Article taken from club-s12.org forums. Posted by Arro

Ok, well here is why I like to write. If this doesn't cover the issue than I'm a monkey's uncle.

I learned because I just started doing things myself. Shitty shops like Pep Boys and Midas and local hole-in-the-wall joints would charge me too much and do shitty work, sometimes even ripping me off completely. I got sick and tired of it, and here is what I did about it:

- I paid $220 (USD) on sale at Sears (a big general store chain in the United States) for a $350 mechanic's tool set from Craftsman (which included a box and drawers, one deep accessory drawer and the rest with moulded insets for each and every piece.. really nice so you can prevent losing tools and quickly replace those you do), and started to do my own shit. You ABSOLUTELY MUST buy a good floor jack and a pair of jack stands. So many things require to you get underneath or remove wheels. I got mine as a package deal, you can too usually cheap in auto parts stores.

- Manuals are your BEST friend, so get WHATEVER you can. Buy the Haynes. Buy the Factory Service Manual. Buy the Chilton's. Get all three. Why? Usually Ebay has these for 10-20 bux a piece in auctions, and in the long run it will save your $$$ and your sanity. Also having a few means one might end up at work where you can reference it while talking to your support group or calling around to shops for stuff, one might end up in your bookbag and you can check things out betwen classes at school, one might end up in the trunk of the car, or in the house... you get the idea. The diagrams alone are PRICELESS.

- Manuals are great, but NOTHING replaces a good source for tech discussions, like this site. ALWAYS try to find a support group for whatever kind of car you own and expect to be working on more than once. If it doesn't exist, do what I did here and help CREATE the support group. I guarantee I wouldn't have come this far without these guys, this group is good, and other car platforms have similar levels of support. Also it's a good idea to get the phone numbers of a few of the members, because voice conversations can sometimes assist you quicker in repairs than the internet. Most people have cell phones with free long distance service anyways, so there's a good chance it will be little if any inconvenience to your time or money to do this. I know that I've bothered Bart on a number of occasions while trying to tie up many of the loose ends on my engine when I first got the car.

- Pick up a wrench or a ratchet and just start working on the car. Trust me, it starts off obvious with the little things, but eventually you will indeed run into something that makes no sense or looks like more than you can handle. Drop your support group a line. Call up someone. Look at the manual. Chances are that one of those three things WILL give you what you need to move forward.

- Over time you will begin to grasp what I like to refer to as design philosophy, which means as you work more on a particuar car, you will begin to notice common design techniques by that car manufacturer. Some of that can even be applied to other brand and model cars.

For example, I learned about turbocharging and intercooling and all the other related issues with that through my turbo Dodge Daytona. When I went to the Eclipse GSX turbo, much of that turbo-specific knowledge carried over, but since the Eclipse used an airflow meter, I couldn't use my knowledge of the other car quite as much. I had to learn Mitsubishi's design philosophy as well as how airflow metered systems worked. From that I was better to able understand Nissan's airflow metering setups and how it worked with fuel. But I still had to learn more, Nissan has their own design philosophy, which is evident in things like their weird throttle body setups with their external idle air adjustment motors (something I had never seen in a Dodge, or a Mitsu, or even a Honda which is another car I had worked on).

Nissan uses more screw than bolts, Mitsubishi likes lots of sensors, and Dodge doesn't like too many parts and tends to integrate stuff. That's part of what you begin to retain as you work more and more on these kinds of sport compact cars. That, and the fact that they all tend to rely heavilly on 10, 12, 14, 18, and 22mm bolts.

- Some final things to make the whole experience less stressful and easier to clean up need to be mentioned here. First off, buy a box of disposable latex gloves (or rubber if you have that uncommon latex allergy). Use them as often as possible. It's really nice to be able to strip them off quick when your cellphone is ringing or you want to stop for a break. A box of them costs me $1.99 USD, and comes with 1000 pairs or something like that. I sometimes go through six pairs in a day. One tears, I replace it. I get an itch, I take one off and then replace it.

Also pick up some plastic drain pans. I bought mine from Napa for $1 each, I have three, that way I can either catch lots of fluid, or I can catch three different types, or catch in three different locations at once as it drains/drips. Get them before you launch into stuff, it helps alot.

Finally, I recommend a jumpsuit-style coverall instead of some old worn clothes, because not only will you be more comfortable, but you can get some that can zip over clean streetclothes so in a pinch, like the latex gloves, you can take it off and go about other business. It also tends to protect you from oil and grease better than a shit and pants. I got tired of spending a half hour scrubbing of grease stains off my back when my shirt would ride up past the beltline. And cleaning greasy elbows sucks, too. Most coveralls are made of fabric that is durable, very stain resistant, sometimes even fireproof, and are usually tailored to be worn over clothes.




Of course, sometimes you have to know when to cut yout losses and have a shop do it. On occasion it's just going to be easier and less stress, but I'd say that 90% of the time you CAN do it YOURSELF. Buy your jack and stands. Get your tools. Do it right the first time and buy a decent set. Don't buy the whole store, just a good balanced set for a couple hundred bucks. Add tools to that as you need them. I bought a set of stubby metric wrenches just last month so I could access one bolt on the #4 runner of the exhaust manifold. Then get a manual or two and start working on your car. If you need help just ask us. Save money, save TIME in many cases, and know that you're not going to intentionally rip yourself off.