Here are five easy car tips for when your car starts making a funny noise or doesn’t work as well as it should. you know, those moments when you sit there and think, “I wish I knew how to fix this!”
Trips to the mechanic’s garage can be expensive, even for some of the seemingly insignificant repairs. If you take your car to the shop, you’re not only paying for the new parts but you’re paying for labor which, more often than not, costs more than the parts.
So, to save you from another big expense and a trip to the garage, here are some easy car fixes you can do yourself!
Scratches
Body and detail work can cost you a lot of money. The average car will typically have three owners throughout its life, making dents and scratches something that most vehicle owners are familiar with. However, with a little bit of ingenuity and a few tricks, you can avoid the trip to the auto body shop. For a simple and affordable fix-it-yourself scratch solution, try this!
Overheating
Your vehicle operates via combustion, which means the engine block gets extremely hot while in use. To keep your engine at an operating temperature, your car needs a working radiator. If your radiator and cooling system are not working properly, your car can overheat and break down and cause severe mechanical issues. It’s recommended that you perform a radiator flush every so often to ensure your car’s cooling system stays in check. Here’s how you do it.
- Make sure your car is sufficiently cooled down before starting. A good time to do this is after your car has been without use for a few hours, particularly in the morning.
- Place an empty container underneath your vehicle’s radiator drain plug (you can find the location of this in the owner’s manual) and remove the plug. The coolant will drain into the empty container.
- Once it’s drained completely, replace the drain plug and remove the radiator cap.
- Add radiator flush cleaning solution into the radiator, and then fill the rest of it up with water. You should use clean distilled water, the same type of water that makes up the world’s 1% of water that’s suitable for drinking. Dirty or tainted water can cause more problems.
- Put the radiator cap back on, and run the car until it reaches normal temperature.
- Put your heater on full blast, at the highest temp it can go, for 10 minutes.
- Turn the car off and let it cool back down to the same temp as when you started.
- Drain the radiator once again, making sure to replace the drain plug after doing so.
- Refill the radiator with new coolant.
This process can cost you a good chunk of change at a garage, but by doing it yourself all it costs is maybe $30 and some time out of your day.
Oil
You see that sticker on the upper left part of your car that tells you when your next oil change is due, and you don’t think twice about it. Rather than spending anywhere between $50 to $100 on an oil change in the garage, you can do it yourself for the price of oil. It’s a relatively simple process that only takes moments to complete.
- Again, start with a cool engine. Locate your oil pan underneath your vehicle and the plug.
- Place a container underneath the pan and pull the plug. The oil will empty into the container. Typically, the oil you see will be dark in color. If it sparkles, then you have a bigger problem that you will need to see a mechanic for.
- Once the oil pan is empty, replace the plug.
- Locate the oil cap on your engine, and making sure you have the correct oil (usually 5w-30 or 10w-30 for standard vehicles), being pouring the oil.
- You’ll need to stop and check the oil level every so often to avoid over filling. Perhaps after every quart, pull the dipstick and check the oil level. Continue this process until the oil reaches the full mark on the dipstick.
This process is pretty straightforward, and even if you want to change the oil filter, it is relatively simple. A good synthetic oil may only need to be changed every 10,000 miles or so.
No matter your level of automotive expertise, you can save a lot of money with these DIY repairs. Many of these can be translated to motorcycles as well, and while the median age of motorcyclists is 47, any aged rider or driver can save some money with these tips.
When your car starts making a funny noise or doesn’t work as well as it should, you’ve probably sat there and thought, “I wish I knew how to fix it myself.”
Trips to the mechanic’s garage can be expensive, even for some of the seemingly insignificant repairs. If you take your car to the shop, you’re not only paying for the new parts but you’re paying for labor which, more often than not, costs more than the parts.
So, to save you from another big expense and a trip to the garage, here are some easy automotive fixes you can do yourself.
Windshield wipers!
Air filter
No matter your level of automotive expertise, you can save a lot of money with these DIY repairs. Many of these can be translated to motorcycles as well, and while the median age of motorcyclists is 47, any aged rider or driver can save some money with these tips.
