Does anyone work on their own cars?

submitted by Anniesworld from (self.Lesbians)

I'm no expert but I have helped work on cars since I was little.

Just got through a monster job, that could have easily been avoided if Ford motor company had a little foresight with making engineering decisions. I replaced broken studs but had to open up the differential to be able to slide the axel out for enough room to slide in a stud. A job that was made all the harder since our garage barely fits the truck and I had to placate my elderly father and let him try things before I went in to pop out a frozen fill bolt or take apart the parking break / pull out the caliper. I knew from the start we had to open up the differential but I had to go through the motions of testing things here and there after work with my father. Anyways I'm glad it's done now. Anyone else have experience with an easy job made into a bear of a job because of a bad engineering decision by a car company?

Oh and I did not drive around with a loose wheel, my brother borrowed the truck for a few months and brought it back like this. -_-

We also had to go to a junkyard to find a rim for our truck since it's from the early 2000s.

Maybe y'all can tell I'm still peved about this.

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[–][deleted] 7 insightful - 2 fun7 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

I'm no expert but I have helped work on cars since I was little.

same. my current pain in the ass is my 2005 f-150 5.4L. the knock sensor code has been on for a year. a mechanic told me not to worry about it then and just now i've had to replace the cylinder head because the bearing on the rocker arm was bad. it didn't start making a knocking sound in the engine until december. do you think whatever was making the knock sensor alarm go off caused the rocker arm to go bad after a year? anyway, after $2900 and replacing the head, the engine light is still on with the same code -- knock sensor. i'd like to replace the $50 sensor myself but friggin ford buried it under the intake manifold and that just looks like too much crap to go wrong for me to try and remove it myself. the engineer who designed the 5.4 triton engine was a sadist and only a fairy can work on anything in there. and by fairy, i mean a little tiny humanoid with wings and magic pixie dust because that is what it takes to get to the oil filter and anything important to fix it.

my mustang is so much easier to work on and there's so many more videos to help figure things out than with my f150. mustang owners are numerous and vocal amateur mechanics. i love that car. a 2006.

[–][deleted] 5 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

placate my elderly father and let him try things

also same. my formerly very macho dad is 81 and has dementia but still thinks he knows how to do things.

[–]Anniesworld[S] 5 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

I hope you are able to see this since your account has been deleted.

I remember when we bought our f-150 truck we were deliberately avoiding the 04-08 engines.

Link to the info https://camerasource.com/blog/the-ford-f-150-model-years-to-avoid-and-to-buy/#:~:text=2003%2D2008%20F%2D150s%20featured,in%20the%20history%20of%20automobiles.

"2004 Ford F-150 The 2004 Ford F-150 is infamous in Ford history for its amount of issues and unreliability. To date, there have been 16 recalls on parts, and the model is known for engine problems as well. Best avoid this one.

2005 Ford F-1502005 Ford F-150 Coming in at 14 total recalls, the next years’ model didn’t fare much better, and this one was reportedly a rushed engineering job after the 2004 debacle."

I've never felt an engine knock before and I'm Not really sure what to do in that situation. I definitely think a mechanic telling you not to worry about it is not very professional in my opinion. Or maybe he was trying to avoid working on that engine.

Sorry for the bad luck with the truck.

[–][deleted] 5 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 2 fun -  (3 children)

no, but this is goals for me. i'd also like to learn to ride a motorcycle, or at least a scooter, and be able to repair it.

i'm currently clueless about cars and it's embarrassing. i can change a tire and that's it. when covid is over, i want to take some mechanic classes.

