DIY Car Servicing - happy or dont touch?

[Tifa]

I do all my own motorcycle servicing, valve shims, throttle body balancing, brakes, suspension seals rebuilds tyre changes etc...
I enjoy it and I've acquired the tools to do it. I don't trust dealers at all. Too many instances where I've been charged for valve adjustments, but the com cover hasn't been taken off..or getting a bike back from a tyre change with 60psi. etc..
The car I take into the main dealers as it's just more convenient and I haven't got the facility or inclination to go sliding underneath...

[eldrich]

Noew cars are just so difficult to access things now, I looked at my fathers Volvo V40 and changing the battery for him, no joke it involved having to refer to a youtube video for the process (not joking) which suggested allowing 90 mins to 2 hrs to change the 'easier to access' battery made me think about. To change the other battery in the car I was told would involve taking the front bumper off.

When I cosider an old Mini and we used to think how tight the engine was in the engine bay it now seems like there was so mauch space to work in compared to a 'modern' car where every single square inch of space is crammed full of something.

[Neil.C]

What I can do service wise myself I will because apart from it saves a good chunk of money I think we do a better job on our own cars than a third party will do, for example I changed the plugs recently in one of my cars but while doing that I checked and cleaned everything I could get too in this part of the engine, a third party would have just changed the plugs, job done.

Last week I had two track rod ends fitted to my MR2, simple job but after fitting a wheel alignment is needed so these were fitted at a garage and a good job done but if I had been able to do the job myself I would of cleaned the area, treated any rust in reach, sprayed WD40 on nuts/threads and perhaps replaced any unimportant screws/nuts/bolts with stainless etc.

Plus doing it myself I find it satisfying and keeps the brain and hands going.

Next time you can DIY and clean up stuff as much as you like.

Just count the turns as you remove the track rod ends and refit the new ones the same number of turns. Tighten up and either string track or take it to a tyre shop for tracking.

[Dave+63]

Thats why I use it in preparation of replacing rusty bolts etc.

My mistake, that wasn’t what I read from what you wrote.

[TheTigerUK]

Next time you can DIY and clean up stuff as much as you like.

Just count the turns as you remove the track rod ends and refit the new ones the same number of turns. Tighten up and either string track or take it to a tyre shop for tracking.

Track rod ends are a garage job for me as I want the alignment done right and I don't want to be faffing about with string alignment and I like it blob on :)

In the nice weather I will have the wheels off and clean and prep the area anyway so all not lost.

- - - Updated - - -

My mistake, that wasn’t what I read from what you wrote.

Never mind Dave.

[Jeremy67]

Out of interest this has to be the best penetrating oil on the planet

https://htsupplies.co.uk/products/in...ck-oil-aerosol

The boys at practical classics speak very highly of:

https://www.lubricantsuppliers.com/p...1-bulldog-bdx/

...I would always go to a talented, competent, and able person...

Sadly, many of those working as mechanics are none of those things.

I do a desk job and love working on cars, both our daily drivers and classics, as a complete change in the evenings and at weekends.

The coil pack failed recently on our Zafira B. Halfords were (amazingly) the cheapest supplier and the job was done in about 20 minutes. I got a satisfaction hit and probably saved £100 or so quid.

I recently changed the thermostat on our Panda, a fiddly job that took a couple of hours but again I probably saved a couple of hundred and am still enjoying the fact that it gets properly up to temperature again.

[ralphy]

Regarding the DIY versus leave it to them who know what they are doing...

This is the DSG oil filter from swmbo's 2014 75,000 mile VAG car that came complete with a FSH from new:



Not unsurprisngly, the oil looked awful.

R