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Service your car yourself
Updated On: 16 May, 2009 08:41 AM IST | | Hotwheels team
If you're prepared to spend a day getting your hands dirty by servicing your car yourself, you'll save on big bucks
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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.
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