DIY Saturday: The Basic Tools that You Need in Your Garage for All Your Automotive Tasks

It’s DIY Saturday once again! Last week the topic was about the prevention of damage when the engine starts to overheat. This Saturday, it’ll be a little different – let’s talk about the tools that you need to do your own car repair inside your garage. There are some repairs that even the average Joe can accomplish, so there’s no need to bring your vehicle to the shop, pay hundreds of dollars, and suffer from a possible rip-off.

As long as you have the following tools, you can already accomplish a lot of basic tasks and save more dollars:

Screwdriver and Wrench Sets. These are basic tools for use when doing repairs in your automobile. Whichever system you’re working on, you’ll almost always find nuts and bolts to loosen or tighten, parts to torque properly, and these basic tools are important for these tasks.

Jack. If you’re doing some work on parts and systems underneath your vehicle, the only way to accomplish the task is by getting underneath your ride. And, you will need to lift the car to achieve that. A jack is also a safety mechanism—it will ensure that your vehicle will be securely lifted without banging down and possibly putting you in danger.

Creeper. This is the perfect partner for the jack. When doing under-the-car repairs, sliding and lying on your back and peering at the part to be repaired is best and most conveniently done with the help of a creeper.

Volt Ohm Meter. This tool is designed for diagnosing problems. This is used to measure voltage in a device, so it’s ideal for testing electrical parts.

With the help of these tools, it will be easy to perform basic automotive tasks, and even to diagnose problems before bringing your vehicle in for repair. This is especially useful for people who dread going to auto repair shops or to those who have little trust on shop mechanics.

Auto Repair Gone Bad: A Classic Example

A friend called me last week to tell me about her first negative car repair experience, a classic situation into which anyone can fall.

She bought her car to a shop because of a problem that has to do with the engine suddenly dying while she’s driving. There was nothing else together with this problem. The engine would just die all so sudden, with no warning whatsoever.

The mechanic told her to replace the fuel pump because it was not providing enough pressure for the fuel to reach the engine. After paying for the new pump and for labor, my friend brought her car home. The car was normal for a few days, until the same thing happened again—the car suddenly dying without any warning.

My friend returned the car to the shop and complained about the problem. The mechanic looked into it and then said that the regulator and the filter needed a replacement. My friend, who was growing a bit suspicious but was in dire need to have her car fixed, gave in.

But, the same thing happened—she got the car back and the problem returned. This time, she brought the car to another shop. Upon inspection, the shop found that it’s the inertia switch that’s failing. This switch is a component that shuts off the fuel when the car gets in an accident in order to protect the passengers from possible fuel hazards like fire. When the switch is damaged, it may prevent the fuel from reaching the engine.

True enough, when the mechanic pressed the reset button found on the switch, the car got back to its original shape. That was a temporary solution, though, and the switch had to be replaced. My friend agreed to the replacement, and the car ran fine since then.

According to the second mechanic, the old switch shows signs of wear that had most probably started for a long time, so there’s a great probability that it was the reason for the previous problems and not the fuel pump, regulator, and filter that have been replaced.

Transmission Repairs are More Susceptible to Rip-Offs

While it’s always advised that you watch out for possible rip-offs every time you bring your car to auto repair shops, that advise is especially important if you’re bringing in your ride for a transmission repair. Why is that?

Well, transmission repair is complicated. A lot of parts have to be dismounted and taken off. A lot of work is also involved. Because of this, it’s not easy to verify whether all parts indicated in your receipt have been installed, or whether the indicated service has been performed. Even if you’re good at DIY automotive tasks, you’ll need to tear down the transmission again just to check whether there’s really a new part mounted. Well, who would want to do such a thing like that? Nobody, right? Well, auto repair shops and mechanics know that, and those who plan to rip you off will use that knowledge to their advantage.

So, are you protected? All you can really do here is a sort of preventive protection. To ensure that you will not be ripped off, see to it that you bring your vehicle to a shop that you fully trust.

Ask for advice from friends who have had to have their transmission repaired. Ask for recommendations. This is the best means to avoid a rip-off—you’ll be sure that the shop is proven reliable.

Look up online and search for shops in your area. Once you find one, check the internet and then check with the concerned authorities for any possible previous complaint against the shop. If there’s any complaint at all, beware.

Also, insist on getting your old parts back after the repair. Although there’s no assurance here that no rip-off has been done if the shop returns the part, the shop mechanics will know that they’re dealing with someone they cannot easily rip off.

A Look at Paint Protection

So far, the posts here have been about stuff related to auto repairs, negative practices by auto repair shops, and how you can avoid them. Today, let’s take a look at another practice not by auto repair shops but by auto dealers—a paint protection offer.

We all want our cars to remain good-looking for a long time—shiny, scratch-free, with zero blemishes. So, an offer for a complete car body protection may sound appealing. Some dealers would offer to provide the car with a coating that can protect its sheen against harsh weathers and damaging elements for a few thousands of dollars. Worth it? You may think so.

