How comfortable are you with working on your car?

[notfred]

We've got a million people in here posting a million threads on cars (I know, I do it too). I want to know how comfortable you are under the hood of your car. Anything from "I can't change my own oil" to "I built my motor myself" I jsut want to see how much people are willing to do themselves.

Personally, I'll do jsut about anything that's not actually inside the engine block (except maybe the heads) myself with jsut the chilton's manual. If I needed to pull the heads or do a complete engine rebuild or soething, I'd definitely get someone with some more experience to help.

 

[aphex]

I wash it ALL ON MY OWN!

 

[RU482]

I am about to attempt my first brake job and oil change

glad I'm selling that car

 

[iamwiz82]

i can do little things. No head gaskets or timing belts for me, though.

 

[Joyride]

Other then changing the oil, lights, wipers and adding various fluids. No

If it's to technical then I have someone else do it

 

[Theslowone]

I do almost anything to it, that needs to be done, from changing oil to freeze plug to almost anything not to big. But not to worried if it dies.

 

[Smacksmackums]

<< I wash it ALL ON MY OWN! >>

 

[Angrymarshmello]

I can do basic maintenance and work on it with a guide I have. Other than that it's off to my guy to let him mess with it

 

[JC]

I'm not good at (nor do I like doing) body/paint, but other than that I can and have built cars from the ground up. Major chassis mods, suspension, brakes, wiring, engine building, I can do
all of that. After all, I was a mechanic over 10 years and I've had my own car shop.

JC

 

[308nato]

There's another way to do it?

 

[Transition]

3 Motorswaps in various Honda's.. I'm pretty confident doing almost all maintenance on any Honda. When i got my Jetta (92') i did my t-belt, starter, etc etc.. I'm not the most mechanically inclined person in the world - but i usually can bang my way around under the hood.

P.S. I hate working on German and mid-engined cars.

 

[apoppin]

Just regular maintanance on it . . . it is a 2002 car under warranty for 50K more miles (90K more powertrain warranty).

Anything needs fixing, it's back to the dealer.

I CAN work on cars (I rebuilt both my '76 Mazda Cosmo rotary engines). Since I had an accident, it is more difficult for me so I bought a new car.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

<< I wash it ALL ON MY OWN! >>

 

[GooberPHX420]

I AM LEET ENOUGH TO CHANGE THE OIL........IN MY AIR FILTER

 

[ProfessorFate]

Honda tech, been wrenching for 20 years...I can fix it.

 

[datalink7]

I could can change the oil, put in water/anti-freeze, and change spark plugs but thats about it. I can do other stuff if someone tells me what to do.

 

[gogeeta13]

things i have done or did to someones car in the last 6 months: brakes, brake rotors, oxygen sensor, exhaust system, struts, lights, oil, etc, alternator, starter motor, spark igniter thing, wiper motors

i cant think of much else int he last 6 months i am pretty comfortable with most things, but in terms of stuff inside the engine or tranny and Sh!t i leave to people who know more i have swapped an engine in a car, but nothing internal

 

[Ronstang]

There really isn't anything I can't or haven't done to a car. I do everything from building engines, automatic & manual trannies, and setting up differentials to complete bodywork/paint jobs and even upholstery. I restore cars from the ground up and there really isn't anything to hard about any of it if you approach it properly. One of my current project involves a complete custom wiring harness due to a fuel injected engine going into an old car and another project involves replacing a great deal of sheetmetal, both structural and cosmetic, on a friend's "67 Mustang. I even make a lot of parts from srcratch when there are no longer any available or there is no such part in existence so I have to design it then too.

I guess I would say I am fairly comfortable working on my car.

BTW Notfred, you MPH is such that you car should be faster....you really need to work on that 60 ft. time, you need to shoot for at least 1.80s. MPH is usually a good indicator of HP and ET is an indicator of how efficiently you are using it.

 

[mastertech01]

I do it for a living. There are people with whom I wish DIDNT feel comfortable working on thier cars. I usually have to fix what they screwed up first, before I can diagnose what the real problem was from the beginning. A lot of people do un-necessary repairs trying to find the root problem and end up spending a lot more than had they taken it to a professional to begin with. An yes some of those "butchers" include some of the "mechanics" in small private shops.

 

[308nato]

<< Honda tech, been wrenching for 20 years...I can fix it. >>



have you ever competed in the annual Honda tech competition?

 

[ProfessorFate]

<< ave you ever competed in the annual Honda tech competition? >>



No, not a big fan of that kind of stuff, it doesn't pay the bills. I've been working on Hondas since '94, before that Jaguars (don't ask )

 

[308nato]

<< No, not a big fan of that kind of stuff, it doesn't pay the bills. I've been working on Hondas since '94, before that Jaguars (don't ask ) >>



I won't.

Is Professor Fate a reference to "The Great Race". That is a freakin' hilarious movie.

 

[notfred]

<< BTW Notfred, you MPH is such that you car should be faster....you really need to work on that 60 ft. time, you need to shoot for at least 1.80s. MPH is usually a good indicator of HP and ET is an indicator of how efficiently you are using it. >>



I know, but the car has street tires (225s) on it, it's not reall possible to hit 1.80 on these tires. I'm going to get a pair of drag radials for the back, and shoot for a 1.75 60" time.

 

[ProfessorFate]

<< Is Professor Fate a reference to "The Great Race". That is a freakin' hilarious movie. >>



Congratulations! You're the winner, I've been using this handle online for quite some time and you're the first one to put it together.
"We can melt, we can blast, we can rise above, we are invincible! Press the button Max."

So, are you a Honda tech too?

 

[rh71]

I haven't tried my own oil change yet, but I'd love to. I know next to nothing about troubleshooting car problems... except blown fuses and low pressure on the tires.