Do it yourself for car repair

In detail: do it yourself for car repair from a real master for the site my.housecope.com.

Car repair is a serious and responsible job that requires certain knowledge and skills. There are operations that a beginner can handle as well. But many types of repairs require serious experience and some preparation.

However, any car repair specialist was once a beginner - each of us once did even the most familiar work for the first time.

Therefore, if you are determined to master the ability to repair a car with your own hands, do not be afraid to start. Learn, be attentive, pay attention to every little thing, and after a while you will acquire all the necessary skills.

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Car repair tools

You will also need a special tool for auto repair - as you understand, it is impossible to do without it.

To do many work with your own hands, you will need various tools and materials - with their help, fixing of units, assembly and disassembly, operations to eliminate defects, etc. will be carried out.

Let's figure out what special tools and accessories you may need during do-it-yourself car repairs.

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Essential Car Repair Tools

To begin with, consider the standard set of tools that you will need not only to have in the garage, but also to carry with you. Situations happen different - it happens that a breakdown forces you to work with your hands right on the spot, making it impossible to reach the garage. For this purpose, you must have the following special set with you:

  • Screwdrivers - any work with the machine rarely does without them. You will need two flavors:
  • with a slot;
  • with a cruciform tip.

Since you may need different sizes, it is best to carry a universal screwdriver with different types of bits.

Video (click to play).

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Multifunctional screwdriver with attachments
  • Adjustable wrench - it may be needed when the force of the pliers is not enough to unscrew a stubborn bolt;

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Adjustable ratchet wrench
  • Jack - will be needed in order to raise the car or hold it, for example, when changing a wheel. There are 3 popular jack types:
  • screw;
  • rack and pinion;
  • pneumatic.

The screw jack is considered to be the most convenient - it is compact and efficient.

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Mechanical screw jack
  • Socket wrenches for unscrewing the heads. They can have 6-sided and 12-sided heads.
  • A set of spanner wrenches. There should be as much as possible. The car has a huge number of different nuts, so such a set will be extremely necessary for you.
  • Several hammers of different sizes. A light hammer is used to knock out bolts, nuts and studs. The heaviest one is needed for wheel replacement operations, door repairs and other heavy work.
  • Pliers.
  • Nippers.
  • Rope for towing cars. It must be worn, reliable, non-slip and not damaged.

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Machine repair tools

In addition to the standard set of tools, it is advisable for you to carry with you special devices and materials that you may need to work with your own hands at the breakdown site:

  • spare parts - it is advisable to have small spare parts with you that may be needed during the repair. These can be bolts, nuts, gaskets, hoses, and the like;
  • spare parts and components: belts, fuel pump, fuses and other little things that can let you down on the way;
  • spare tire - if you have a punctured wheel, only the spare wheel will save you;
  • cigarette lighter - it will come in handy if there is a need to charge the battery from another car;
  • woolen gloves - useful so as not to injure your hands during hard work;
  • clean dry rags and rags - they are used to wipe hands or car parts from dirt, dust and oil.

It makes sense that you don't need to carry an entire workshop with you. However, if you want to do all car repairs with your own hands, if possible, your garage should be part-time and a car repair shop.

There should be all the tools for auto repair and special equipment for a more serious event than troubleshooting on the spot.

You need to ensure that your garage has:

  • high-quality lighting - as strange as it may sound, the light source plays a huge role in car care. Your eyes shouldn't get tired of bright light. At the same time, it is difficult to overestimate the importance of a full review of any work areas;
  • welding machine - it is likely that you will have to perform operations for welding metal elements. Therefore, if possible, it is worth getting a welding machine;

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Welding machine

Please note that its operation will require certain skills from you. Practice well before starting work.

  • straightening spotter with all complete set. It is used to straighten parts of the car body and for spot welding;
  • sandblasting machine. Used for cleaning and degreasing various surfaces. Indispensable in the fight against emerging foci of corrosion, as well as when repainting car units;
  • a set of tools for non-welding straightening: hammers, blades, mandrels, etc .;
  • vice;
  • Sander. It can also be a regular grinder that can grind and cut;

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Sander
  • electric drill;
  • milling machine;
  • pneumatic spray gun for surface painting;
  • a set of hand-held locksmith tools: chisels, punches, barbs, etc .;
  • measuring instruments: calipers, tape measures, etc.

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Measuring tape

It is quite logical that this list can be continued indefinitely - its length depends on your knowledge, skills, financial capabilities and willingness to delve into the intricacies of the process.

It is likely that you will undertake only simple work with your own hands, and for more serious service - contact a car service station.

Any car repair specialist uses tools that can hardly be called standard, but they make your life a lot easier. Let's consider some of them:

Do-it-yourself car repair requires a serious base of tools, fixtures and materials. Without the presence of the obligatory standard tools, car repairs will simply be impossible.

Therefore, if you are planning to repair your car yourself, it will be very helpful to know what tools and fixtures are used for different operations. The success of the work, as well as the time spent, depends on how fully and competently your workshop is staffed.

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If you don't know what is DIY car repair, but are planning to try, you should take into account a few not obvious, but life-tested ones.
1. Keys are always lost. For some reason, 13-horns are most susceptible to this - I do not know what this is connected with, perhaps with the "bad" number 13. Therefore, all keys need to have two pieces, and 13-horns - at least three. In addition, one size lock nut and lock nut will put single wrench car owners in an awkward position.

2. If you are sitting in a pit and you urgently need a key, it will certainly be outside, somewhere on the hood.

3. In any car there is certainly at least one nut (bolt), to which you cannot crawl with an open-end wrench and don’t put on the socket head. How they managed to twist it at the factory is a great mystery. There are more such nuts in a domestic car than any other.For example, in the "classic" it is the lower starter bolt, or several bolts of the oil sump - those that are directly above the crossbeam, or ... But you never know they are there!

