Auto Repair For Dummies

I don't own a car, but this book was recommended to me by a friend (OK, my therapist...) to get me ready to "climb into the driver's seat." It helped me greatly. In other words, VROOM VROOM VROOM if you know what I mean! This isn't one of those books that make you want to brush your teeth. Now I feel like I understand how cars work, so I can smell the coffee (that's right!) now as well as the chocolates. I liked the line "No pain - no stain!" Thank you Deanna for creating a safe haven for those of us too afraid to ask the service man for servicing.

It's a great book for a true beginner. I'm having so much fun figuring out parts of my car and understanding how it actually runs. There's actually more going on than just pressing on the gas pedal and seeing the car go. Car's better lubed, waxed (more aerodynamic) with clean battery and properly inflated tires. It covers the basics pretty well. Yes, it's too basic for mechanics but for regular car owners it's invaluable :)
I love it. I'm enjoying my car more too.

This is a perfect companion to have on the road. I have gotten into two jams with my beat up pinto and this book saved me. Seriously though, if you are like me and need instructions on how to fix your vehicle, this is the book for you. Very user friendly.

This text offers great information on how to maintain and repair your car for beginners and intermediate level self-proclaimed mechanics. This means that you'll learn the basics of how a car works and how to repair or replace anything short of your engine, axles, or such major components, so this text is great for the majority of people out there to maintain and replace your tires, sparkplugs, all your car liquids, when to take your suspension system to the mechanic, and so forth.

It starts off slow (alot of basic stuff), but like I said, this text is great for both beginner and intermediate level "weekend mechanics".

While in CA I had a bad experience getting an oil change. The jiffy lube guy forgot to put the oil filler cap back on. I noticed the engine sound difference right away but since I didn't consider myself an expert in any way I didn't do anything. Well, for 2 weeks I drove my car. After driving for 10 minutes everytime the car would fill up with a oil burning smell and after I parked the car there would be the oil puddle on the road.

Finally I forced myself to open the hood and found the problem immediately. The oil cap was still wedged between the hoses where the JL guy left it. Luckily it hadn't fallen off, otherwise I would've never found the problem with my lack of car skills.

I went back to JL and told them what happenned. There appeared to be a discussion in the inside office. I peeked inside and saw the supervisor was laughing his head off. The guy who worked on my car came out and apologized. The manager appeared apologetic and offered to clean up the splattered oil mess under my hood if I would leave the car for a couple of days. Yeah right, like I would...after what happenned.

After this experience I looked if I could change the oil myself. I'd bought this dummies book a couple years eralier and it was gathering dust on my shelf. I'd never seriously read the book and like most people I thought dummies were just a quick brush thru of car concepts...not for the real hands-on person. So I went and bought the Haynes repair manual for my corolla (about $20).

I did an oil change and realised 2 things: One, it was incredibly simple. Two, it takes about 30 minutes for the oil to drain out (actually even after 30 minutes there is a slow drip coming out). That made me think of the 10-minute oil change you see advertized in some shops. The mechanics probably let it drain for 2-minutes max. That means there's still a half-liter of old oil still in the crankcase.

Since then I have always change my own oil except when there's snow on the ground since I live in an Apt (don't have my own garage).

The Haynes manual has a vareity of other stuff to do on your car and I realised that I needed some hands-on instruction. So I took a 14-class night course at the local community college ($250) which has really taught me a lot. The book followed there was Jack Erjavec's Automotive Technology which is an expensive but 'utltimate' book for automobiles.

While studying for the exam, I came upon this dummies book on my shelf and I was struck by the clear, consise explanation and neat drawings which rivalled those in Erjavec's. I mentally kicked myself for not reading this dummies book that I had with me all the time. The Haynes manual had all the right steps needed for any job, but little or no explanation or not easy to understand, about the system or basic concepts and the photographs are pathetic.

Since then, apart from oil changes, I have flushed the cooling system, cleaned and reinstalled the battery, changed the air filter and other simple stuff. I would try more stuff if I had a garage.

To cut it short, if you're like me (you aren't a auto-maniac, but you can fix afew things around the house) you need three things:
This book by Scalar for very good system concepts, drawings and reasonably detailed repair steps. A fully detailed repair book like haynes or Chilton's for your particular car. Finally a small evening course in a local communnity college on auto fundamentals would make you really comfortable with your car. (Off course you need to buy some tools too). Good luck.