New parts vs used

There is no bigger struggle then when in this tuff economy are beloved daily driver starts making noise or breaks and buying the parts to fix your beloved car can be quite expensive that’s why some people have been thinking about used parts.

When buying any car part there are a couple of things you need to know like:

• What part you need to buy, never just guess on a part that’s how you start spending more money than you need to. 
• Don’t be scared to ask questions about your car or be scared to ask about the part you are buying for the car a lot of people don’t know these things and people who sell parts know this and most will help you without judging you.
• If you are struggling to find a part that you need don’t be afraid to call local junkyards or go to swap meets or even call the dealership.

 Now I’m going to go into talking about what parts are okay to use in good condition, and finally, that should never be reused.

WHAT ARE OK TO USE IF IN GOOD CONDITION

These items must be checked for normal wear and tear before reusing. If you are in doubt have it checked by a professional: airbox, body panels, body parts, bumpers, carburetors (to rebuild), cigarette lighter, coolant reservoir, cooling fan, belt-driven, door lock actuators, exhaust heat shield, exhaust manifold, exhaust pipes, fuel tank gas cap, grille, hub caps, intake manifold, interior trim, jack, lug nuts, oil pan, power window motor, pulleys, rearview mirrors, seats, steering wheel, stereo system, sunroof motor, tail lights, throttle body, tie rods, turn signal lenses, vacuum lines, vacuum reservoir, valve cover, wheels, window glass, windows, windshield washer pump, wiper arm. These are just some parts that are okay to use if they are in good shape otherwise don’t waste your time.  

WHAT CAN BE RECONDITIONED AND USUALLY REUSED

Another option for replacing car parts is to buy reconditioned parts. Here is a list of a few parts that are usually OK once reconditioned: a/c compressor, a/c condenser, ABS CPU, ABS sensors, alternator, axle shafts, brake drums, camshaft, clutch master cylinder, coil packs, cooling fan, electric, CPU, CV joints, cylinder heads, dashboard gauges, distributor, engine block, engine mounts, flywheel, fuel injection unit, fuel injector, fuel pump, intercooler, master cylinder, oil cooler, oil lines, oil pump, pistons, power locks, power steering pump, power window switch, pressure plate, radiator, spare tire rim, steering rack, sunroof cables, suspension springs, timing chain, transmission.

THAT SHOULD NEVER BE REUSED

The following is a list of car parts that should not be reused: airbags, air filter, airbag sensors, ball joints, battery, bearings, brake discs/rotors, brake light switch, brake pads, brake shoes, catalytic converter, clutch disc, cooling fan switch, cylinder sleeves, distributor cap, distributor cap, engine bearings, fuel lines, fuses, gaskets, head studs, headlights, ignition coil, ignition condenser, ignition points, MAF, muffler, muffler hangers, oil filter, oil pressure switches sensors, piston rings, radiator hoses, rotor, shifter bushings, shock absorbers, spark plug wires, spark plugs, strut bearings, strut inserts, thermostat, timing belt, timing chain, tires, valves, voltage regulator, water pump, water pump, wheel bearings, wheel cylinders.

When to call a mechanic?

This blog post is probably going to be similar to the last post I made about what you can and cannot do, with that being said some of you might be asking when should I call a mechanic and this is going to be the same as the last one when I say that its up to you and what you are comfortable doing to your car and fixing you car.


Now calling a mechanic can be very stressful because there are so many options on where you can call and get your car fix and you might be asking well how do know if I can trust where I choose to go? My advice on this is if you need a mechanic, I would ask friends and family if they have any places that they go that is fairly priced and they know what they are talking about. There are some places and it’s kind of hard for me to say this because not everyone does this but some shops will take advantage of women and if she doesn’t know anything about their car so you want to be careful if you are women because there are some messed up people out there.


Let’s get back to the question which is when to call a mechanic and this is a hard question to answer because of the fact that there’s no way for me to just tell you when to that’s your decision but if I had to say when you need to call a mechanic I would say that the one big thing that would make me call a mechanic I would say that if there is knocking noise ever coming from your engine I would call a mechanic without hesitation or if the car has died on the side of the road, or if you go out one morning and your car just keeps turning over and wont start, these are some things that if they happen to someone who’s not had automotive technology experience.


Just remember if you are going to call a mechanic to always ask around with family members and friend to find a good mechanic and if none of your family members or friends don’t have any comments then I would always do some research on the internet and always look at the places you're looking at going reviews. Reviews are always a helpful thing when deciding to do anything.

What you can and cannot do.

