Textual description of firstImageUrl

Car Maintenance You Can Do It Yourself

Free Car Diagnostic Image


Maintaining a car is costly but it's more cheaper when it comes to breakdown repair, but there are car maintenance you can do yourself to save you from expensive cost when you have it done by the dealership.


Sometimes trips to the garage are unavoidable. We’re not suggesting you try and become a mechanic entirely in your spare time. However, we are aware of the costs that can sometimes come with taking your car in. Costs that could easily be avoided if you took a crack at the problem yourself. Below are tips for those exact situations. How to recognize what a problem is in your car. How to fix some of the more common and bothersome problems. How to recognize when it actually needs a trip to the garage, too.

Get Your Hands on the Right Tools

One of the most important factors of being prepared to DIY your car repairs is making sure you have all the right tools. Again, we’re not suggesting you set up a shop in your garage, but investing in a proper toolkit for your car could save you a lot of money down the line. Find out some of the most useful tools you can get yourself, including a jack, spotlight, and spares.

Free Car Diagnostic Image

If you’ve started to recognize a problem on the road but you’re not immediately sure how to recognize it, don’t take it to the garage yet. Unlike trying to diagnose a person, the internet is actually a very useful tool for recognizing common problems in your car. AutoMD and cartech home in particularly has a lot of reliable information. Using it could easily spot a problem you can fix yourself instead of having to take it to a mechanic.

Free Car Diagnostic Images

Prevention

Part of caring for your car in a Do It Yourself capacity is knowing what problems might arise and how to prevent them. For instance, keep your car warm during the winter. This will immediately cut down on the potential for a lot of engine issues during that troublesome time of year. Do your research on the common problems and you’ll have to fix your car a lot less often. It will also help you get more informed on the thing that actually works, too.

Fitting New Tires

It’s perhaps the most common problem with cars. We all come face to face with a flat tire at some point. A lot of us already know how to fix them. If you don’t, however, you’re potentially flushing money down the drain for something you could easily learn to do yourself. Always keep a full spare tire if you can, and the knowledge to change it. You can avoid the mechanic’s charges even in getting the right ones by using online tire fitting.

How to Choose the Right Tires for Your Car
How to tell the age of a tire? The manufacturing date will tell you the new from an old tire. The old tire is not safe to use, Be sure it's new. Read more » How to Choose the Right Tires for Your Car

Changing the Air Filter

An old or clogged air filter can take a lot of the zoom out of your car. Not only will it suffer from worse performance, but it can reduce the life of an engine. Even worse for your immediate finances, it makes a car a lot more efficient when it comes to miles-per-gallon. Air filters are an essential part of keeping your car less economically painful and they’re not too difficult to change. If you drive in dirty, dusty environments, you should change the air filter every three months. Otherwise, every twelve months without incident should be fine.

Free Car Diagnostic Image

Checking Your car Battery

Check your car battery during the normal day to day operation of your car.

What to check

1. Check battery electrolyte level
2. Check battery case for cracks.
3. Check connections to the terminals and the cables tightness.
4. Check electrolyte specific gravity


The battery will discharge its electricity if more electricity is used than that supplied by the alternator, or if too much electricity is used when the engine is stopped. With use, the amount of battery electrolyte gradually diminishes as the battery is charged and discharged and due to evaporation. Electrolyte diminishes rapidly especially when the battery is overcharged and during the summer. If the stored electricity in a battery decreases, It becomes difficult to start the engine.

You can extend the battery life by checking often the level of battery and adding fluid. (Battery deteriorates rapidly if the separator inside the battery is oxidized). Battery fluid evaporate mainly due to heat of engine. If the fluid is not within the specified level, battery deteriorates rap idly because the plate inside the battery is oxidized.

When the battery warning light comes on in the car all too soon, it can be easy to assume the worst. Check and charge the car battery all by yourself. This way can eliminate worries of needing a replacement as well as the cost of being told it’s fine. Check your battery before you take it in. If you can get it charged and working fine by yourself, you’ve saved money. If not, it’s time to take it to a professional.

Car Battery Light on and off While driving
The battery light comes on and off while driving as a result of slipping alternator or failing alternator, do a simple test to find out. Read more » Car Battery Light On and Off While Driving

Free Car Diagnostic Image

Changing the Oil

Changing the oil in your car is a critical part of car maintenance. It can extend the life of your car dramatically. Yet a lot of car owners don’t know how to do it themselves. This guide can save you the hassle of routine mechanic trips without getting yourself in too much of a mess.

Change oil interval

Replace every 10,000km /6 months, whichever comes first. Driving under severe condition like dusty condition, repeated short distance driving, towing a trailer/caravan or extensive idling, it should be replaced more frequently.

For petrol engine with turbocharger and most of diesel engines, replace every 5,000km /3 months, whichever comes first.

Note: Check you car owners manual for change oil interval specific to the model of your car.

What happens if changing oil is not done

Oil will lose its effectiveness by carbon or metal particles, and viscosity will decrease with use by oxidation. If deteriorated oil is continuously used, followings may happen:

• Engine friction portions wear out quickly
• Engine will be damaged by corrosion
• Engine will overheat
• Fuel economy become worse
• Engine power will be decreased
• Engine seizure happens in the worst case


Engine oil is different depending on the type of engine. For example, if oil specification is SJ or SH which starts from S (Spark ignition engine), it is for petrol engine only. If oil specification is CD or CC which starts from C, it is only for diesel engine. However, there is universal oil whose specification is SE-CC, for example.

There are two types of engine oil depending on the material contained, mineral type and synthetic type. Synthetic type is usually used for racing as it has good heat resistance, however, it is very expensive. For normal use, it is recommended to use mineral type oil because of its cost performance. Never extend replacement interval in case synthetic oil is used, as its improved cleaning performance means the oil becomes dirty quickly.

How to Check Oil in Your Car
How to check the oil in your car? Start the car and park it on the level road, let it run until the engine reaches the operating temperature. Read more » How to Check Oil in Your Car


Replacing Headlights

Another common problem and the source of thousands of tickets a year. For something so small, headlights are incredibly significant. Having one outputs you off the road until your garage is available. So get yourself road legal in no time by learning how to take out and fit in a replacement yourself. That way you’ll have no trouble with the law and no need to wait for your mechanic to get you back on the road.


Watch more videos on auto repair. Subscribe to our Cartechhome Channel on Youtube.
Help us expand the people we help by sharing this information with others. Thank you !!!

Free Car Diagnostic