The Do-It-Yourself Car Repair Job

If the battery on your car dies you can fix it yourself. You could take it to a car repair shop and have a licensed mechanic do the work for you but why do that if you can do the work on your own for a cheaper price? The same can be said for your headlights and your air filter. Do your own work to reduce costs.

The battery on a motor vehicle can fail to work properly for any number of reasons. When it gets old it can simply stop working. It can stop working properly if the terminals are corroded or if the charging system is faulty. It can even cease to perform correctly if you are driving under extreme conditions.

If you do this car repair on your own it will save you in the range of $20 to $30 in installation charges. If you do decide to change a dead battery on your own and replace it with a new one read the instructions in your manual closely and make sure you wear goggles or some other form of protection for your eyes. If you feel a little uncertain and a little unsafe about how to disconnect the old battery and put in the new one then you are better off taking your vehicle into a car repair shop and having a qualified mechanic do it for you.

A headlight bulb is a simple fix in most instances. You should not require many tools and it should take only a few minutes to complete- as long as you know what you are doing. The majority of halogen headlights are made with bulbs that are easy to remove behind where the lens is positioned. However, if your car has sealed-beam headlights then this can prove to be slightly more challenging to do.

Read over your owner's manual to find out how to replace the old bulb with a new one. Whatever you do be very careful in your handling of the new bulb. You should either wear the surgical type of gloves or else clasp it with the plug end. Touching the new bulb with your fingers is detrimental to it because the oil from your skin will draw heat to it and this can bring about a premature burnout and in some cases can cause it to break. You will save yourself some money when you perform this car repair yourself but you must handle with care and perform the task very gingerly!

Putting in a new air filter is something that anyone can learn to do. Most cars feature an air filter housing that is held in by clamps that can be unsnapped with little effort at all. Depending on how you drive, your air filter should be replaced approximately every 15,000 miles that you drive. If you drive frequently on dirt roads or in dusty areas then you should replace it more often.

In most motor vehicles the air filter compartment is very obvious to see when you open the hood. It should be close to the top of your engine or it might be off to the side. After you have taken off the old filter it is important that you clean the interior of the compartment. It should take you mere minutes to do this and you will save in the range of $35 to $40 in car repair costs.