Can You Repair Your Own Car?
One of the struggles of being a car owner is to regularly send in the vehicle for maintenance checks. If you’re a busy person and you’re on the road during most of your waking hours, then this can be a huge inconvenience for you.
Wouldn’t it be great if you can do some car repair on your own? This could be good news to some car owners, as car repair bills can really get expensive sometimes. Well, there are some minor repairs that you can do on your car yourself, especially if you have some technical skills up your sleeves. The things you can do are:
1. Replacing a drive belt
You know that the drive belt is faulty if the car squeals on startup. The drive belt may either be loose, broken or worn out. The common signs of damage are cracks, looseness, and too much and wear. Worn and cracked drive belts need to be replaced while loose drive belts have to be tightened up.
2. Replacing the alternator and battery
The battery needs to be replaced your vehicle won’t turn over and most accessories don’t power on. Test both alternator and battery using a multimeter to check if either one of them is dead. Replace the one that is not registering power on the device. You may need to consult the car’s manual if you need help with these.
3. Replacing the brake pads
When your car squeals whenever you hit the brakes, then the brake pads need to be replaced. Grinding sounds when braking may mean the rotor needs to be replaced but that’s another story. You should take your car to the auto repair shop if that’s the case. But if it’s just a problem with the brake pad, you may possibly replace it yourself.
4. Replacing the coolant hose
Do you see a pool of orange, yellow, or green liquid on the ground where you parked? If that’s the case, then your coolant may be leaking. Usually, the leak is on one of the exterior hoses of the car. It should be easy because the hose will have the same color as the leak on the ground. However, don’t touch the hose immediately as it can be hot. Replace the hose if it’s the culprit.
5. Giving your car regular maintenance checks
What’s better than knowing yourself if your car needs a tune-up? Learning how to do maintenance checks on your car saves you a lot of money because you don’t have to pay a car technician to do that for you. As a rule of thumb, your car needs a tune-up after every 30,000 miles driven or two years’ worth of use, whichever comes first. You should also send in your car for a tune-up before a long trip.
These are just some of the DIY car repair ideas that you may want to explore. But of course, nothing beats sending your car to the best repair shop in Patchogue if you find anything wrong with it. With the help of an expert technician, you can never go wrong.
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