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A DIY Car Repair, or a Job for an Expert? Five Questions to Ask Before Doing It Yourself

Written by Charleen

A DIY Car Repair, or a Job for an Expert? Five Questions to Ask Before Doing It Yourself

John Baker|

 

 

Guest post by retired ASE master technician Mark Gittelman.

It happens to the best of us: We take on a car repair only to find out the hard way that it’s more involved, more time-consuming and more expensive than we thought. Do-it-yourself repairs can be rewarding (and often cost-effective), but there are some jobs that are better left to the pros.

Here are five questions to ask yourself before taking on a weekend repair job.

#1 Is it Worth the Time and Clean-up?

Raise your hand if you can change your car’s oil with your eyes closed? While it’s true that changing oil is relatively routine and easy on most vehicles, that may not be the case with transmission fluid changes, coolant flushes or other tasks that can be messy and tedious. These jobs are among the most affordable tasks to pay a mechanic for, and the time it saves you in clean-up may be well worth it. Weigh the cost of the job against the value of your time.

#2 Could the Diagnosis be Dubious?

Sometimes a defective automotive part is obvious. Let’s use an example of an upper-radiator hose with a pinhole antifreeze leak: The brightly colored stream of engine coolant will point to the problem area, making diagnosis and repair straightforward and the parts and time involved to complete the operation minimal.

However, in many other scenarios, diagnosis can be much harder to make at home. Many automotive systems have become so complex it’s difficult for the average DIY driveway warrior to successfully fix the problem. The expense of parts and the amount of labor involved in replacing those components can make the repair financially risky as well.

Here’s a classic example of a situation where you might want to seek an expert opinion: If your modern fuel injected vehicle won’t start, you might be tempted to replace the fuel pump (although it should be pointed out that removing a fuel tank isn’t fun in the driveway – it can be dangerous, and the replacement parts are pricey). However, the issue could have nothing to do with the fuel tank at all and could instead lie in a clogged fuel filter, a bad fuel-pressure regulator or an electrical issue with the fuel injection system. A mechanic will have the tools necessary to pinpoint a diagnosis more quickly.

#3 Do I Know the Scope of the Fix?

In the example above, removing the fuel tank when the real issue lies in the electrical system can open the door for you to introduce unnecessary errors while you’re taking things apart. Similarly, taking on a repair that takes on a life of its own can mean you end up at the mechanic, spending more than you would have from the start. A mistaken home diagnosis, or a repair job that ends up being out of your scope, can ultimately lead to added expense and frustration.

#4 Do I Have the Special Tools Needed for the Job?

When you look through a factory-issued service manual and dig into the individual repair procedures, they often quote the use of special tools. Every dealership service department has a tool room filled with these required tools. In fact, in the case of an American car manufacturer, this specialized equipment is sent to each franchise operation automatically.

It’s true that in some cases you can find a way around using a tool designed specifically for a given procedure. However, this usually increases the repair time. It can also lead to the possibility of damaging surrounding components.

Take the example of the water pump on a North Star series V-8 engine. The water pump physically locks into a cooling jacket using a specialized socket. When reinstalling the water pump and aluminum water pump cover, you need two different torque wrenches. Now you’ve purchased three tools for one job. Buying two different torque wrenches and a special socket you’ll only use once in a lifetime makes this operation cost-prohibitive.

#5 Do I Need an Automotive Lift?

One of the best arguments for taking your vehicle into a professional auto repair center is when the job requires raising the automobile up on a hoist. Although it might be possible to set the car up on jack stands, you could find the height insufficient to perform the repair.

In some cases, the degree of difficulty increases exponentially when you can’t walk around underneath. Although you might be able to remove a transmission in your driveway, you will find the task difficult.

Research the project thoroughly from start to finish before buying any parts and breaking out your wrenches. While DIY car repairs can be cost-saving (and even fun), consider the implications of the task and whether a pro is more suited for the job.

Mark Gittelman is a retired ASE master technician with more than 30 years of experience. He shares tips on DIY repairs and how to maintain car value as a writer for CARFAX, an online resource for used car buying.

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Synthetic Oil Filters vs Regular Oil Filters

Written by Charleen

Synthetic Oil Filters vs Regular Oil Filters

Ed Newman|

Early automobile engines didn’t use oil filters, or air filters for that matter. For this reason frequent oil changes were a must. Motor oil quality wasn’t really that important in those days, anyway. It was the discarded by-product of processes designed to create other products from crude oil, like fuel, benzene and other petrochemicals.

The first oil filters were simple, generally consisting of a screen placed at the oil pump intake in order to keep mice, cockroaches and other debris from getting churned inside the pistons. (OK, just checking to see if you’re paying attention.) It was, however, a fairly crude setup.

In 1923, a pair of American inventors, George Greenhalgh and Ernest Sweetland, filed a patent for a new kind of oil filter that they called the Purolator, which became a handle for “pure oil later.” The Purolator oil filter was the first oil filter invented specifically for cars, generating a whole new industry – the oil filtration aftermarket.

To many people, oil filters are a generic product. Price is the only factor considered when they choose a filter. But just as today’s engines have become increasingly sophisticated, so have many of today’s oil filters. They may look much the same on the outside, but what’s inside can make a big difference.

Oil filters are not created equal

A couple weeks ago I shared a lexicon of filter terms.

It’s true that some things are overpriced, like movie theater popcorn, but more often than not the other side of the coin is true: you get what you pay for. That is, quality costs more than going on the cheap. All kinds of sayings come to mind, like “Don’t be penny wise and pound foolish.” Cars cost a pretty penny these days, even used ones if you want something reliable, so I suggest thinking twice before going cheap on maintenance.

An oil filter’s job is to capture contaminants and hold them prisoner.

Let’s start with the filter media

As the oil circulates through the engine, it picks up contaminants. The filter’s assignment is to capture these contaminants and hold them prisoner, so to speak. Some of these contaminants come from the atmosphere, some from wear and some are byproducts of combustion.

The challenge for filter manufacturers is to use filter media that is porous enough to allow good oil flow, but not so impermeable that it blocks flow and causes oil starvation. It’s a big challenge, especially in racing applications, which is why so many manufacturers of auto aftermarket products are involved in racing. Racing pushes product performance to its limits, and manufacturers learn the stress points of engine components, lubricant capabilities and filters, among other things.

The four oil filter families

Filters come in four basic families.

  • Standard oil filters sold at most oil-change facilities
  • High-performance filters
  • Racing filters
  • Synthetic-media filters

AMSOIL Ea® Oil Filters feature advanced full-synthetic media that traps and holds a greater quantity of small, wear-producing contaminants compared to conventional filters. Because AMSOIL Signature Series Synthetic Motor Oil is designed for a longer drain interval – 25,000 miles/one year/700 hours (whichever comes first) – we recognized the need to offer filters capable of protecting for an extended service life while reducing wear.

Other areas where there can be a quality difference include the gaskets, the canister itself, the back-plate and the all-important anti-drainback valve. But the media itself is the heart of the filter’s effectiveness, or ineffectiveness. If you do a search and read forums on this topic, you’ll find stories about bunched-up material clogging oil passages and see photos of other horrors leading to a filter’s early demise. At one forum, I saw a photo where the filter looked like it had been twisted in a blender (the canister had been removed to reveal this inner destruction.) More startling, though, was that in the background was a fairly new Cadillac. Why would people go top drawer on a car and low-ball it with the filter?

All that to say that there are some pretty good reasons to choose a quality filter. There are already enough problems in the world. Why worry about your filters doing what they are supposed to do.

Find an AMSOIL Ea Oil Filter for My Vehicle

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