Can you perform maintenance work on your car(s) yourself?

[DwnShft2Xcelr8]

I'm wanting to do oil changes and switching brake pads myself but I have never done it before. Afraid I'll ruin something or do what someone I used to know did. He raised his car on a jack improperly, went underneath to do work and the car fell on top of him. Smashed him to death. :eek:

What about you guys? Do you do the work yourself or pay at a dealership/shop?

FWIW, I can change the oil on my motorcycle myself. It's easy. No jack required.

[Bandito]

I do it and its fairly easy but like you I was afraid at first. Just google and you tube " how to do it" lessons and you'll be fine. It's not rocket science.

[NBAplayoffs2001]

I do it and its fairly easy but like you I was afraid at first. Just google and you tube " how to do it" lessons and you'll be fine. It's not rocket science.

I tried doing this once at 16 and I ended up messing up the car more.

[boozehound]

its very easy, particularly oil changes. You may need to invest in some basic equipment (ramps), but its definitely worth doing. Bleeding your brake lines and all that is also straighforward. Especially with youtube these days, you can probably find a step by step video for your specific car. Watch it a couple of times and bring along a friend.

[Bandito]

I tried doing this once at 16 and I ended up messing up the car more.
How old are you now? Maybe you were an idiot at 16 no offense:lol


But remember he was talking about routine maintenance not anything too complicated.

[NBAplayoffs2001]

How old are you now? Maybe you were an idiot at 16 no offense:lol


But remember he was talking about routine maintenance not anything too complicated.

Early 20s lol. I remember really messing up the call and my mom going nuts on me like this: :rant. I did something really stupid lmfao, it ended up being fixed for free though.

[Godzuki]

its real easy but oil changes are so cheap the cost of oil and filter would probably be real close to the same price to DIY. think about $3~ per quart of oil x 5~ + $3-5 A/M filter and thats the cost of a lot of oil change places these days. their whole sales thing is to sell u on wiper blades and shit.

the real benefit to doing your own oil changes is u know its done right. a lot of Jiffy Lubes have fukked up cars, stripped oil drain plugs, etc. and then people lose oil and blow their engines. look up complaints for those quick service oil change places, their techs are generally horrible and don't give a fukk.

changing brake pads is pretty EZ too, my advice is to either record what it all looks like before u take it off, or take pictures. then put the pads in the same way u pulled them out. thing that happens sometimes tho is calipers can be frozen, and u won't probably know how to deal with that. its also not always ez to get off where u might need a rubber hammer or something.

always jack the car on the metal straight 90' edge behind the tire that runs all the way across the side of the car, or frame. lots of noobs fukk this up too thinking they can put a jack under any part of the car.

its worth changing brake pads yourself if u can do it since u'll save decent money there.

most stuff can be DIY'd thru youtube video and google searches these days FYI

[Meticode]

I've changed oil on my car and wife's car several times. Done the brake pads a few times as well between the two. Replaced the wind shield wiper motor.

Some suggestions. Watch YouTube videos of them doing specific tasks. Even if it's not your model car still watch it. Or watch them do work on the closest thing to your car.

If you do your brake pads you will need a C-clamp because when you take the calipers off the pistons will automatically push out on you because of the brake fluid pressure. C-clamps will let you push these back in so you can put the caliper back on.

Oil is pretty easy.

Put stopper or blocks on the back tires.

Jack the car up (I usually find a solid spot up front in the middle)

Put two jack stands up front.

Lower the jack down on the jack stands

Still keep the jack up against the car touching in case the jack stands fail for whatever reason. That way you have double-protection on the car being lifted/supported

Loose the oil refill cap to help oil escape faster (don't completely remove the cap, at least keep it sitting on top of the oil refill hole so no dust or anything gets in the engine)

Find an oil pan and the drain plug, unscrew it with a ratchet it, let it drain into the pan

After a minute or two remove the oil filter

(I usually walk away from the car for about 30 mins while it drains)

Replace the drain plug bolt

Replace the oil filter

Clean away and old oil the best you can

Refill the car with new oil about a half a court under your cars capacity.

Replace the oil cap

Lower the car from the jack/stands

Start the car for about 3-5 seconds, turn it off

Check the oil level and add oil until it's in the middle or at max.

[sweggeh]

:oldlol:

No

[Meticode]

its real easy but oil changes are so cheap the cost of oil and filter would probably be real close to the same price to DIY. think about $3~ per quart of oil x 5~ + $3-5 A/M filter and thats the cost of a lot of oil change places these days. their whole sales thing is to sell u on wiper blades and shit.

the real benefit to doing your own oil changes is u know its done right. a lot of Jiffy Lubes have fukked up cars, stripped oil drain plugs, etc. and then people lose oil and blow their engines. look up complaints for those quick service oil change places, their techs are generally horrible and don't give a fukk.

changing brake pads is pretty EZ too, my advice is to either record what it all looks like before u take it off, or take pictures. then put the pads in the same way u pulled them out. thing that happens sometimes tho is calipers can be frozen, and u won't probably know how to deal with that. its also not always ez to get off where u might need a rubber hammer or something.

always jack the car on the metal straight 90' edge behind the tire that runs all the way across the side of the car, or frame. lots of noobs fukk this up too thinking they can put a jack under any part of the car.

its worth changing brake pads yourself if u can do it since u'll save decent money there.

most stuff can be DIY'd thru youtube video and google searches these days FYI

This. I've seen dumbasses jack up their car right on the oil pan and completely bust the oil pan, then oil runs and drains all oil out the car. :oldlol:

[SupermanOnSteroids]

can but don't. too hesitant to touch my bmw my self. would rather let a pro do it. plus the maintenance is free on my car.

[Meticode]

can but don't. too hesitant to touch my bmw my self. would rather let a pro do it. plus the maintenance is free on my car.
Luxary cars are a pain at times. Half the time when I took my 97 AUdi in to a place that usually worked on American cars they were confused by some things. For example for most cars a evac+recharge for the AC system has a evac valve and a recharge valve, but my Audi only had one valve, so they didn't know what the **** to do after the drained the Freon from the car. They had to call an Audi dealership and be like "Uhhh, how do you recharge the AC system? There's only one valve." You recharge teh system through the same valve you empty it from.

[SupermanOnSteroids]

very very easy. Just be sure you are draining the oil, not the transmission fluid. Ive heared stories about people draining the tranny fluid, filling the engine with oil, driving away and blowing their transmission and damage their engine due to overfilling their engine.
saw one of my buddies who was a mechanic in the army, pout in oil where the antifreeze was supposed to go on a humvee. the biggest retard i've ever met.

[Meticode]

saw one of my buddies who was a mechanic in the army, pout in oil where the antifreeze was supposed to go on a humvee. the biggest retard i've ever met.
:oldlol:

Some people can be. My father-in-law is retired Army and was an equipment specialist the whole time there. He told me a couple stories of how people would f*ck up equipment there. :lol

[DwnShft2Xcelr8]

@Godzuki, that's true for my girl's car, but my car takes synthetic oil, so the oil change ends up costing between $60-$80.

@Meticode, thanks for the walkthrough, but I'm one of those typical American idiots who need pics and/or video for help. Reading directions isn't good enough for my dumbass.

@Rondooooo, worry not, me bretha. I no make no mistake like dat.

@Everyone else, thanks for the encouragement. I'll attempt it on my next day off.

You know what's some shit, though? My motorcycle, car & girl's car all need oil changes at the same motherfudging time! :facepalm That's my life. Garbage.

[gts]

@Godzuki, that's true for my girl's car, but my car takes synthetic oil, so the oil change ends up costing between $60-$80.

@Meticode, thanks for the walkthrough, but I'm one of those typical American idiots who need pics and/or video for help. Reading directions isn't good enough for my dumbass.

@Rondooooo, worry not, me bretha. I no make no mistake like dat.

@Everyone else, thanks for the encouragement. I'll attempt it on my next day off.

You know what's some shit, though? My motorcycle, car & girl's car all need oil changes at the same motherfudging time! :facepalm That's my life. Garbage.

What kind of car?

[Jameerthefear]

My dad said he would beat my ass if I didn't know how to change oil, brakes, tires and all that shit.

[Swaggin916]

Yea just youtube it and follow the instructions. If stuff isn't going right, just take a break, go watch the video again and don't force it. I have never changed brake pads but I hear there easy... I have changed my door handles out and changed a tire... that's the extent. I could electrical do stuff without that much help... but everything else I am pretty nooby even at 25. As you age though, unless you have some job that doesn't require you learning mechanical stuff, you learn things and do things that give you the confidence that you can take care of things if you want.

[Meticode]

@Godzuki, that's true for my girl's car, but my car takes synthetic oil, so the oil change ends up costing between $60-$80.

@Meticode, thanks for the walkthrough, but I'm one of those typical American idiots who need pics and/or video for help. Reading directions isn't good enough for my dumbass.

@Rondooooo, worry not, me bretha. I no make no mistake like dat.

@Everyone else, thanks for the encouragement. I'll attempt it on my next day off.

You know what's some shit, though? My motorcycle, car & girl's car all need oil changes at the same motherfudging time! :facepalm That's my life. Garbage.
That's why I mentioned the videos first.

[PHX_Phan]

I've done pretty much all of the maintenance and repair on all of the vehicles I've owned unless it was covered under warranty. Oil changes, brakes, clutches on up to full transmission and ground up motor rebuilds.