A question you might be asking is, what you can and cannot do and honestly, I can say that its really all about preference and what you are comfortable with doing. Many people just want to save money and that’s why they start learning how to do things to their car to save money and some people just enjoy taking care of there own car. If you are one of these people good for you, working on cars is a lost art and the fact that people are still wanting to learn how to work on there own car makes me happy about making this blog.


When working on a car there are a lot of things that even thinking about trying to fix on your own can seam like a nightmare so if this is the case then maybe take it to a shop and have them deal with all the bullshit but if you want to change yourself then by all means try and do it on your own and if you do run into problems YouTube is your friend. Cars can be a scary thing to work on by yourself and if ever there is a problem and you can’t even think why it would be doing that you can always do some research.


Personally, for me when my car has a problem and I’m trying to figure out what could cause whatever is happening I always do research on my car before I even deiced if its worth messing with or letting a shop mess with it, research is always a helpful step when working on a car because it really helps you get a sense of what could be causing the problem and it can even show you how to get to the place of part that you need to get too.


In all reality what you can and cannot do is completely up too you as a person if you think you can do it and finish the project that go ahead and do it but if you are sitting there and thinking to yourself that this is going to be a pain and a lot of swearing trying to do it then you should always thinking about taking it to a shop for them to mess with. In all I would do research to deiced whether or not you can get it done by yourself.

How to check brake pads/wear

Checking brake pads is a really easy think to do on your car and if you take your car in to the shop and the mechanic says you need new breaks you have tell him no you don’t because you just checked your break pad wear and you have plenty of break pad left.

The First step: Get what you need

A couple of things you are going to need is a break pad lining gauge and some brake cleaner, you can get these from any parts store or hardware store, and then the tools you use to take your tires off.

The Second step: Taking the tires off

For the second step you are going to need to take your tires off all around and to do that you have to jack the car up all the way around to do this you’re going to need to get the jack out prom the trunk of your car and buy some jack stands you will need 4 jack stands to jack up all 4 sides of the car, most cars have a jack in the trunk so you’re going to get that out and with it should be directions on how to jack your car up and if not YouTube is your friend for anything like this. Jacking up the car with the jack that comes with your car seems really sketchy and it is so only lift the car up as high as you need to too get the tire off.   and get your lug nuts off. Once you have the lug nuts off take the tires off, now that you have the tires off your going to want to spray them all with brake clean.

The Third step: Using brake pad gauge

Once you have the breaks spread down with break fluid and cleaned your going to want to get the brake pad lining gauge and use put the tool up the break pad and see which one of its gauges in the thickness of your brake pad. The color of each one of the gauges lets you know how much break pad you have left, Green: you have all of you break pads and you are safe to drive, Yellow: you should start to think about changing your break pads, Red: you should change your brake pads immediately you do not have the much break pad left.  

How to replace a battery/clean terminal

Replacing a battery can be dangerous if you mix the positive and negative cables up dangerous enough to blow up the battery. It can also be dangerous if you touch the negative and positive with something metal. For this job, you're going to need some safety equipment and those should be some type of eye protection. Changing a battery can be very dangerous but it's also very simple to do and you can save a lot of money by doing it yourself.

Getting the right battery

The first step of this process is to find the sticker on your battery that tells you how many cold cranking amps it has and that’s how you will find out what battery you need. The Cold-cranking amps is a batteries industry rating used to determine the ability of the battery to start or crank up an engine when the weather is cold. What this means is if you get a battery with a lower cold-cranking amp the vehicle will not start.  

Taking the old battery out and putting the new one in

For this step you're going to need a wrench set find the size that fits the bolt or nut that is holding the cables on to the battery, take the cables off. There is going to be a metal strap the holds your battery down loosen that strap and take the battery out.

Now you’re going to want to take the new battery and put it in where you took the old one out and put the strap back on and tighten it up. This is a very important part you have to make sure you put the positive to the positive and the negative to the negative and tighten up the cables make sure the nice and tight and turn the car on and see if it turns over and turns on.  

There is corrosion and green stuff on my battery cables

Your battery cables are dirt which is no big deal it happens now to fix this your going to need a wire brush and some battery terminal cleaner and really scrub those cables down once you have them clean your going to need to add some battery terminal grease it’s a red grease and it helps prevent any more corrosion on the battery terminals.


Changing a battery is an easy thing to do in your car but it can also be very dangerous so if you are going to do this make sure you have the proper safety equipment to get the job done.  

How to Change A Light Bulb in Your Car!

Changing Light Bulbs in your car can turn out to be difficult, but once you learn how to do it, it's not so bad. Changing light bulbs are different from car to car some cars can be extremely hard to do some cars you have to take the whole headlight out and to get the headlight out you have to take the front bumper off and with other cars you just have to twist the light bulb and pull it out.


