Do it yourself automotive technician?

I have been thinking for a while about the whole process of how an otherwise innocent human being slowly ascends the cruel and comical learning curve of do-it-yourself automobile maintenance. I think back to the days when changing spark plugs made me nervous, and think of the things I could have fixed on my last car if I knew what I know now. I was mulling over how I would try to recount some of my own experiences and perhaps create a little "path" others might follow, or they have more sense, avoid! then this post from Jon McVety to Audifans presented the issue so concisely it made me decide to get the file written, so I just had to use it as an introduction:

Re: Shuddering Steering Wheel = Shuddering Wallet

From: Jon Mcvety

*sigh* I only wish I had more experience working on cars. I've done very, VERY minor repairs on the car, but nothing like the removal, refurbishing and replacing that is going on right now. If I had someone in the area that was experienced that could help out, it might make me more comfortable. But because it is my daily driver, I'm more afraid that I'd screw something up and REALLY need repairs. I'm a firm believer in Murphy's Law. I'm inquiring about a 4KCSQ that's for sale in Mass. If the price is right, I may just buy it to have a car that I can root through and gain some experience. Mechanically, it is similar to my CGT so I could probably use the stuff I learn interchangeably. I often wonder where people on the list have gotten all their experience but I imagine that the answer would be "trial and error".

First I would have to say that only the mechanically inclined should venture to ride this merry-go-round. One should already be able to wield a screwdriver with confidence, and have determined that grabbing some hand tools to fix something around the house doesn't result in paying a professional to tell you that you made it a lot wor$e. You don't have to have fixed the problem - just so long as you know how to avoid making it worse. You don't have to be a born mechanic, just someone who can make a tool do what you plan to do, and follow instructions well. Patience is a virtue, as is staying sober until you stop working on a project.

I think we all know who we are. If you're reading this you're almost certain to have become comfortable changing your own oil by now. Perhaps you've become a little more ambitious already, perhaps not. But it's quite likely that you are beginning to face the kind of auto repairs that will put a big dent in your budget, and someone has told you that doing it yourself will save a whole bunch of money. You like the idea of repairing your car as a rewarding hobby, and/or find that your time is easier to expend than hard earned dollars.

This is a hobby that grows on you. You slowly decide to fix more and more complex systems on your vehicle. You acquire tools, and skills, each step of the way becoming more prepared for the next. One of the most important things to know for each job is how to tell you have finished it correctly.

The typical place to start is oil changes. Even these are demanding, if you screw up you may ruin your engine. But it's easy to check for leaks before driving anywhere. Then the typical homewrencher will usually progress to spark plugs and wires, lights, and other filters. You can often stay at this level successfully, getting some satisfaction and keeping your eye under the hood, for a long time. It wouldn't require more than a pretty basic tool set, some sockets or wrenches, a few screwdrivers, and hopefully a decent oil filter wrench.

Going beyond this point is where it starts to get interesting. It's quite likely that next move will be the one that doesn't save you money or time. You will suddenly need a much better assortment of tools, and decent space to work in. But you get to keep the tools! I think it's easier to move to basic "bolt on" parts, things you undo a bunch of fasteners, remove the old stuff, set up your new stuff, and reassemble. Things like fuel filters, cooling system parts, and brake jobs come to mind. Now you're dealing with messy fluids and various methods of sealing them in. There are parts that are "simple" that require disconnecting a lot of things to replace. You need to be able to keep track of where everything goes, and put it all back properly to succeed. The 5 cylinder valve cover gasket is like this. SImple project, but a lot of junk on top of the engine has to be moved out of the way and put back properly.

Then comes the kind of job where you spend some serious time dismantling a system, need to know in advance (hopefully) what little items you should have on hand to replace while you're in there, and perhaps bring part of the work to a regular shop to have them do part of it. Changing front struts would be typical here. Again, not a hard job, but you need to know to have new strut bearings on hand, new locknuts, you will probably bring the assemblies to someone to have the spring compressed in the removal and replacement phase, and at some point you have the entire front suspension of each side lying in pieces in front of you. And you are dirty and tired...

Each step along the way involves some learning, probably a few new tools, and a bit of chutzpah. I actually think the tools required can be a useful gauge of whether you're ready to tackle a job or not. If all you need is one special socket or a couple of bigger wrenches, and you've used all the tools you already own, you're probably ready to try the work in question. If it requires going out and buying a lot on things you've never touched before, maybe you should let a pro do it this time. Perhaps they'll let you watch... try to see how they handle the tools, how much force they use for various steps, how they organise the removed parts.

