Thread: Do you service your own car?

Originally Posted by ReardenSteel

Based on your previous thread posts, I was hoping your response was going to be a poetic prose.

The Marshall has asked for an ode from Cangooner
Little does he know it won't be any sooner
Than another wannabe artist will offer respite
For ReardenSteel's tumultuous plight
With keyboard at hand and beer in his refrigerator
MLA has the honour of being his saviour.

Originally Posted by mapleleafalumnus

I thought all the Jellybeans had a straight-6 engine.

Not all. Some, like mine, had the 5.0L 304. Almost too much power for that car.

Ok. Like I posted, I thought they were all straight-6's. Still, they were butt-ugly!

Originally Posted by mapleleafalumnus

Ok. Like I posted, I thought they were all straight-6's. Still, they were butt-ugly!

They were ugly, but were serious hippie chick magnets, especially after Wayne's World.

Originally Posted by Theseus

They were ugly, but were serious hippie chick magnets, especially after Wayne's World.

It's funny, I always imagined it as Beavis and Butthead's 1st car...

I try to do all my auto mechanics. I have a book on my car and try to find a shady spot to work on her. I always have a part left over. It goes in the "Extra Part Bucket". Sometimes things go well & the car runs O.K. Other times, I have to make the call. My mechanic's number is in my cell phone & I must be on his Caller I.D., because he answers with, "Do you need the tow truck?" Sometimes I do. The shop that fixes my car always gives me a break on the costs.

They know that I will be back again, soon.

Originally Posted by AdamN

Those Rhino ramps are great and they accommodate todays lower profile cars. No more jacks and jack stands, and they store easily if you have limited space.

I always use jack stands even with ramps,cheap insurance,4000lbs of car frame falling on your head can ruin a good day

I used to work on all my stuff, anywhere from building new engines to swapping out rears. My cars lately have been 100% mechanic worked. My Saab was a challenge for even a Saab mechanic lol. The Genesis Track has a 100k mile warranty...one of the reasons I bought it

With a wife to be and 3 kids, I barely have time to practice honing (3 hours a month if lucky lol).

Originally Posted by Hirlau

I try to do all my auto mechanics. I have a book on my car and try to find a shady spot to work on her. I always have a part left over. It goes in the "Extra Part Bucket". Sometimes things go well & the car runs O.K. Other times, I have to make the call. My mechanic's number is in my cell phone & I must be on his Caller I.D., because he answers with, "Do you need the tow truck?" Sometimes I do. The shop that fixes my car always gives me a break on the costs.

They know that I will be back again, soon.

LOL! I do the same, but the more I work on it the less I have to call on him. Also have a retire AF (Air Force) aviation mechanic that helps me with the hard stuff. We go way back and he is happy with $25.00 an hour, for what the mechanic auto hourly guide book says. Sometimes it takes us less, sometimes way more. So any way you see it is a good deal for both, plus we always have a good time fixing cars. Having 3 kids in college with cars, makes it almost a necessity!


One of my last project on my sons Audi A4 1.8T. Three month after he bought it, some synchronizers in the transmission went out. He did not listen to his dad that told him not to buy an Audi. Hard to work on an parts are super expensive. Amazingly the car is running! Still had to take it to the mechanic for some final adjustments. I think I saved my son, about $1500.00 do in it with my friend.
The best thing of do in it yourself is that you can take the time to repair or clean other parts and make it look prettier! Double O

Good story, Double 0.

It's not that I am stubborn or that I think I can become a mechanic by reading a book; it's just that I like to take things apart. I just have trouble putting things back the way they were.