How to Understand the Basics of Car Maintenance

Sometimes you may have heard it said, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." That is the beginning of many problems. Phases one and two of maintenance require "fixing" what isn't broken.

Steps
1. The most obvious phase of maintenance is the repair function. Very simply stated, this means, "if it breaks, fix it." This is actually the third phase and means exactly what it says. It is a last resort and should arise only at infrequent intervals.

2. Phase one is systematic daily maintenance. The machine operator is usually responsible for this part. He/she simply cleans the equipment, observing anything out of the ordinary and reporting it to the maintenance department. This allows replacement of parts about to malfunction thus preventing chaining of problems.
3. Phase two is the regularly scheduled maintenance to include changing of fluids, thorough cleaning of parts not normally seen by the operator and a more detailed inspection for parts about to malfunction. This would include parts that are bent or broken, to include any possible cracks, obvious wear and signs of lack of lubrication.

4. It can readily be seen that proper performance of phases one and two will greatly reduce the occurrence of phase three, breakdown repair.

5. The greatest incentive for performing phases one and two regularly is that machine breakdown will invariably occur when the machine is used, and most often when it is being used most heavily. A machine that is idle simply doesn't break down.

Tips & Warning of How to Change the Oil in Your Car

Tips

• Be sure you have purchased the right filter and have all the tools you need before starting. It's a pain to have to run back to the store in the middle of the job. Especially since you won't be able to use your car.
• If you do jack up your car, be sure to put blocks behind the back tires to prevent the car from rolling backward.
• It's helpful to have a friend who has done this before around for assistance.
• It is best to replace the washer on the drain plug with each oil change. The autoparts store where you buy your oil and filter should have these for most cars.
• To avoid getting oil all over your arm when removing the drain plug bolt, apply inward force (as if you are trying to push the plug back into the hole) while removing it. When you know that bolt is fully unscrewed, quickly pull it away from the opening. If you're lucky only a few drops will get on your hand.
• Recycle your oil or store it if you have to. Dumping it on the ground is not cool and is illegal. See the following article: http://greennature.com/article213.html
• AutoZone or your local auto store will take your used oil for free, in most cases.
• Tie a rag around your wrist when you remove the oil plug. Oil might get all over your hands, but it won't go all the way down your arm, making it a messy clean up.
• Also consider using disposable latex gloves to keep your hands perfectly clean.
• When removing the oil filter, make sure that the rubber gasket ring comes off with the filter. If you don't and it sticks to the car, the new filter won't seal properly and will leak.
• When installing the new filter, dip the tip of your finger in the old oil and smear it on the gasket ring of the new filter. It doesn't matter if you use the old oil because it won't be circulating with the new oil. The ring won't stick to the car and this saves you hassle next time.
• It's a good idea to pour some oil into the filter prior to installing it. This can reduce the amount of time your car takes to regain proper oil pressure. If your filter is mounted vertically you may be able to fill it almost to the top. If it is at an angle, you may be able to get just a few tablespoons worth in just to saturate the filter media.
• Make sure you lay something under the car to catch oil runoff. As the oil comes out of the pan at an angle, it can be tricky to catch, and may land on the ground. If this includes your driveway, you will want some newspaper or a dropcloth to catch it, or you risk an oil stain on your driveway or garage.
• If you don't have a wrench to take off the oil filter hammer a screwdriver straight through the filter. This will give you some leverage to turn it. It does get a bit messy but saves you a bit of money.
• There are some oil drain valves on the market that replace your normal drain pan bolt. These can make oil changes much more convenient and can reduce the amount of mess you make.
• To avoid spilling too much oil as you remove the filter, wrap a plastic bag around the filter, which will catch any oil that escapes as you remove it.

Warnings

• Never, ever work under a car that is up on a jack. Jack the car up, then put it on a jackstand.
• Be aware of the heat of some parts of the car that you'll be working around. No one likes to get burned.
• Be sure you have the drain plug in and filter attached before adding oil and starting the car.
• This how-to is not meant for all cars, and certainly shouldn't be your only source of information. Always consult your owner's manual for manufacturer's recommendations when determining your maintenance schedule.
• Don't get the oil inlet confused with the transmission fluid inlet. You can ruin your transmission if you put oil in it.
• If you don't use the correct wrench on the drain plug bolt you run the risk of "rounding it off" (destroying the head of the bolt).
• Watch out, the oil may be very hot if you have been running the engine. Burned flesh can result.
• Do NOT over tighten the new filter, always tighten it by hand and not with a wrench.
  