4. The nut from point 3 can still be unscrewed. Don't ask me how - but a stubborn person who has nowhere to retreat will certainly find a way. (And the lower starter bolt, once you unscrew it, do not screw it back - well, fuck it, the starter keeps perfectly on the two remaining ones).

5. When disassembling almost any unit of cars, there will certainly be at least one nut (bolt) that will refuse to unscrew, no matter what you do with it. The edges of the nut will break off, the hairpin will turn, the stuck bolt will break off ... This does not mean at all that you are some kind of especially crooked-handed - this is how the world works.

6. Based on point 5, it is absolutely necessary to have a stock of various fasteners in order to replace the damaged one. Experienced auto mechanics accumulate such a stock by itself, and a beginner will have to run to the nearest auto store for one unfortunate nut.

7. The nearest auto shop will be closed.

8. After you ran to the nearest store for one nut, be sure to ruin another one. So do not rush to the store - first take everything apart and count the losses.

9. Since you had to drag the line to the store, then take the nuts with a margin - they cost a penny, and in the next repair they will come in handy.

10. When assembling the repaired unit with your own hands, do not rush to tighten the most inaccessible nuts, first make sure that the unit is operational after the bulkhead. This will make it easier to disassemble everything back when you are sure to screw something. For example, when replacing the clutch on the "Niva", do not tighten the upper bolt of the box, which you have to approach with a construction of two extension cords with cardan joints - then you will not be so offended to see a forgotten release bearing at the edge of the pit.

11. If the knot "does not come off", do not rush to take up the pry bar and the sledgehammer - most likely, you did not notice some small but harmful bolt.

12. Still, one cannot do without a pry bar and a sledgehammer, especially in the case of domestic cars.

13. The hardest part of the work will not be the one you expected.

14. A cheap tool will cause such troubles that you will forever commit yourself to saving money on it. So don't even try it. For example, a Chinese key with a weakened jaw will necessarily cut off the edges on the nut exactly in the place where you cannot stick a grinder or nut cutter.

15. Even the most seasoned and intelligent people swear in the garage. Without these spells, you simply will not unscrew anything and a full-fledged repair will not happen, it's checked.

16. Therefore, do not take women and children to the garage, even if you need an assistant for a trifling operation like pumping the brakes. There is no need to expand their vocabulary so much. And peeing behind a slightly open collar is somehow easier in a same-sex company.

17. When preparing to carry out repairs, try to foresee all operations, and everything that you can break in the process. For example, when replacing the brake slave cylinder with a foolishness, you will definitely need a pipe tightening wrench, and there is a very high probability of the pipe breaking. Both cost a penny, but if you have not thought about it in advance, then by all means make sure that ... see p. 7.

18. The optimal number of repairmen is two. Many operations cannot be performed alone, and three people will only interfere with each other. The main thing in this case is to start drinking AFTER the final repair, and not before. An exception is winter repairs in an unheated garage.

19. Do not assemble the tool until you are sure that the repaired unit is fully functional. Bad sign…

20. If you have a "heavy" tool for correcting your own mistakes - grinder, welding, drill, extractors, self-tightening pliers, chisel and nut cutter - then there is a chance that they will not be needed.If they are not there, they will certainly be needed and the repair will not end without them.

21. The necessary puller will certainly be lost, although you "know for sure that it was lying here ...". If you spit and buy a new one, then the loss will instantly be found. Let's say I already have three sets of cable ties for the springs ...

22. To give “to use” your instrument is the surest way to lose it. Make up persuasive excuses ahead of time so you don't fight with your garage neighbors. For example, a friend of mine converted an entire power tool for exotic three-pin sockets, and it became very difficult to use it somewhere other than his garage ...

23. When changing the oil, you will definitely be doused with hot working off, and you will let the cork into the drain container. Don't be discouraged - this is an integral part of the technological process.

24. Expecting to "quickly fix a simple breakdown", you will certainly discover a couple of serious malfunctions that you did not even know about. Let's say an innocent brake pad change might reveal:
a) Current slave cylinder.
b) Critical wear of the drum or disc.
c) Backlash in the wheel bearing.
d) Backlash in the steering rod.
e) Semi-shaft oil seal leaking.
f) Damage to the drive boot.
g) Stretched parking brake cable.
h) ... but you never know what else ...
So:

25. Any car repair always takes longer, harder and more expensive than you bargained for. However, this is not only about auto repair ...

If you do not plan to study car repair, as they say, do it yourself regularly enough, and you are going to "shake up the car once", you better get this idea out of your head. The notion that self-repair can be "economical" is greatly exaggerated if it is not a regular hobby. Even very unassuming at first glance domestic cars, contrary to anecdotes, cannot be repaired with a sledgehammer, pliers and a well-known mother. And many novice auto mechanics do not even imagine how many absolutely obligatory repair tools they need to purchase! And how much will all this cost ... And most importantly, will your car suffer !?

Every car owner must maintain the condition of his vehicle in proper condition. Thus, sooner or later, any car enthusiast will be faced with the need to repair a car.

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To do this, you can contact a professional service center that repairs foreign cars or domestic cars, but you will have to pay money for the services of specialists. To save some money, many motorists do their own car repairs. At the same time, there are a lot of nuances here, which we will talk about now.

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In the course of doing car repairs with your own hands, as a rule, the main attention is paid to:

  • timely replacement of consumables (filters, various oils and other fluids, brake pads);
  • the condition of the engine and chassis (control over the oil level, the condition of the valves, etc.);
  • support for the correct operation of the vehicle's electrical systems;
  • control over the wear of seals (gaskets, anthers, cuffs);
  • support for the aesthetically pleasing appearance of the interior.

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Video advice for repairing a car with your own hands: