[PSA] DIY Auto Mechanics

Mr Jimmy Pop

Mr Jimmy Pop

Contributor
Veteran XX
A lot of you may already know this, but I didn't because I just always searched and found what I needed through google.

anyway, I just realized that Autozone has wiring schematics to most cars online for free, just have to give them your email and be a member (no cost). other parts dealers may have them too, i havent looked yet,. If you know where else this shit is and any other useful links, please post them here

| Repair Guides | AutoZone.com




friend is having starter issues, and i didn't have the manual for his car and stumbled on this now. I have all the manuals for my cars, so i never looked before.
 
a better way to do an oil change is to remove your spark plugs and just pour the oil straight into the spark plug ports

it takes some extra work but ensures better lubrication

as a bonus, you can knock out your spark plug replacement at the same time

gl hf
 
so how'd u guys learn how to work on ur cars and how to do car shit?

i no zero about cars. i own zero car tools

worth investing if im in a transient phase of my life where im moving every 4-5 years or so?

wish i took an auto class in high school. or had time to take an auto class now. im about to buy a 2005 acura tsx for like ~$9000 and i wish i knew more. dont even know if im getting ripped off or not
 
XTasy said:
so how'd u guys learn how to work on ur cars and how to do car shit?

i no zero about cars. i own zero car tools

worth investing if im in a transient phase of my life where im moving every 4-5 years or so?

wish i took an auto class in high school. or had time to take an auto class now. im about to buy a 2005 acura tsx for like ~$9000 and i wish i knew more. dont even know if im getting ripped off or not
Click to expand...

buy a beater car and play, i learned more by being too cheap to hire. If you have never done anything electro-mechanical at all, it may be tough, but not impossible. youtube has a lot of tutorials
 
XTasy said:
so how'd u guys learn how to work on ur cars and how to do car shit?

i no zero about cars. i own zero car tools

worth investing if im in a transient phase of my life where im moving every 4-5 years or so?

wish i took an auto class in high school. or had time to take an auto class now. im about to buy a 2005 acura tsx for like ~$9000 and i wish i knew more. dont even know if im getting ripped off or not
Click to expand...

cars are not difficult at all. Most of the problem is having the right tools. I didn't know jack about cars and with a bit of youtube and car forums, I pretty much do a lot on my cars now. I've changed brakes, tie rods, wheel bearings/hubs and a ton of other smaller fixes.

I even took half the front end of my wife's SUV off to replace the fan clutch. Was going to cost $800-$900 for a shop to do it, and I did it for $150.

Take a lot of pictures as you disassemble and be prepared to redo some work when you fuck up. I had a wheel bearing issue and tried to diagnose which wheel it was. I picked the wrong one. Nothing like spending an hour ripping apart a wheel assembly and putting it back together only to realize you did the wrong one. The sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach is the 2 extra hours of work you realized you just added to the project.

It can be fun though. Turn on some tunes and let the testosterone flow.
 
XTasy said:
so how'd u guys learn how to work on ur cars and how to do car shit?

i no zero about cars. i own zero car tools

worth investing if im in a transient phase of my life where im moving every 4-5 years or so?

wish i took an auto class in high school. or had time to take an auto class now. im about to buy a 2005 acura tsx for like ~$9000 and i wish i knew more. dont even know if im getting ripped off or not
Click to expand...
I kept a beater car running for a while.
 
the most I've done on mine is to pull out the washer motor to clean it up (the tiny little filter screen on it was all gooped up, no windscreen washers!).. looked it up on the internets and read a description of it, so disconnected & removed the headlight assembly, worked my way down to the washer tank & sorted it all out.


So yeah, I'm a complete lightweight.


However, as far as parts goes, a buddy here who does do some more serious work on his own cars gets all his stuff from RockAuto Auto Parts

Could well just be that we get totally ripped off here in Aus (and we do, that's a given), but he gets stuff from there, shipped from the US to Aus, and it's still cheaper than anything even on ebay.
 
a clean garage and a toolbox is suggested.

my garage is messy and i have all my tools in a carry bag. it sucks. doing even the most basic 5 min job i will spend more time just looking for my tools then actually wrenching. its in shambles and i have no room... which brings me to...


anyone want a free pooltable? you can polish up all my balls so they shine really nice.
 
XTasy said:
so how'd u guys learn how to work on ur cars and how to do car shit?

i no zero about cars. i own zero car tools

worth investing if im in a transient phase of my life where im moving every 4-5 years or so?

wish i took an auto class in high school. or had time to take an auto class now. im about to buy a 2005 acura tsx for like ~$9000 and i wish i knew more. dont even know if im getting ripped off or not
Click to expand...

Tools... you can get away with a cheapass craftsman socket set, that'll be about 90% of what you need. Depending on the car and what you do, you might need a bigass pair of pliers/adjustable wrench and a couple of torque wrenches (foot pounds and inch pounds). Thats kinda it. Oh, and an oil wrench for getting a filter off if its a cheap paper bodied filter that you cant just unscrew by hand.

Oh, and if you're a clumsy bitch like me, one of those magnet tipped telescoping probes for when you drop a bolt in the engine bay and it doesnt just fall through to the ground. Saved me about four hours of work with that one when I was installing my groundwire kit last spring; had trouble lining up an attachment bolt, it dropped, and plinko'd its way into a crevasse in the front bumper cover.
 
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