[–]Anniesworld[S] 4 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

Same I'd like to be more confident fixing things on my own and I might take some classes myself. Changing a tire is actually quite a lot more than most people these days know how to do, so be proud of yourself . I'd suggest watching YouTube videos and getting a general idea how the cars systems work together to provide movement and then focus on how those systems work. It might be a little easier if you understand concept before getting to specifics. Start with changing your own oil and replacing filters . You can then graduate to tackling smaller jobs and before you know it you'll be much more comfortable with it all. Youtube , Chilton's or Haynes manual( check your library, they might set you up with a account to access chilton's or direct you to their in house resources), your own car manual, and the sticker on the side of your door will be great resources for you to be able to do the work on your own. There is a code that will tell you what kind of parts your car is equipped with, so you can check your manual and see what fluid is needed. Oh and make friends with a mechanic who you can bounce ideas off of or ask for a quick favor to use a high power tool.( Always tip after with money or beer. Call to talk when they are sort of in business hours but when they are not busy)

For electrical work I'd say if something in your car just went out no precursor and it's a system like both headlights, or all the running lights, the horn only. That kind of thing is probably a blown fuse, in the manual you can look up which one it is. Pull it and replace with a working fuse. Sometimes it fixes it and your done.

Example - in my car I don't have a working front washer pump. But my back pump works. - it's probably not the fuse since the pumps are right next to each other on the washer fluid tank and probably are on the same line that goes to the one fuse.

What else could it be that's easier to check than just replacing everything. Check your line from the pump to the windshield. I grabbed a bike pump and squirted air both ways . No clog. So bad pump. I'm going to replace it when I get a chance to use the garage and hopefully that fixes the issue.

Make an account on the car's forum, there are a lot of people who are willing to help you trouble shoot problems there. Quick tip don't just trust any youtuber. Check the comments to see if the person massively screwed up. You can trust 1A auto and Ford tech Maculoco. These are experts and they give you info that leads you to believe they are experts( they know history of changing parts of the car, torque specs).

What feels like a long time ago I also wanted to get a small sport cycle and mount it to the front of the truck and go live in my rv. I Hope you get that cycle😊.

Edit: Oh and if you get more into working on your car get a code reader. Helps to diagnose a range of issues from the cars sensors.

[–]Anniesworld[S] 4 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Oh and to anyone who wants to work on cars know how to jack up your car, use chocks( use parking break and if you have a manual keep it in first or reverse depending on if you are on a small slope forward or backward[NEVER do this on a large incline]), use jack stands and have a failure back up. Like using a floor jack to just touch and provide a second point of contact. You are going under thousands of pounds of steel so be careful. Oh and don't be alone, have someone else who can get the car off you incase something goes wrong or have your phone with you.(But seriously don't do this alone without a means of getting help)

There are specific jacking points in your car manual but some of those recommendations for jacking points don't really make sense. Like jacking up by the differential is not a good idea but it's recommended by Ford-_-

Be safe and use your noodle.

[–]Destresse 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (3 children)

No, I don't. I don't know anything about my own car to be frank, friends of mine gave me frantic advice about my driving when they rode with me hahaha

I drive a manual, uh, how do you say it? A manual car. So there are lots of things to be aware of to avoid straining the engine/consume too much oil among other things. And I used to, err. Be a bad driver on that front lol. I'm better now that I'm that tiny bit more knowledgeable, thanks to my friends' loud offended yelling about how I treated my car 😂

I'm not very interested in fixing cars I admit. I fix cellphones and computers instead haha

[–]Anniesworld[S] 5 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

I have a story to tell you. When I went shopping for my first car I wanted a manual since they now sell for a little less( not popular), but have reliable transmissions if your treat them nice.I also wanted one since I thought it would be fun and I don't want my family members who have no idea how to drive stick borrowing my car. So I went to a few dealerships saw a few cars and came to one I really liked the price and mileage of (Toyota Yaris manual and hatchback). I went and test drive it with my father and the salesman was watching. I must have stalled the engine twenty times . I barely figured it out and by the end of it and the guy asked if I'd like to see another car.😂

We came back in the morning the next day and I bought it. I had trouble understanding what was being said by my father on how to drive it cuz he is not the best teacher when stressed, and it was very dark out that night. I still had trouble with stalling it out sometimes during the week, but after that it got better. You'll get better just takes practice and maybe look up someone on youtube with a calm approach to teaching.

That cars first gear was extremely torque-y so it took a while of driving for it to be smoother. If your car is new to you it could be that the individual who had it was taking off from a stop on 2nd gear and the clutch pad has uneven wear.

