Car Repairs You Can Do It Yourself

KUALA LUMPUR: Maintaining and repairing your car can drain down your pocket fast. Expensive parts along with a hefty price mechanics charge, make car repairs an expensive affair, that we would all love to avoid. While it's definitely easier to drive your ride to a dealership or a mechanic, sit and wait or play some games while they service your car and give them gobs of money in return. But if you wish to save some money, we have an economical alternative for you. Do these repairs yourself. Regardless of your technical abilities or insight about cars, you can easily do these repairs at home. And, we aren't just talking about a coolant top up or changing the tire. If you can hold a wrench, you can perform all tasks from changing the filters to fixing the dents. Moreover, if your car is broken down in the middle of nowhere, you can avoid being stranded and make some repairs yourself. Doing it yourself, will save you unnecessary trips to a mechanic – saving you both money and time. We at CarBay present some easy trips to perform these repairs yourself.

Cleaning air filters:

Like we need clean air to function, a car also requires clean air to work. It is advisable to clean your air filters after every 10,000 Kilometers to ensure your car run smoothly, without any hindrances. To clean air filters:

1. Identify the air filter box, hold the clips and pull it towards you. In older cars, there might be a nut that needs loosening.
2. After you open all the clips lift the cover slightly. Do not attempt to remove it completely. Hold the air filter, lift it up and take it out.
3. Use a blower to blow away the dust. Do not wash it as it is important to keep the filter dry. After you have cleaned it, trace back the steps.

Replace the wiper blades:

Monsoons bring a magnificent weather, along with a need to change your car's wipers. With rains ahead, a clean windscreen is a must and to ensure this you need to make sure car's wipers are working perfectly. Feel the wiper blade to check whether they are soft and straight, if they are wavy, they need to be replaced. Changing wipers is quick, easy and painless, all you need to do is:

1. Lift the wiper. There’s a small clip at the joint; press it with one finger and push the blade down towards the car. It will come off.
2. Now place the new one along the wiper and slide it up till it locks. Use wiper fluid regularly for longer blade life.

Jump Start your car:

We hope you never have to endure this but prepare for it anyways. Whether you left the light on, the key in the ignition or your car's battery has worn out, you might once have to face a dead car sooner or later. But fret not, rather that spending hours waiting for a tow truck, you can now jumpstart your car. All you need to do is:

1. Find someone who can help you and ask them to get their car close enough to yours so you can attach the cables. Make sure the car and all its electric components are off.
2. Find the battery and identify the positive and negative terminals. Make sure to check for leaks, cracks or damages in the battery if any.
3. Connect the red clamp to the positive terminal of both the batteries and black clamp to the negative. Start working the car and let it run for a few minutes, this will charge the dead battery.

Changing a flat tire:

Imagine you are stuck with a flat tire in the middle of nowhere, with no phone signal too. Sounds like a scene from a scary movie, so let's turn it into something better. Everyone should know how to change a flat tire and with these easy steps, you can now do it all by yourself:

1. Pull the handbrake and keep the car in gear. Make sure you are on level ground. Before raising the car, loosen the wheel bolts.
2. Identify the point where you can place the jack. Make sure the device is firmly placed under the vehicle before you raise it.
3. Unscrew the bolts. Replace the wheel. Screw the bolts back on, but don’t try and tighten them too much. Jack down and then tighten the bolts.

Fix the spark plugs:

Spark plugs are an essential part that makes your car run. These plugs use the electrical current from the ignition to ignite the fuel that powers your car. Like every other part, spark plug can also wear down over time, but good news they are easily replaceable. All you need to do is:

1. Locate the car's spark plug, they generally sit at the top/side of the engine. To remove them, pull the holder out.
2. Use a spanner of an appropriate size to reach the spark plug. It is usually 16mm. Unscrew it in the anti-clockwise direction.
3. Take out the plug clean it with sand paper. Use a spacer to correct the gap. Tighten it with a light hand.