Before you start trying to just take everything apart to get to the light bulb you should always do a little google search on your car and see how hard it is going to be, after you do your research your going to want to go to your nearest parts store and get the light bulb by going to one of the front desk people to help you get the part number.


Once you have the replacement light bulb we can start trying to get the light bulb out, so for those of you that already know how to get the light bulb out from doing research go ahead and do what you need to do to get it out, for those of you that don’t know how to well were going to have to determine if the whole headlight has to come out and to do that we're going to need to see the back of the light once you get to where you can see the back of the light see if you can take the light bulb out by turning it if that does not work were going to have to take the light out completely and to do this was going to go to are old trust friend YouTube to see what we have to do to get it out.


Once you have the light bulb out you can take some electrical grease and put it in the connector to make sure you have a strong connection and out the new light bulb in and put everything back together that you took apart. Light bulbs in cars can be a tricky thing to replace but you can save yourself a lot of money by doing it yourself, not only is learning how to change a light bulb in a car a way to save you money but you can also help your friends by saving money by helping them change their light bulbs in their car.

How to change a tire

Changing a tire can be hard for someone that doesn’t know much about cars and have never seen it done before, but if you have a blown tire and your stuck on the side of the road with a spare tire and a bunch of tools that your car comes with and you don’t know what your doing then its always a good idea to check your own manuals for step by step directions on how to do it. Today I’m going to give the best step by step I can on how to do this.

Jacking up the car

Okay so you have to jack the car up in ordered to get the tire off most cars have a jack in the trunk so your going to get that out and with it should be directions on how to jack your car up and if not YouTube is your friend for anything like this. Jacking up the car with the jack that comes with your car seems really sketchy and it is so only lift the car up as high as you need to too get the tire off.

Taking the tire off

You have the car jacked up and now have no idea what to go but don’t panic there should be more tools in your trunk and on should fit over the lug nuts that and holding your tire on so break those free and get them off and set them to the side but do not lose them or your done for you’ll have to be towed if the tire seams like its stuck there hit it on the sides and break it free.

Putting Spare Tire On

The spare tire should be in the truck there should be a hidden door and when you open it the tire should be sitting right there take the tire out and put it on put those lug nuts back on and when you tighten them get them as tight as you can. Lower the car and bomb tire changed.

Clean Up

Okay now you have all this stuff to put back in where it goes and once you do that close the spare tire compartment and through the blown tire in the trunk and go to the closest tire shop near you and get a new tire put on and they should put it back on your car for you.    

How to check tire pressure and how to check tire wear

Tire pressure and tire wear are very important things people should know how to check on their car. One because it can save you money and save you from having a blown tire and be broke down on the side of the road. These are a simple thing to do on your car, and today I’m going to explain how to do check them for those people who don’t know how to or have an idea but just want to be 100% sure they have it right.


The first thing you’re going to want to do is go to a parts store or a tool store and pick up two tools and that’s it and those tools are:

1.      Tire Pressure Gauge

2.      Tire Depth Gauge

These two tools are inexpensive I believe the tire depth gauge is 3 bucks and the same with the pressure gauge. Okay once you have these two tools you're ready to start checking your tires out.

How to Check Tire Pressure

This probably doesn’t seem too hard its like filling a bicycle tire but the only problem is you cant see what the recommended tire pressure is for the tire its not on the tire its self but when you open your driver side door there should be a sticker and on that sticker is the tire pressure in KPI and PSI your going to want to use the PSI. Now that you have what your tires should be set at you go around and check all the tires. If they need to be filled up, go to the local gas station and you can fill them up there.

How to Check Tire Depth

Checking tire depth isn't as bad as it sounds you have the tool and there’s a bunch of numbers on it, what you’re going to do is push the numbers down then put it in a grove on the tire tread and let the numbers go up and when its stops you read the number on it and the legal minimum tire depth is allowed to be is 2/32" anything lower than this you legally can't drive it on the road. This may seem silly since when cops pull you over they don’t sit there and check the depth of your tire tread but this is a safety issue anything lower than this and you could have a tire blow out and hurt you or someone else while driving.

How to Check Fluids

Today we are going to talk about how to check the fluid in your car, we will only be covering the three important ones for now. There are a couple of steps to do this. First, were going to find all the places to check all your fluids and those fluids are windshield washer, oil, and radiator fluid. The best place to find this is in your owner's manual. Once you find all the places that you can check your fluids then we are going to start the next step.

 Windshield Washer Fluid

The next step would be to find an old rag or towel, you're going to need this to wipe the fluid off the dip stick for oil and transmission fluid. Let's start out with an easy thing to check and that would be your windshield wiper fluid. Normally the reservoir for the washer fluid will have a baby blue cap but again if you’re not sure you should always check your owner manuals. If you need washer fluid, then there should be a max fill line on the washer fluid reservoir fill it up to there and if there isn't a line then fill it to about 6 inches away from the top.

