.
Whatever I don't know, I can find out fairly easily from knowledgable friends and coworkers.

The only time I don't do the work myself is when I need a specialized tool that costs more $$$ than I am saving by doing the work myself - then it gets farmed out to one of my friends (whom I know and trust).
$400.00 tool (I MIGHT use twice in my lifetime) - $200.00 saved by doing it myself = I'll save myself the bloody knuckles this time.
;)

RE: Who Works on Their Car?
 

"Some people shouldn't even try. My brother, who is not mechanically inclined, tried to change his oil once and forgot to put the oil drain nut back. He had 5 quarts of synthetic oil running down his driveway! The was the last time he tried to work on his car."

That's the category I'm in. Here's hoping the challenger is nice and reliable.

RE: Who Works on Their Car?
 

I do all the mechanical work on my cars. 70 GTX, 88 Conquest TSI, 71 Challenger and a 91 Stealth R/T. I have swaped engines and trans, as well as all brake work and clutches. Valve jobs and timing belt changes. I have a modded engine in every car. I changed the struts in my Rice muscle and lowering springs. I just can't seem to leave these cars stock. I also work on my two sons cars with them so they will learn how to do their own work. My oldest son has 4 cars and my youngest has 2. We have modded every one of them. From upgraded turbos and cam changes to high volume oil pumps and headers. Even my sons 2006 Charger Daytona has intake and exhaust upgrades. We just put a clutch in his 3000-GT on Friday. And we are pulling the engine in his Conquest next week end to put forged pistons and a rebuild of the bottom end. My brother works at a machine shop so we let him do our blocks and turn the cranks. He also does our heads and we order our parts through him. So the only part we have not done is go into the transmissions and we have just recently started to play with body work. We painted the white stripes on my sons black Stealth. And with our new compressor we plan on doing a lot more body and paint work. Its not as hard as it sounds. Just read alot of Hot Rod and Car Craft mags, they tell you how to do most all of it. And the new cars are just as easy. They have mostly the same mechanical build up. but I will say that my sons Eclipse GST is real pain to work on, talk about no room. But that little car is one quick ride. The oversized intercooler seems to be real big help on that little beast. That car is awsome from a roll. So get in there and get your hands dirty. I will try to talk myself out of modding the 2008 Challenger and leaving it stock... but my track record aint too good.

RE: Who Works on Their Car?
 

Sounds like a "sickness".....have you tried to get treatment???
[sm=gears.gif]
Just kidding, Bud.

RE: Who Works on Their Car?
 

Here is the treatment:
Buy 1 (or more) Mopar Classic car and fix it up
For sure you will either know all the parts of the car and others or be just as stumped.
For really bad cases take a class in basic auto repair or hang around a High School Auto Class.

I Have done a lot of work on the cars/trucks that I have owned so I know the basic parts and Chilton books are a gearhead's best friend when it comes to more difficult problems.