In reality, this is not a good idea. First, a car paint protection shouldn’t cost you that much. The real price of this is very cheap, so you shouldn’t be paying thousands of dollars for it. Besides, protecting your vehicle’s body paint is something that you can accomplish on your own. There are different kits offered today that you can use to apply coating to your vehicle body and keep its shine last for a long time. These kits are very cheap and will not bore a hole in your pocket.

If you really want to consider the offer but you want to be sure that you’re getting it without being ripped off, you can complain about the price. It’s natural for dealers to slash the price in half. If you can negotiate for a price lower than that, try. Also, check whether there’s anything in your vehicle warranty that says you need to bring your vehicle to the dealer every 2 months or 60 days to renew the protection. If you do, then you don’t need the one offered by the dealership. You’ll just waste money by spending on it.

Why Going for the Cheapest Auto Repair Shop is Not a Good Idea

We all want to save on our expenses. That is especially true when it comes to automotive repairs. However, while we all want to avoid more expenses and possible rip-offs, it’s also not a good idea to choose the cheapest shop in the area. You might not know it, but you might be ripped off even more by choosing a shop that’s cheap.

Why?

Well, recognize that no shop will want to get behind its competitors in terms of profit. So, you should be wondering why a particular shop offers a very cheap rate. Could it be that the shop’s mechanics are not certified, and no customers will entrust their cars to the shop if they will not offer a lower rate? Could it be that they’ve had problems with their customers before, and their customers are not returning to them again, thus the need to offer lower rates to attract new clients? These could be a few possibilities.

The best thing you can do here is to research on the current rates offered by auto repair shops in your area. If you see that the particular shop you’re considering offers a rate that’s way lower than that, be on guard.

Get feedbacks from its previous customers. Or, talk to shop personnel directly. Ask them why the rate is so low. If they are not keeping any secret, then there’s a good chance that they will be able to confidently give you with a valid answer. You can also ask if their mechanics have any certification (such as ASE) that can prove that they’re good at what they do. If they can’t show you anything, then you should know that something is going on.

If you don’t feel confident about the shop, then go to another one. It’s worth spending a few more dollars as long as you’re sure that you’re getting a good service and that you won’t be returning to the shop anytime soon.

DIY Saturday: Engine Overheating

This section of my weekly post will now be devoted to some DIY procedures to help consumers perform some simple repairs without having to bring their vehicle to auto repair shops anymore. This will also discuss preventative ways to keep vehicles from getting completely busted. This will not only reduce your expenses but this will also save you from the likelihood of being ripped off.

And for today, let’s take a look at engine overheating. This is one of the most common dilemmas that drivers face, and this almost always results in having the vehicle towed to the nearest repair center. At worst, you may have to deal with a damaged engine and a huge amount of repair cost. So how do you deal? What should you do to avoid a costly engine repair?

Well, if there’s anything good about it, it’s that engine overheating doesn’t happen all at once. Before you finally get stranded on the side of the road, you’ll still be warned by the gauge in your dashboard—and you can still take steps.

If you start to see your gauge needle climbing to high, the first thing you need to do is to pull over. Shut the engine off as fast as you can. While you’re maneuvering your ride into a stop, turn your car heater in full blast. Once the vehicle is safely parked, open the hood to let cool air cool the engine compartment and allow hot air to escape.

Now you have to wait until it’s safe to tinker with the engine parts. You can also use water to cool parts so that they’ll be safer to touch. Then, check any possible source of the problem—very low coolant level, a leak, or a disconnected hose.

Once you have found the culprit, such as a ruptured hose that lets all the coolant escape, then you’ll at least know where to start. Remember, however, not to drive your vehicle again unless you have found the reason for the overheating and addressed it—you may just further damage the engine.

In case you really need help in diagnosing the cause of the problem, then that’s the time you call the tow truck and head to an auto repair shop.

Friday’s Advice: Water Pump Replacement

In relation to my post yesterday about repair and replacement, a friend consulted me about the suggestion of a mechanic to him to have the water pump of his vehicle replaced—when in fact he brought the vehicle in just for a timing belt replacement.

He was a little confused about the suggestion, given the fact that his vehicle’s water pump was in good shape and there was no problem at all in the cooling system of his car.

Now what’s the best thing to do?

The fact is, the suggestion of the mechanic is valid. Why? Well, replacing a water pump is a tasking work, and it involves the removal of different parts. You also have to take the timing belt off—this process involves almost 90% of the entire procedure.

This is the reason a water pump replacement is advised when taking the timing belt off. It’s so much of a hassle to repeat the complicated procedure just to replace the water pump a few weeks after replacing the timing belt. By replacing the pump and the belt together, you save on labor expenses and effort—much like hitting two birds with one stone.

The final decision here still lies on the vehicle owner, so I told my friend about the possibilities. One way to decide would be to determine how long the pump had been in the vehicle. Most pumps on average have the same replacement interval as the belt. If at all, they should be replaced before they reach 100,000 miles. Sure, I’ve read of pumps that last as long as 170,000 miles, but those are more of the exception rather than the rule.

Well, in the end, it’s a personal choice. My friend’s pump had actually exceeded the 100,000-mile mark. His pump had 115,000 miles on it. So, replacement was indeed a good option.