Car Repair Tips

Any car owner would come to a point where they would rather do a DIY car repair than call a mechanic. Are you feeling the same way, too? Make sure that you’ve already graduated from the simple lessons of oil changes and rotations of tires. If you’re through with those, perhaps it’s time to do some advanced manipulations that require some disassembling steps. Take the following tips seriously before even tearing one part from another.

Research

Personal research is a must. You just can’t rely on what your friends might be telling you. One, you must treat your car as a unique specimen since you as its owner use it in your own unique way. Rather, get an overview of the mechanism and the structure inside, although it is not advisable that you rely alone on aftermarket shop manuals. Those materials are too simple and treat problems with cars like they are one and not in the slightest way different.

Go to internet forums because they have detailed instructions and strategies applicable to your unit. They usually feature step by step photographs. Unless your car is something that is really uncommon, you can find forums that can help. But remember that these are just internet forums although they can really be helpful. You can’t expect them to tell you everything that you need. If you are into something that requires you to go deeper, have a factory service manual straight from your manufacturer.

Assign a Spacious Workspace

You can start your teardown in any space that can accommodate your car, but make sure that the space is going to be enough when you begin to move around. A small space can still be comfortable when you are getting ready to pull the engine out, but when it comes to maneuvering the engine hoist, you might get stuck. You might require two men to help you just to do this task in a limited space.

Have plenty of space before engaging in this very important task and make sure that you position the car in such a way that you can move it effortlessly. A good spot can be the center of your backyard or in the middle of the garage.

Label Everything

It can be tempting to assume that you will remember the origin of each piece to disassemble and will have no troubles putting them back together again. Just to save you from possible headaches, use egg crates and sandwich bags to separate fasteners, clips, washers, etc. Use labels. If possible, write the name of each part. Use arrows to indicate direction. You can also use masking tape to loop around hoses, wires and connectors. A phone camera is also a great help. Take pictures of wire layouts, brackets and cables.

Final Checklist

Don’t hustle putting things back together and doing the first drive after the repair. Review each step that has been done and make sure that all is fine with bolt tightening, wire routing, and aligning. Inspect comprehensively, torque tightly and double-check everything before you put that machine running again.

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