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Learning to do repairs

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dchester

Active Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2007
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138
Firstly, apologies if this thread is in the wrong place :o

Basically, the thread title should say it all, but I'm wondering if anyone can suggest good ways to learn how to do car repairs, I'm not a mechanical genius by any stretch of the imagination, but neither am I a complete idiot (honestly).

Are there resources online that are worth looking at, or courses or is it just a case of try it and see?

Many thanks

D.
 
Start with the basics and ask questions here as you go along.

First off is to buy decent tools. Halfords stuff is actually very good quality.

What sort of repair do you have in mind?

This could be a good series of threads, step by step, Novice to Expert...the trials and tribulations.
 
if its an MB then go on ebay and buy a WIS DVD... once you have spent a day trying to install the damn thing and figured out the buttons, its a mine of useful info.

Dont bother with Haynes, I find they make things look a bit too easy..

Brooklands books are good IMO..
 
Best way is to get an old second car to work on/ restore to learn the basics. You will need a good basic set of tools- socket set, set of open ender spanners etc Don't make the error of making mistakes on your primary means of transport or you will frequently be taking the bus/train /bike to work. You will learn the most by looking over the shoulder of an experienced mechanic ( amateur or professional) and helping them out. Books and manuals are fine but there is no substitute for getting your hands dirty. Swarfega anyone???

edit:- there's general knowledge which is appropriate to all marques,but there is also specialist knowledge of the problems of specific makes like Mercedes and there's where forums like this come into their own.

Increasingly however its becoming more difficult for the "amateur mechanic" as cars become more complex and require dedicated and expensive equipment to interrogate their onboard electronic systems. Even if you replace a faulty component correctly the cars "monitoring system" may require some form of reset to remove a fault warning/error code. So guess my tip would be learn the basics on a pre-electronic era car if you can.
 
Firstly, I have to disagree with Jay. I think Brooklands books are appalling. But that's just my opinion :)

See if your local college does an evenign class in car maintenance. Mine does; and although you'd be very fortunate to find them working on the same model of car as you own, you can still learn a great deal.

Grober's right that cars are becoming more complex, but the majority of the mechanicals within a car are actually quite simple.

Don't start messing about with pistion rings and carburettor needles just yet ;)

PJ
 
dchester said:
Are there resources online that are worth looking at, or courses or is it just a case of try it and see?
Click to expand...

Join a decent forum (oh, you already have :D ), and when you have a specific problem, a search here, or on google can unearth a goldmine of expertise.
 
Tag onto a mechanically minded friend

A few years ago I did a turbo conversion on a friends CRX, At that point he was still paying the dealer to change his oil because he didnt know how to.
5 years later he helps others to change clutches and driveshafts, a blown headgasket holds no fears and he has learned to build the engine in his car from scratch when we upgraded to larger capacity with forged internals. Dan has helped me with quite a few drag and race cars since then and just increased his capabilities vastly, Now we are about to do the 190 he will get an introduction to RWD, Auto boxes, and twin turbos :)


His actual knowledge is quite limited on anything away from a CRX or Civic. However all the solid engineering principles he absorbed during the early days can now be applied to other vehicles even if the parts don't even look the same.
 
dchester said:
Firstly, apologies if this thread is in the wrong place :o

Basically, the thread title should say it all, but I'm wondering if anyone can suggest good ways to learn how to do car repairs, I'm not a mechanical genius by any stretch of the imagination, but neither am I a complete idiot (honestly).

Are there resources online that are worth looking at, or courses or is it just a case of try it and see?

Many thanks

D.
Click to expand...

The actual repair is never really too much of a problem if you have the correct tools / equipment and follow the directions in a manual / CD....and in some cases some patience and several joints on your body that are double jointed :)

The tricky part is the diagnosis......this usually comes with either a thorough understanding of the mechanics / electrics, experience, or a forum such as this where you can draw from other people's experiences.

Its a great place to ask if you are unsure :)
 
Many thanks to you all, there's not any specific repairs that I'm thinking of, more that I'd like to be able to do them as and when they come up. Wrt not doing it on the primary car, I can do it on my runaround (Pug 106) and then graduate onto the Merc when I'm sure(ish) that I'll not kill anything major.

:)

D
 
what i have done is this:

1. buy a car i can work on that i wanted anyway.

2. make sure you have a decent set of tools

3. find something you need to fix / or a service item like changing oil etc

4. look online at tutorials/how-tos/books or ask on here. How to's on the internet are superb.

5. attempt the job after reading the how to a few times

6. if success: grab a beer. if you get into trouble, post on here!

7. If a complete mess - take the car to your local garage to fix - remember this is what you would have to do anyway so you've lost nothing in the attempt yourself

start with jobs that dont render your car comepletely unusuable to begin with. oil change, brake pads etc are probably good starting points.


one of the major benefits to doing work yourself is that you know the work has been done well (hopefully), whats been done, what parts have been used, you may notice things that require doing soon etc.

it can be good fun - i enjoy working on my car but sometimes i hate it.... and i've only done basic stuff so far.
 
Last edited:
Sound advice here as usual..

I'd say just get stuck in. I find the biggest thing that stops me messing with the car is lack of time..

Many simple jobs can be accomplished with a basic socket set, c spanners and a couple of screwdrivers and needle nose pliers.

I have a couple of other useful tools for odd jobs:

big hammer and blocks of wood
axle stands
long pokey metal rod - may have once been a coat hanger
magnet on the end of a telescopic rod (can be v. useful for recovering bits dropped into the depths of the engine bay)
dog's rug for covering interior trim/gravel drive to assist in finding circlips/ trim screws..
a torque wrench
old clothes..

it sometimes helps to take a photo of bits before you dismantle them.
I try to put things I remove in containers so I can find them again - and try not to step on said containers distributing nuts and washers all over the gravel drive. (see dog rug)

Best of luck and keep us posted.

Ade
 
A couple of friends and me rebuilt an Escort gearbox in our youth.

When we'd finished, there was a cog left over :confused:

Gearbox worked fine though :D
 
Come and work for me for free at weekends?
 
imadoofus said:
A couple of friends and me rebuilt an Escort gearbox in our youth.

When we'd finished, there was a cog left over :confused:

Gearbox worked fine though :D
Click to expand...

A friend an I put a new engine into my cooper S back in the late '70s .... for two days we couldnt get the bugger to start....then a guy in the pub asked if we had put the distributor the right way around... we said of course -- went home put it in 180 degrees around -- turned the key and broom broom...first time.... DOH..

How comes cars used to come with spare nuts and bolts?? we always had some left over .:D :D
 
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