Neatness counts! Laying out everything in an orderly fashion makes it easier to reassemble. So does keeping the tools for the job within reach and clean. I try to put away tools during a job if they won't be needed for the other side, or for reassembly. During disassembly I usually put the bits that come off in order on a clean rag or paper towel, out of harms way, even if I know how they go together.

The sorts of work you tackle will also depend on where your skills tend to be. You may find yourself in a similar situation to me - I'll cut apart and repair or customise any electrical system on my car, updating my schematic while doing it, but I've never been "inside" my engine (yet!). Go with your strengths and leave the work you feel unprepared for or unqualified to do for others. Of course, any chance to help someone else do something you are unfamiliar with should be siezed! You can learn a lot this way if you pay attention.

Whether I am getting ready to replace something that is wearing out, or just doing something silly to my car, the process is the same. First, I try to learn all I can about the systems involved and adjacent to it. Then I slowly decide how much of a project to make of it. I will almost certainly replace everything in pairs or sets, since it is usually easier to do both sides while the tools are out and I'm greasy. Often I will work on adjacent systems if opening one up is required to work on the other, but at the same time I try to limit the time I will probably have to spend from pulling the car in to driving it back out. I really like 5 to 8 hour projects, but I don't mind up to 20 hours - that's most of a weekend, luckily I have another Audi to drive. Of course I have to remember my fudge factor, to multiply how long I think it will take and get the real amount of time expected!

I'll buy all the new parts, and new hardware. If I can I will get extra metal parts that will come off, especially if they are steel, and paint them first. Then, with all the stuff lying around and my notes and manuals, I have essentially put together a "kit" for doing the job. I remember at the end of the CIS-E swap scrabbling around for the piece of paper I knew must exist with the "instructions" for which wires to connect to power it up - I was quite fatigued and there's no way I could have figured it out at that point. I found it, did it, and drove out for a late night meal, exhausted but quite pleased with myself!

When, if, when, if I ever upgrade to the underhood fuse box, I expect to have 20-30 pages of instructions for myself. I will have to cut, solder and heatshrink about 100-150 wires, often not the same color codes. My planning goal is to be able to just follow instructions, hopefully with the job set up so I can test systems and sub-systems for functionality at certain points along the way. (ie, Step 1: connect these 15 wires, hook battery back up - the lights should work now. Disconnect battery again and proceed to step 2)

Sometimes things go very smoothly, other times they don't. Then I leave it for a fresh day to straighten out the mess and drive the beater!

Here is my competely arbitrary list of the types of jobs the amateur can successfully attempt:

One thing about working on your own car - it's a great excuse to buy lots of nifty tools, many of which can be useful in other ways. You've got to have the right tools for a job. This puts the forces you apply where they belong without breaking parts, damaging fasteners, and bruising knuckles.

I would suggest starting with the largest assortment of Craftsman tools you can afford, along with a decent storage unit for them. The only pain here is they tend to biased slightly toward SAE (inch) sizes, and you'll pretty much only use Metric stuff on your Audi. This will usually set you up with a bunch of wrenches, screwdrivers, sockets, extensions, and ratchets to drive them.

When I discover that I seem to need something I try to buy it ASAP so I don't have to hack future jobs. If you are forever daisy chaining socket extensions to get at things, go buy a really long extension. If you get sick of trying to thread fasteners into cruddy threaded holes, get a tap set to chase the threads clean. If you're going to work on hydraulic lines get some of the wrenches that fit over the hoses but grab four of the faces of the hex fittings so they don't get chewed up.

Only you will know what you need in your arsenal to tackle the kind of jobs you will do, but it helps to have plenty of things like funnels, pans, clean rags, spare fluids, extension cords, common nuts and bolts, etc. If you have to work outside a good investment is a four outlet, heavy (16 GA minimum, 12 is nice) GFI protected extension cord.

If you are ever going to lift the car you should get a decent hydraulic jack, the roadside flat tire jacks are not cool to work on a car with. You must have jackstands! The jack is just to raise the car - the stands and wheelchocks hold it safely while you work.

There are some expensive toys that make working on a car a lot easier, but may be tough to justify unless you do a lot yourself. One of these is an air compressor, which lets you use air driven power tools, and also gives you a way to blow things clean without getting lightheaded. Another would be a drill press. Less pricey but still not in every home shop are a good vise on a sturdy workbench, an arbor press, good portable lighting, magnetic bolt trays, etc.

