car talk

Taking a break from the usual cats and nails to talk about cars.

I adore working on a car. My dad has 2 work trucks, a few old VW beetles and they had a deathtrap recall year Cadillac that tormented the family for years. It still sits in the driveway and one day I will set it ablaze. I spent a large portion of my childhood getting my hands dirty.

I’m on my 3rd Saturn (totaled 2 – not my fault) and while they rarely need major work, it’s nice to do some simple things myself.

If you get a Haynes manual for your car, you can pretty much do anything, except I would never work on a transmission. Just have the right tools (the manuals tell you what basic tools you will need) and follow the instructions.It’s like Ikea furniture but dirty!

Last week I went to get an oil change ($15 coupon makes it worth getting someone else to handle that mess) and asked what they charged for new spark plugs. They refused to do them w/out replacing the wires as well. This is a scam in and of itself since the wires were fine and disconnecting them takes 30 seconds but of course, the guy gives me the runaround about labor after I start questioning him and was actually a bit rude. They see a woman come in and it’s cha-ching! $170. No way José.

$12 at AutoZone and 10 minutes later and I was done! You don’t have to gap platinum plugs either and they only cost $1 more each. Needless to say, I’m feeling pretty smug.

They also wanted to charge over $100 to change my transmission fluid/filter. (I’ve been slowly working on giving my car a complete tune-up.) $30 and that’s done too! Do you see what happened there? I saved about $230! The trans fluid was a bit more complex and my father insisted on wrenching off the plug to drain it into a pan since you do it while the engine is still hot but I took care of the rest. Again, feeling even smugger!

A fellow lady blogger recently tweeted about her coolant light coming on and her BMW needing special coolant and how she had to sit at the dealership. A quick look online and yes, BMWs use a “special” blue coolant that you get directly from the dealer, or 30% cheaper from a BMW parts place. Instead of paying them an additional 300% labor though, she could’ve grabbed a bottle from them and poured it herself. I’m not poo-pooing her. It’s just that women tend to get scared when lights flash and car troubles start.

There are so many resources online and parts places and car-savvy men folk out there willing to help you that you shouldn’t feel helpless and get robbed of your money. At auto parts stores, you tell the person the year, make & model of your car and they give you the right parts.

If your Service Engine Soon light comes on, you can take your car to one of those auto parts chains and they’ll hook you up to a diagnostic thing for FREE. They’ll print out a few options of what could possibly be wrong (best to worst case scenarios) and you can take it from there. I just had that happen and it was my 1st spark plug. I was waaay over due to change them so that’s that.

Familiarize yourself with your fluid tanks under the hood. Every car requires different types of brake, power steering, oil, coolant, and transmission fluids. Slowly gather a bottle of each and keep these in your trunk so if a light pops up, you already have it. Oh, and those lights… do you have your car manual in your glove box? I never know what those stupid lights mean. A sudden drop in fluid could mean a leak so keep an eye on it for a while.

Also have funnels for easy pouring and rags to wipe off oil (yellow) & transmission fluid (red) dip sticks. You check your transmission fluid when the car is hot and oil when the car is cold. Pull, wipe, dip again, pull, look.

Look at your mileage and see what is usually recommended around that time. Changing fluids and filters other than the usual oil is just as important but not needed as frequently. Drive belts (every 50K miles), brake pads, battery life (can be tested for free), etc… keeping up on these things could mean avoiding breaking down on the side of the road and waiting hours for a tow truck.

My bf’s boss is such a puss, he had to call an employee in the middle of Hurricane Irene to change a flat on the side of the road. Almost 50 years old and can’t even change his own tire. Don’t be one of those people! At least keep a can of Fix-a-Flat in your trunk if it’s late at night in a sketchy area.

Changing seasons from cold to hot and hot to cold means checking batteries and coolant. If you’ve been using water in your radiator all summer, you better flush it and add antifreeze before winter hits.

Just looking out for you ladies! Don’t be skeered! You can do it!

PS: If you get a flat and change the tire, if the nail (or whatever) is in the tread and not the sidewall, you can usually get the tire plugged and put back on for about $15. If you need to replace one tire you should replace both front or rear at the same time so you get even wear and traction. Newer tires should always be in the front if you have front-wheel drive. Also, if you use fix-a-flat instead, you most likely cant get it plugged later since it makes a mess inside your tire.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

You may also enjoy: