The joy of car repair?

I certainly don't disparage anyone who does their own car repair, but there are times when it just isn't feasible. My son called me this morning and said he was going to replace an alternator. He had the alternator, but asked If I could give him a ride if he needed more parts. No problem for me, but for him, he had to clean out the garage so he could get in his F250, start the propane heater, and then replace the alternator - the temperature was 10°F at the time. He called me later and mentioned a friend of a friend had replaced the alternator, replaced a leaky vacuum hose, and strapped up a low hanging muffler. Sometimes it's worth it to have someone else do the repair. :-) Dick

Reply to
Dick R.
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When I think back to all the stuff I did to my '66 Mustang over the years, I wonder what I was thinking. At various times, I replaced the radiator, the water pump, the shocks, the carburetor, the exhaust system, and probably a few other things I can't remember now, as well as installing a couple of stereos and doing routine maintenance like oil changes. Changing oil is about as far as I'll go with the cars I have now. Time and technology have taken their toll.

Paul

Reply to
Paul

You're sooooo right. Time has taken the "fun" (or the necessity) out of crawling under a car in the snow because if I don't do it, I'll be walking to work on Monday..... :(

Technology today is such that it isn't as "easy" to work under the hood as it used to be. BUT !!! That being said, I can truthfully say that for the most part, cars today are much MUCH more reliable than they were 40 years ago. As a kid, I can't remember ever going on vacation with my parents that we didn't wind up in a gas station either going or coming home because of a busted fan belt, a water pump or generator that fizzled out stranding us until the parts store opened up in the morning.

All that being said, even if I really enjoyed the snow on my back, (assuming it didn't hurt at my "tender age") I can't get my hands greasy and stained like I used to do. I work in medicine and it's very difficult to maintain the "image" needed with black stains in the cracks of my fingers and under my fingernails.

As much as I hate to admit it, times have changed, at least for me. Age, technology and the need to do other things to earn a living have put me in the position of taking my car to the shop for almost everything, even the oil changes

Reply to
notme

Hey guys, I've done a lot of car repairs over the years including engines, transmissions, springs, brakes, and other items. The beginning of the end came one day when I was under the car replacing a muffler. Rust fell into my eyes and I hit my head on the car frame while trying to get out from under the car to rinse my eyes. I used to change my oil but I had nightmares of what a mess it would be if that

5 gallon plastic container split and leaked drain oil all over the garage floor. I'll pay an extra $5 for a shop to change my oil and dispose of the drain oil. I'm done with DIY car repairs!

Dick

Reply to
Dick R.

I've never had many mechanical skills (or patience which is one of the most important) but when I was younger and poorer, it was necessary to save as many dollars as possible: I'd get the shop manual for a used car I bought, read-up on how to maintain it and make minor adjustments......and most times be able to diagnose a problem. Sometimes a problem was more than I could handle, but at least I wasn't a babe in the woods when I took it to a mechanic.

After a while, the saving-money motive was replaced by the sense of accomplishment.....and the satisfaction of knowing that the job was done right (the same reason I do my own house painting and minor repairs: sometimes you can't pay someone enough to do the job right).

'Course, the days of being able to do anything on a modern car are over for me......and the cost of repairs has skyrocketed. The only defense has been to buy new, or nearly-new cars and I don't miss those trips to the repair shop.

Am reminded of my last big problem a few years ago: my '96 Chrysler LHS developed a "clunk" on hard left turns. It started out as an occasional light clunk, but over the period of 3 years progressed to a frequent heavy thud. I read the shop manual, I posted to the Chrysler group and got lots of advice. I learned there was a problem with steering box bushings addressed with a factory retrofit kit. The car went to the dealer and a reputable mechanic innumberable times. All the front end bushings were replaced, the ball joints, the CV joints, the front hubs with bearings, etc. Nothing helped, and if you're thinking this got expensive, your're right. Finally the dealer wanted to replace the struts, mounts, etc to the tune of another $1400 and I drew the line, living with the clunk.

One day I dropped my pen and it rolled under the car, so I'm reaching under there with flashlight in hand and happened to glance at the exhaust system: surprise! only half of the exhaust clamps were there on the downpipes......no end to the clamp or boltsm just the "U" part. So I went to the parts store and bought 2 clamps, installed them and that was the end of the clunk. Certified technicians, indeed!

Reply to
Itsfrom Click

You hit the nail right on the head for me, it's not that I can't afford it it's more like I don't trust the idiots that pass for mechanics these days. More often than not if you bring your car in for repair the repair bill no matter what the problem will be a minimum of $500 and the odds are still pretty good that they won't fix the right stuff. Even if you don't know exactly what is broke just shotgunning the entire car is cheaper and just as effective as taking it to the mechanics. Example: Just took the wife's car in for a new clutch. While it was in I was told the transmission was leaking and needed to sent out for an inspection and new seals. I knew about the leaks from the spots on the driveway so okay go ahead and do it. I get the car back and the spots on the drive way are getting larger instead of smaller. I take it back and they say the engine is leaking from the rear main seals. I blew up right in the managers face and asked him point blank if that was so then why the hell didn't you just replace the damm seal when you had the Trans out the first time. Either he is an idiot or he thinks I'm one but now you know why I would rather do it myself than let them work on it.

Reply to
Ironrod

Hi all, I have to comment on this one. I have owned my 1970 Camaro since 1972 and over the years I replaced or rebuilt the entire car including a motor and transmission rebuild. I now send out just about everything that needs to be done on my cars & truck. Here's the kicker. Two years ago I had a mild heart attack so I could not do anything to any of the vehicles. I took my

1998 Blazer over to the local Muffler chain here in Amsterdam, NY for a simple oil change & lube job. The kid that did the work should have been frying hamburgers instead at the burger king down the street instead of working on cars. He never greased any of the dozen or so fittings under the truck. Oh well he got the oil change put right? WRONG!! Two months later in the middle of winter I'm driving down the road and the oil filter let go. AAA came and towed the truck to a friend who runs a local garage about 5 miles away. The oil filter that this moron kid put on a Chevy Blazer was for a Ford. I almost lost the whole engine. I now only trust this garage to change the oil on all my vehicles. So the moral of this story is make sure that you get someone who has a brain in his head before you trust your car to them. Duke
Reply to
Big Duke

I totally agree! I've been fortunate to find a couple of places that I trust. A local Goodyear service facility has done oil, lube, checks, tires and even brake jobs in the last many years. Good people! The other place is the local Ford dealer with almost "over the top" service. Only problem is when I bring in my 84 Capri 5.0 for service, many people want to buy it! :-) Dick

Reply to
Dick R.

This often takes more work than doing the repairs. To change the timing belt on my brother's mazda required removing an engine mount and supporting the engine and couple other annoying things he isn't equiped to handle so he took it to a place my parents have been taking cars to for over 20 years. Problem is the guy who ran the place died a couple years ago and his wife runs the place now. Well they made a couple screw ups and the car ended up throwing off both accessory belts destroying one of them. While I was in there I found a screw missing from the timing belt cover too...

There's also the pain-in-the-ass factor of taking a car in, getting a ride, etc and so on. Little things like oil changes just take less time to do myself.

Nobody is going to take as much time and care about details as much as I do either.

Reply to
Brent

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