You should take good care of your tools, if you expect them to work well for you. Keep them clean. Store them neatly. Replace anything that gets worn, rusty, or damaged in any way. Don't try to use them for things they weren't designed for - remember, a large screwdriver may look like a pry bar, but it is tempered differently. Use your tools safely, never apply force towards your body, wear safety goggles and gloves and sturdy, non-flammable clothing.

Here is my tool list sorted by my whims and abilities...

In order to write, a woman should have a room of her own (...and a little money). The environment you are able to create in which to work on your car will determine to a large extent what you are able to tackle. The ideal, of course, is heated well lit garage space. It's nice to have room to walk easily around the vehicle even with the doors open. You should have enough safely wired electrical outlets. You will need a level, hard surface if you are going to lift the car. In fact, working on a car on a non level surface is probably not a good idea anyway, since dropped parts can roll away and fluid levels are difficult to determine. Working outside can also be constrained by neighborhood rules - some places don't allow it at all, though those neighborhoods usually have houses with three car garages! There is still the issue of weather. Today it may be nice enough to tear apart your car, but tomorrow after you go get the parts you didn't already have it may be raining, cold, and generally inhospitable. (Remember I live in New England, where a nice day can yield snow, sleet, rain, lightning, and howling winds, all within the course of two hours!)

If you are frustrated by cramped space, extension cords all over the place, or bad lighting, it will be just as bad as trying to do a job without the right tools. Your skills will be diminished, you will tire sooner, lose or misplace things, and may make mistakes you wouldn't have otherwise.

I think in order of importance you would want to consider: good lighting; good safe power; adequate elbow room; storage space; a telephone; clean up area (for you, for parts, and for tools); benches for disassembly and manuals; a place to kick back and take five. You should keep spare parts (used and new) carefully marked and safely stored, this goes triple for automotive fluids!

You should also ensure not only your own safety but the safety of others. Try to make sure children and pets won't be able to wander into your line of fire, or injure themselves with the tools and fluids you may have lying around at times.

Another factor in your working environment that is not so obvious are the conditions you encounter under your hood (or elsewhere). Try to keep your engine compartment clean and neat. Make sure wires are neatly strapped and out of harms way. Hoses should not chafe. Fasteners that have different possible orientations (like hose clamps) should be aligned so they are easy to get at. Wipe up fluid spills under the hood, before they start to accumulate road dirt. It's a lot easier to work on machinery that is not covered by 1/4" of filthy goo - at least you can see where the parts are!

Troubleshooting is the ultimate art in automobile repair. If you can't figure out what is broken, it doesn't matter how skilled you are or how many big shiny red boxes of tools you have - you aren't going to be able to fix it. Different systems require different approaches and skills to diagnose. There's a person at most larger repair facilities called a "service writer", this is the make or break link in a typical shop - because they interface with the customer, and write the work order telling the mechanic what to fix. This is a slight oversimplification, since the work order could indicate that a diagnosis is required. Smaller shops often live or die by the diagnostic skills of the owner.

Since you are unlikely to hire a service writer or skilled diagnostician to come by Saturday morning and help get you started, you will have to perform this key function yourself!

First comes defining and describing the problem. This starts with observing some sort of fault in your vehicle. The next step is to decide what you can still do safely! If you're getting a really loud vibration at a front wheel, don't take any 50 mph road tests! Within reason, you can usually try to narrow down the symptoms by operating the car carefully away from traffic to determine the conditions under which they manifest themselves. Remember you may have two different things to fix. At this point you are trying to define the symptoms accurately enough to narrow down what could be the cause, in order to limit the scope of your investigation.

Once the problem is defined, there will often be several possible causes. To proceed you need to know how to eliminate them until you know exactly what is wrong. Sometimes disassembly and examination and testing of parts is required. I try to start with the more global, easy to check theories first (is the fuse blown? is the tire pressure correct?) and move to more specific parts later (does the fuel pump relay work? are the ball joints bad?).

If you intend to go to someone to ask what to fix, you should do them the favor of narrowing down the conditions under which the problem manifests itself, and describing it as accurately as possible. Usually even experienced mechanics will, after determining how to proceed, bounce their theory off someone else to make sure they haven't overlooked or forgotten something.