Oh and that has got to be the best car my entire family has ever had. It's not given me one problem since i bought it ten years ago. A little proud of it cuz that's exactly why I wanted this car and not another my father tried to convince me to get with a cvt transmission. Which after some research I realize it's probably not something anyone should purchase if you want to keep a car longer than five years.

[–]Destresse 6 insightful - 2 fun6 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

I have a Toyota Yaris too! I really like it honestly, I find it's an easy car to drive, for a manual one. I live in France where 90% of cars are manual lol, so I learned on a manual.

I'm not sure what torque-y means haha, but I do find the first gear a bit hard getting used to. Especially since it's a "new" diesel, and you have to switch the gears really fast compared to others, at 50km/h (30 mph, which is the speed limit in cities) I'm in 4th gear already. I was told to stay around 1500 rpm for motor speed, I used to over-revve the engine so badly before hahaha poor car.

Do cars with cvt transmission have more problems? I thought since it is regulated automatically it should be optimal.

[–]Anniesworld[S] 5 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

By torque-y I mean that you have to be careful with letting of the clutch and hitting the gas. Like it easily over revs and causes you to have more torque than needed for taking off.

Oh and being in forth gear at 1500 rpm( 30mph) is good for flat road driving on lonely roads but you should really be in third gear if there is traffic or any hills. If you don't have enough torque to respond to emergency situations where you need to accelerate and get out of the way you could put yourself in danger. I used to under torque by driving in higher gears and it is dangerous in bad traffic but I live in one of the most dangerous road driving areas in the states so I might need to accelerate to get out of something more often.

A few quotes from quora.com since I'm not the best at explaining this.

"So, for most engines the real operating range for normal driving is something in the range of 1500 - 3000 rpms.

If you're accelerating normally then shift at the lower end of that range — 2000 to 2500 rpms is usually appropriate. If you are accelerating faster then maybe 3000 rpms is a good shift point.

At normal driving speeds, say anything above 45 mph, the vehicle should probably be in high gear. Constant speed driving would favor around 2000 rpms as an ideal rpm.

If the vehicle doesn’t have a tachometer then your hearing can prove useful. Listen to the engine and shift before it sounds like it’s racing too fast."

"In a stick shift car, shift as per the speeds 1 gear 0 to 20 mph, 2 gear 20 to 30 mph, 3 gear 30 to 40 mph, 4 gear 40 to 50 mph, 5 and 6 above for cruising speeds. RPM depends upon engine type, fuel type and could be as pee the said speeds. If climbing a hill make the speeds 1.5 times more to compensate for the incline."

The general idea is that you adjust your driving style to what the situation is.

Automation doesn't mean that it's more reliable. It means ease of use and a smooth ride and possibly savings in fuel economy. With a cvt if you look at how the physical mechanics of it, you can see why they are kinda a bad idea. It's actually a steel belt in the middle of the entire transmission that rides inside two V shaped pulleys. The problem is that it's prone to wear on those v shapes and the belt. If there is too much wear in one area the belt starts to slip and can break off pieces( not good because it's in the middle of a super complicated transmission so you have to replace the entire transmission there is basically almost no mechanics who repair it).

A notoriously bad application of cvts is putting them in midsize cars. Nissan rogue has a really bad one. Since cvts are smart for fuel economy, car manufacturing of economy sized cars are moving to cvts. It's ok in a small car that won't carry or tow anything. In a nissan rogue however it's branded as a family car with the ability to pull loads. That causes massive wear on those v pulleys and failure of these cvts can happen within four years of ownership. Not great in my opinion.

Automation is not always better depending on what your talking about. Automatic transmissions have very very complex innards. In which many things can go wrong. With manual transmissions there is much less that can fail since it's simpler and mechanics can work on it easily if one part needed to be replaced. So longevity wise a manual transmission is better than an automatic and much better than a cvt. And if you are a smart driver you can save on fuel by rolling to a stop in traffic.

[–]YoungHustle 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The number of times I ran into “why the FUCK do I gotta take off three belts to replace this thermostat??” and other ‘shit-piled-in-the-way’ problems on my old Jeep made me swear off them, no matter how fun