How to Check Oil Level

Those of you who did not read my last blog we will go over to check the oil level and those of you that read my last blog then you know how to do this so you can skip this one if you want too. Okay for those of you who have not ever checked your oil level you're going to want to locate your oil dip stick it should be yellow with a little teapot looking thing on it. If you can not find it have no fear your owner manual will tell you where to locate it, okay so you have found it now your goanna pull the dip stick out and wipe it off with your towel or rag and then put it back in and then take it out and check where it is on the dip stick if its in the marked area your good if its below it then add however much you need.

How to Check Radiator Fluid

This one is easy you’re going to find the radiator fluid reservoir and if you can not find it go to your owner’s manual. Okay once you have found it just find the line on the reservoir and fill it to full line with either radiator fluid or water.

How to change the oil in your car!

Doing basic work on cars is a lost art form, working on your car and doing basic things to it is super important. First off you save money by doing basic things to your car by not having to pay a shop to do it for you. There are a lot of people who pay to have the oil changed in their car, on this blog I'm going to give you the 10 steps to change the oil in your car. 

What you are going to need

These are all things that you can get at your local parts store, just go in with the year, make, and model of your car which is on the title for your car. Here are the 8 things you are going to need: 

1. A clear workspace
2.  Catch pan 
3.  Jack 
4.  Jack Stands 
5.  Oil ( Oil type that your car calls for, EX. 5w-30, 10w-30) 
6.  Oil filter (bought at the local part store)
7. Funnel  
8. Rags/paper towels 

This might seem like a long list of items but don't get worried, it actually not a hard process to do once you get all of these items. If you have these items then you are ready for the next step to get this oil change done.

Preparing Your Work Area 

The next step to get this oil change done is to prep your work area so it is safe and comfortable to start the oil change in this step you will need to make sure that the area that you are going to be under the car is clear of debris thus will make sure that when you are lying underneath the car you are comfortable and don't have anything stabbing you in the back. To clear all the debris off your driveway you will either need to use a broom to sweep everything away or use a leaf blower to blow all the debris out of the way, then you are going to need to pull your car up to the area that you cleared off so that the spot is under the car.

Getting the car ready 

This next step is extremely important for the saftie of you and the saftie of your car. Jacking up the car is a critical part of this whole process, to jack up your car you are going to need a jack and two jack stands, and wheel chalk like a piece of wood or cinder block. the first step is to find a safe place to jack the car up you only need to jack the front of the car up so find a sturdy place on the front of the car and jack it up to a height that feels safe and comfortable too you, once you do this you need to find a place that is sturdy to set your jack stands one on each side of the car. Once you think you found a sturdy place slowly lower the car down on too them. if you don't feel good about where the jack stands give the car a nice shake test which is exactly how it sounds shake the car a decent amount and if it doesn't move or fall off then your safe.

Starting The Oil Change 

In this step this is where things start to get fun, first your going to want the pop the hood of your car for those of you who don't know how to do this your going to open your driver side door and on the floorboard or under the dashboard there is going to be a little lever pull that your hood should pop open a little. Now you are going to go to the front of the car and feel around for a lever under the hood and pull that and prop your hood open. Okay, if you have done all that now your ready to grab the things you are going to need, these things are: 

1. Wrench Set 
2. Catch Pan 
3. Oil Filter 
4. Oil 
5. Rags

Now you are going to get under the car with your wrench set and catch pan, you're going to see a blot on your oil pan. If you don't know where your oil pan is most cars have the word oil written in the oil pan with an arrow pointing to the drain pan bolt.

Okay once you have found the bolt you're going to grab your wrench set and find the right wrench that has a snug fit on the bolt, Once you have found the right wrench size you're going to loosen the bolt and remember righty tighty lefty loosie. if the bolt is starting to loosen up go ahead and set up your catch pan to catch the oil and take the bolt out.

While the oil is draining I usually go ahead and check my washer fluid to make sure it's full and add some if it's not. Now, we go back underneath the car to see how the stream of oil is to a drip, if it is then put your bolt back in and when you are tightening the bolt we do not want to over tighten it because this can cause damage to the pan so we are going to snug it pretty tight. 

If you have done those steps now we are going to take the oil filter out which can be anywhere underneath your car or on top so if you're having trouble finding it don't be afraid to bust youtube out for some help. Okay, so we found the oil filter know we are going to take it out by turning it. If your oil filter is tight there is a tool that you can buy its called an oil filter wrench. Unscrew the oil filter then set it in the catch pan.