Service your car yourself

If you're prepared to spend a day getting your hands dirty by servicing your car yourself, you'll save on big bucks

If you're prepared to spend a day getting your hands dirty by servicing your car yourself, you'll save on big bucks

there's, nothing better than lazing around on a Sunday morning waiting for that 11am brunch. But you could utilise your time better and end up saving cash. How? By simply getting your hands dirty and fixing your car yourself.

Car owners could save thousands of rupees every year by simply by doing a few easy car repair jobs themselves. They could save a lot more by doing more complex maintenance jobs but, admittedly, there's a practical limit to what most of us can manage in our own driveways. That's why this step-by-step service guide focuses on the achievable tasks.

You don't necessarily have to get your car serviced at an authorised workshop if you want to maintain the manufacturer warranty, but we wouldn't advise servicing your car yourself in its first three years unless you're a trained mechanic. Manufacturers might try to use the fact that a 'novice' has done the servicing to wriggle out of a warranty claim. Instead, while your car is under warranty, save money by finding the cheapest workshop price. It's also not wise to service your own car if it's a high-value or high-performance model, because you'll massacre its resale value. Keep all of your parts receipts so you can show any prospective buyer that you've taken care of the car. A workshop guide book provides plenty of detail on. Do It Yourself maintenance, but you should be able to do all of the jobs here using your car's owner's manual to locate the relevant parts.

So, here's a crash course on how to service your car:

Changing your spark plugs
First things first petrol engines have spark plugs, diesel engines don't.u00a0 So if you own a diesel car, skip this part.
If your plugs have become old, worn or damaged, they could cause the engine to misfire, increasing fuel consumption and emissions. Also, faulty spark plugs can play havoc with the car's acceleration, so it's a good idea to change them every 15,000-20,000km just to ensure that the car's reliability is high.

Here's how to change them:
Label each plug lead so you can reconnect them in the correct order. Either that or take them off and replace each plug one at a time.

Clean around each plug before you unscrew it, and remove any dirt so it doesn't fall into the engine's cylinder.

Unscrew the plugs with a socket and inspect them. Sand or grey-coloured plugs indicate that the engine is running okay. Oily plugs may suggest worn oil control rings on the piston, which you should get a workshop to replace.

If you find that even one of the plugs is very dirty, damaged, cracked or otherwise worn, it's best to replace all of them at the same time.

Make sure that the plugs you've bought are the right size, with the right-length thread, for your engine.

Carefully screw the plug in by hand. With a torque wrench, tighten it to the setting indicated in your workshop manual.

Connect the leads to the plugs in the same order as they were in before. Any cracked or otherwise damaged leads should be replaced.

Changing your oil
Fresh oil makes your engine run and smoothly, so change it when required.

Run the engine to warm up the old oil in it, so it's runnier and easier to drain.

With the car supported on axle stands, make sure the sump plug at the bottom of the engine is at the lowest point to allow as much oil as possible to drain out.

Lay a drain pan underneath the plug and unscrew it. Make sure you have something to mop up any spills, and dispose off the oil at your nearest authorised workshop. Put back the sump plug, complete with a new washer.

Remove the oil filter with a oil filter remover, taking care not to spill any oil that might remain inside it.

Make sure the new oil is the correct 'weight' or viscosity, and rub some around the filter's seal. Then fill up the filter to about two-thirds and screw it in place, tightening by hand only.

Top up your engine with oil to around three-quarters (your owner's manual will tell you how much oil your engine needs).

Remove the engine's dipstick, wipe it clean and re-insert it to get an accurate reading of your oil level some of the old oil may remain and it's very important to not overfill your engine. Continue to add oil and check the dipstick until you get to the right level.

Fuses and bulbs
It doesn't take a genius to screw in a light bulb, and checking and changing fuses is child's play. But you'll be surprised to see the amount some high-end workshops will charge you for the job.

Rule out more complicated causes for electrical problems by checking the fuses. Your car's owner's manual will tell you where the fuse box is.

Use fuses from systems that you know are working to check others.

Park against a wall where it's easy to check your lights. It can take very little time to remove the covers behind light clusters and pop a new bulb in, but headlights and their alignment may be too tricky, or require specialist tools. It is critical to ensure that the beam has a good pattern directed towards the road ahead rather than the sky.

Make sure your hands are clean and dry, or else the bulb could blow.

Tyres
Ideally, tyres should be checked at least once a week.

Run your hand around the tyre to feel for any bulges or tears.

Try and check the depth of your tyres regularly. Change tyres when the tread depth hits around 3mm.

Keep your tyres at the right pressure to prevent excess wear, and improve fuel economy. Do not over-inflate them as this can damage the suspension.

Fluids and grease
You don't have to play expert. Leave brake, power steering and transmission fluid to a workshop, but you should check your car's other levels once a week and top up coolant and washer fluid as necessary.

You may need to dilute coolant according to the instructions on the bottle. Coolant is extremely corrosive, so be very careful when pouring it so that you don't spill any on other parts of the engine or the car's body for that matter.

If you live in a cold area then it's a good idea not to overfill or over-dilute your coolant. If the water in it freezes, it can expand and crack the engine block.

Rub some grease on hinges to keep them moving sweetly over time.

Battery
Changing a car's battery isn't as easy as changing that in your TV remote control. But you'd be surprised to learn that it's not that far behind.

Undo the cable connected to the black, negative terminal of the battery. Then do the same with the red, positive cable. You may need to prise the cables off with a screwdriver.

Unbolt any retaining plate or clamp and lift out the battery. Take care because batteries are heavy.

Clean up the cable connectors and retaining plate with a wire brush, or a good scrubber or even use some battery cleaner if they're really dirty.

Slide the new battery into the housing, clamp it down and tightly reconnect the positive and then the negative cables.

Changing your filters
Changing cabin/pollen and air filters is simply a case of taking out the old one and slotting in the new. Fuel filters are more complicated, so here's how to replace one.

First, relieve the pressure in the fuel system, either through a pressure relief valve, or by switching on the engine, removing the fuse for the fuel pump (its location will be shown in the car's manual) and waiting for the engine to stop running.

Put rags around each side of the filter to absorb any remaining fuel that may leak out when you disconnect it.

Undo the filter's retaining strap and slot in the new filter, making sure that the arrow on the filter is pointing in the direction of the fuel flow.

Reconnect the couplings and run the engine to check for fuel leaks.

Dispose off your old filter at an authorised workshop.

Bodywork flaws
If you can run your fingernail across scratches without it catching, chances are you can probably 'polish out' these defects yourself:

Use branded polish for scratches that penetrate the surface of the clear top coat.

Cutting through the clear top coat of your paintwork with an abrasive polish will get rid of scratches permanently, but it also removes some of the top coat, so don't do this too often. Once in six months is more like the norm.

After cutting the top paint coat of your car, you'll need to polish it again. You can bring the as-new look back to your car with a clear lacquer polish, but this will need to be reapplied every couple of weeks.

If too much of the clear top coat has been removed to use abrasive polishes, you can 'fill' scratches with a paint pen, or a coloured polish, then cover the area with a clear lacquer polish.

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