You save a ton if you can do your own car repairs. Just two months ago I was faced with a bad input shaft bearing. It's a $10 part but $1,000+ to have a shop replace it. Did it myself with the help of a Honda shop manual I downloaded and a few google videos. Also replaced a few other bearings that were on the way out for under $100.

Plus there's knowing everything was done right with new parts and you don't gotta sweat what a shop is doing out of your sight.

[ace23]

Never touched any of that shit

[DwnShft2Xcelr8]

My dad said he would beat my ass if I didn't know how to change oil, brakes, tires and all that shit.

Okay.. So how are the ass beatings?

[DukeDelonte13]

used to do oil and brakes myself in high school now i say f*ck it.

By the time i'm buying the oil and filter i'm spending more than it would cost to just go to jiffy lube and not even leave my car, not get dirty, and be done in 10 minutes.


Also i don't know how true this is, but i've heard it's not good to just swap out brake pads without either grinding the rotors or just getting new ones, especially in newer cars.

[MadeFromDust]

"Bought, not built, bichizz!"

[stalkerforlife]

No.

I didn't have a dad and i'm an idiot.

[Meticode]

Also i don't know how true this is, but i've heard it's not good to just swap out brake pads without either grinding the rotors or just getting new ones, especially in newer cars.
My father-in-law was an equipment specialist in the Army for over 30 years, I brought this up to him one time and he said it honestly shouldn't matter unless the rotor is worn. If it's wore too much for it's thickness or if it's warped should be the only times you should have to get a new one.

[Meticode]

By the time i'm buying the oil and filter i'm spending more than it would cost to just go to jiffy lube and not even leave my car, not get dirty, and be done in 10 minutes.
This is true, but then you don't get to choose what oil filter or oil brand you can put in your car. Some are better for certain cars than others, especially if you drive over the 3000 mile mark.

I like to do it myself because at least for me in my area it's a tiny by cheaper by about $5, it gets e working on my own car and I could possibly notice other problems, and I know the job is done right. There's been horror stories (ironically about Jiffy Lube) where they scam people. For example they'll do the oil change and charge you for the filter, but won't change out the filter.

Here's a video on the Jiffy Lube scams. They tell the customer they'll change their fuel filter, and they never did but got charged for it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiCAJ8ULnaI

[DwnShft2Xcelr8]

Here's a video on the Jiffy Lube scams. They tell the customer they'll change their fuel filter, and they never did but got charged for it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiCAJ8ULnaI

This video just opened my eyes. Never going to a mechanic shop again.

[MavsSuperFan]

very basic stuff like jump starting a car, changing the oil, changing a tire, etc.
Anything more complex than that, no

[Meticode]

This video just opened my eyes. Never going to a mechanic shop again.
If you're not well-off or rich, it's probably best to know how to deal with basic things on your car, or to personally have a mechanic as a friend.

[Godzuki]

This video just opened my eyes. Never going to a mechanic shop again.


honestly trying is learning...its not that hard and you'll become more skiiled and save money at the same time thru trial and error. thats life.

if u go synthetic, go to Walmart and buy the big gallon jugs of it, its a lot cheaper than buying by quarts.

most people get ripped off with stuff because they're so inconfident trying stuff themselves or too lazy. youtube/internet changed the whole game on a lot of levels. i mean its a how to, to do pretty much anything.

[Draz]

My father's a diesel mechanic and knows the ins and outs of auto. Guy pays all the money in the world to get his shit fixed.

[Godzuki]

@Godzuki, that's true for my girl's car, but my car takes synthetic oil, so the oil change ends up costing between $60-$80.

@Meticode, thanks for the walkthrough, but I'm one of those typical American idiots who need pics and/or video for help. Reading directions isn't good enough for my dumbass.

@Rondooooo, worry not, me bretha. I no make no mistake like dat.

@Everyone else, thanks for the encouragement. I'll attempt it on my next day off.

You know what's some shit, though? My motorcycle, car & girl's car all need oil changes at the same motherfudging time! :facepalm That's my life. Garbage.


here u go man. Amazing deal IF u can get the rebate. Anyways 'im in for 2 from Walmart since its a good price either way

http://slickdeals.net/f/7161092-mobil-1-full-synthetic-motor-oil-five-quart-jug-10-66-ar-various-weights-walmart-amazon?#comments

i just verified and Walmart IS a participating rebate store. also u can get 2 rebates max. its definitely a sick deal.

[johndeeregreen]

My dad said he would beat my ass if I didn't know how to change oil, brakes, tires and all that shit.
Rightly so.

Nobody's expecting every man to be a mechanic, but every man should understand the basic concepts of an internal combustion engine and the ability to do the absolute basics that you described.