Learning to troubleshoot various systems takes a lot of time. Each kind of problem requires understanding as fully as possible how a system is supposed to work, hypothesising which parts could cause your symptoms when they fail or wear, prior to running to the parts store and buying a new fuel pump. By the way, "bad fuel pump" is the single highest frequency incorrect amateur diagnosis out there. Car doesn't run? Must be a bad fuel pump (it explains all the symptoms...). This illustrates the fact that many times, a break in one place will cause other systems to operate incorrectly. You'll need to learn how the different parts of your car interact so you can trace your symptoms accurately and quickly down to the actual cause.

Measurement devices are almost mandatory at this point. Meters and test lights for electrical systems, calipers and runout gauges for brakes, compression and leakdown testers for engine internals, etc. will make your diagnosis that much more accurate.

Sometimes it is possible to temporarily bypass a suspected failing system to establish if the symptoms go away. Bypassing a relay or clmaping a vacuum line closed would be examples of this. You should never consider operating the car normally when this kind of temporary fix is in place. Fix it properly or you will be endangering your vehicle, yourself, and most unfairly, others on the road.

It can take a lot of networking to figure out what is wrong with your car, what parts you should have to fix it, what tools will be required, and whether you should tackle it yourself. The thing to remember about this is to make yourself a welcome guest at the places you seek knowledge. Be personable and friendly. Be polite. If you are going to ask a local pro a question about how to fix your car - take a back seat to their paying customers, and try to throw the work you can't handle their way.

Do any of your resources a favor and learn to accurately describe the problem, in their language if at all possible. Take notes when they tell you what they think it might be. Ask what parts you should replace while you have a system dismantled - some things just should be replaced together since the labor to get them out is worth far more than the part in question. The water pump and timing belt are an example of this. There often be minor bits and pieces that should be replaced around the main item you are fixing. Try to find out what they are before you start.

Most people who know something are usually glad to share it, so long as they feel they are appreciated. Bring beer or food. Offer to lend a hand when they need it. Buy good tools of your own and use them rather than trying to borrow theirs wherever possible - they will respect that I'm sure.

Most of all, as you discover that certain people are able to point you in the right direction, try to understand and internalise how it is they are able to do this. Their thought process may be the most important thing they teach you eventually. It enables you to lessen your dependency on them and become a better mechanic yourself.

Your goal is to progress from saying "my car runs badly, what do I do?" to "I have such and such a symptom under these certain conditions, I have tested X, Y, and Z, I think I should adjust setting W and perhaps then replace component V, what do you think?"

One of the more important things in life is to know your limitations. Sure, you're expanding your range, even surprising yourself from time to time, but there will be some repairs you just shouldn't even think about getting dirty on, let alone tackling yourself. This bar will of course keep getting raised as your proficiency increases. Even so there are times when you just want to hand a job over to someone else, even if you could do it yourself. Do them a favor - try to resist buying your own parts unless they are comfortable with it, and don't hack into the job part way before bringing it to them unless you and they have agreed that it makes sense.

How do you know when it's time to do this?

One indicator is the need to buy too many tools to tackle the job. I think learning to use one new tool while fixing something is fine, but if you have to go out and buy three or four things whose names you couldn't even spell last week, maybe you should pass this time.

Another is whether you are able to pronounce most of the names of the parts shown on the appropriate page(s) of your shop manual. A working familiarity with the system in question is important, and if you haven't developed this yet, maybe someone else should do the work and you can pay close attention to what they tell you they had to do, or perhaps even watch them if they don't mind.

A third is the time you have to invest. I try to think vaguely in terms of "book" time as a bench mark, sometimes using labor times from occasions where I paid someone to do the same job. I plan on it taking me 2-3 times as long as that if I haven't done something before, maybe cutting it down to 1.5 times longer if I have some practice. It is very hard for the amateur to approach professional speed on a job. So you decide that a certain job will take all your spare time for an entire weekend - and you wanted to go fishing with the kids Sunday. What is your fishing trip worth to you? Maybe more than the cost of having the job done by someone else!

If you don't fully understand how a system operates, you shouldn't tackle repairing it. If you aren't sure how to make sure you have reassembled everything correctly and safely, don't even start. If something requires equipment that costs more than the labor for doing it several times, maybe it's just not worth doing it yourself even if it would be fun.

You can save money working on your car yourself, and if you come to enjoy it, you can even do things where you don't save money - it has become a hobby like any other!