DIY Car Maintenance can Save you Money

Enjoyable weekends include time with family and friends, and traveling is a big part of weekend adventures. There’s nothing worse than when something unexpected happens like your car breaking. It could be a smaller issue you can easily fix, or sometimes you need an expert mechanic. This can sometimes be not only time consuming but also costly. There are certain things that you should have knowledge of in order to save you inconvenience as a car owner. Basic maintenance is one of them. A car owner needs some knowledge of the following areas of maintenance, performing them at regular intervals to prevent larger system failures and breakdowns.

Here are five DIY Car Projects you need to know about. They are an Changing Oil and Air Filter, Flushing Radiator, Replacing Break Pads, and Maintening the Battery. Regularly performing these will add years of life to your car, thereby minimizing repairs and saving hundreds of dollars.

Experts say to change the oil in your car every 3,000 miles, however with modern engines and synthetic oil blends you can wait to change your oil every 5,000 miles. With some shops charging up to fifty bucks an oil change, you can save some money by doing it yourself! Whenever you decide to change your oil, real point is to do so regularly to limit engine wear. Healthy oil is light brown in color; change it when the oil on the dipstick becomes dark brown or black. During the oil change, remember to:

• Wait until your engine is cool; never ever try to change the oil when the engine is hot.
• Know how use the jack in a proper and safe manner, if you decide to jack up your car to make accessing the oil pan easier.
• Always change the oil filter when you change the oil.

Now to the actual work. Here are the steps that you should follow while changing the oil in your car.

• Spot the oil pan Under the car. It will be not a difficult job. It is centered under the drive shaft, between the front seats. Consult your owners manual if you cannot locate it.
• Unscrew the plug and drain all the oil into a pan or bucket for recycling.
• When the oil is completely drained, screw the plug back in tightly.
• Remove and discard the old oil filter.
• Fill the new filter with new oil and then install it in place of the old one, screwing in tightly.
• Fill the engine with new oil. Use a funnel if necessary. Check as you fill to avoid overfilling.
• Now recycle the old oil from your engine. Drop it off at any local garage or gas station.

Congratulations! You have changed the oil in your car.

After a year or 12,000 miles your car needs a new air filter. Now you have two options: give your car to a mechanic, wasting money and time, or replace it by yourself in a few minutes. I think you will prefer the second option. So here are the easy steps you need to follow:

First locate the air filter for your car, under the hood in the engine compartment. If you are unable to find it, check the owner’s manual. The air filter housing is usually a cylinder roughly a foot across and three to five inches high, centered on top of the engine head. There’s a wing-nut in the center that holds the lid in place. Remove it, and the lid.

• Check out how the filter fits in the housing, so you can remember it while installing the new filter.
• Discard the old filter and set the new filter in place the same way the old filter was.
• Close the housing by putting the lid back in place and screwing it on tight.

You have changed the filter of your car in minutes, at little cost. Well done!

To work efficiently, your car’s cooling system and radiator must be flushed periodically. Flush the radiator every year or two to prolong engine life. To flush a radiator, you just need to follow these 7 steps.

• Before you start, make sure that your engine is cool.
• Find the drain plug on the bottom of the radiator and after placing a pan under it to catch the old coolant for disposal, unscrew it.
• Remove the plug and open the radiator cap on top. Drain all coolant and set aside, to be put back into the jugs from the new coolant. Put the plug back in the bottom of the radiator and tighten.
• Add a radiator flush cleaning mixture with a funnel and then fill it with water. Put the cap back on.
• Start the car and run for ten minutes, with your heater on and set to maximum heat.
• After 10 minutes turn of your car and wait until the engine completely cools.

Drain the water from the radiator and refill with fresh coolant. Make sure that you dispose of the old coolant in an environmentally-friendly manner.

Usually, every 20,000 miles or so, your car’s break pads need to be replace. Since cars vary, you should check your car manual for the exact frequency. Usually, you change pads on both sides of the car at the same time, never just one wheel. If one wheel has a bad pad, chances are good the opposite side does too! If you find yourself continuously driving in stop-and-go city traffic, your breaks may need to be replaced more frequently. This is a trickier repair to do; so if you are feeling hesitant, Affordable Car Projects recommends you hire a professional mechanic. If you are mechanically inclined, here are the steps to follow:

• You need to jack the car up, but before you do, loosen the lugs before they leave the ground. Make sure the car is off, in park with the parking break on, and that you have braced the wheel you wont be removing, to prevent rolling off the jack. Consult your owner’s manual to make sure you use the jack properly. Incorrect use may damage the vehicle and could cause injury. Jack up the car.
• Remove the wheel from the car and then slowly remove the brake calipers and lift them out from the top side.
• After removing it, examine the brake pads and calipers for additional wear and tear.
• Replace the old pads with new pads safely and attach them so that they line up like the old ones did. After replacing them, install the calipers as they were removed.
• Make sure to tighten the clamp and recheck all the settings to make sure that everything is secure as it was. Put the tire back on, lower the jack, and repeat the steps for the other side.

Keeping your car running at its best also means keeping the battery in good working order. And believe me, filling it with gas is the only easier project you’ll find. You need a few items and a short checklist. Get wrenches, wire brushes, rags and some corrosion-removing fluid, and follow these instructions:

• Disconnect the battery connections and remove the positive and negative terminal wires from the terminals. Remove the black wire first with a small box wrench.
• The corrosion-removing solutions you get from your auto parts store is nothing but a solution of baking soda or another alkaline powder. You can buy and use a commercial product or you can make your own. Use this solution to clean up the terminal posts of the battery, and steel wool or a wire brush if corrosion is heavy.
• Dry the posts with rags.
• Replace the terminal connections.

These are some DIY projects that will save you lots of money and keep you knowledgeable about the mechanical state of your car. Your car may be the most expensive thing you ever own, and by gaining a little knowledge and performing regular maintenance, you will preserve the value of your vehicle in an inexpensive manner, getting more upon resale.