Things You'll Need

• Oil (check your owner's manual for specific weight and quantity needed)
• Socket wrench (for foreign cars you will likely need a metric set)
• Oil filter (contact your local auto parts store for specific model of filter)
• Oil filter socket (if applicable)
• A way to get your car off the ground (ramps or a jack & jackstands work best)
  Something to catch the used oil in
• Oil rags or paper towel (optional)
• Some vehicles require you to remove top or bottom panels, which might require screwdrivers.
• Washer fluid (optional) Since most lube-places replace washer fluid, it's likely a good time to do the same.

How to Change the Oil in Your Car

Regular oil changes are critical to maintaining your vehicle. Over time the oil in your car breaks down and loses some of its lubricating properties. It can become contaminated with things like dirt, water, and fuel that reduce its effectiveness. Plan to change your motor oil on the cycle recommended in your car's manual. For some vehicles, it's 3,000 miles or three months, but for many vehicles, it's 5,000 miles. However, you may want to do it more often if you've been driving in very hot and/or dusty conditions or make very frequent short trips.

Steps
1. Start off by getting the car up on the ramps or jack stands (Note: many cars with a high ground clearance don't need to be raised, and you can just shimmy on under. This saves time and is safer; if the car isn't up it can't fall down!) The car should have been running for about 5 minutes to get the oil warmed up.

2. Locate the drain plug for the oil pan. It is normally towards the back of the engine at the underside of the car, and is angled down. The bolt size will vary from car to car, is in the 13-30mm range. All Toyota and Lexus are 14mm, all Mercedes Benz are 13mm, Jaguar’s are 30mm, older Volvo’s are 25mm, BMW's are 17mm, VW and Audi are 19mm, Honda and Acura are 17mm all others are between 13 and 19mm. On some vehicles it will be necessary to remove a shield on the bottom of the vehicle to have access to the oil pan. All Mercedes have a plastic shield held on with six (6) 8mm screws and some pick up's and SUV’s will have steel skid plates. After locating the bolt, loosen it, but do not remove it from the pan.

3. Position whatever you are "catching" the oil with under the plug. Oil has a tendency to come out of the pan at an angle, so make sure the opening on your container is pretty large.

4. Continue removing the bolt. Be careful not to drop the plug in the oil, it's a messy job trying to find the plug in the black stuff. (TIP: If you do drop it in the pan, you can easily find it with a magnet. Ideally use the type that is at the end of an expandable rod.)

5. While your oil is draining, pop the hood of the car and open the oil filler cap on the top of the engine. This will help the oil drain easier. This step is working better when done before working under the car.

6. Locate the filter assembly. This can be a tough part. Filters are not put in a standard position on, and can be on the front, back and side of engines. Some cars use paper cartridge filters such as Mercedes, BMW, and very few other cars including some Toyotas, Oldsmobile’s and newer Volvos. All 4 cylinder Toyota’s and Lexus’s use the same filter which will be located in the front of the engine below the exhaust manifold. The same is true of all Toyota and Lexus V6 engines, they use the same filter and it is located beneath the exhaust manifold with very little room to access it. BMW’s all have paper cartridge filters located in an aluminum container towards the front of the engine and require a 13mm bolt to be removed to take the cap of the container. Older Volvo’s have the same filter located on the passenger side of the engine block; it will be difficult to get the filter out due to parts in your way. Newer Volvo’s have paper cartridge filters located on a corner of their oil pan in a black plastic container that requires a large socket to remove, be careful as oil will spill out because the cup only covers half the filter. Four cylinder Honda’s will have their filter on the back of the block above the left CV shaft. Mercedes will have their paper cartridge filters in one of 3 places in order of most common to least common. First in the front of the engine slightly to the right, second back behind the engine next to the fire wall about two inches below the top of the valve cover, and some times down to the left below the exhaust manifold. All Mercedes filters are inside an aluminum canister with a black plastic top requiring a large socket. Also make sure to pre fill oil filters with the threads facing up as the engine is expecting the filter to remain full of oil. Look at the filter you purchased to replace the old one and look for something similar. Once you have located it, remove it from the engine. This can be tough, and often seems too hard. If you can't get it off by hand use an oil filter wrench. Keep trying, it will eventually come off. There may be some residual oil in the filter, so be careful not to spill it.

7. Replace the drain plug on the oil pan. Lubricate the gasket on the new oil filter with oil and carefully screw on the new filter while being careful to not cross the threads. With the paper cartridge filters they will always come with at least one o-ring some times as many as four different ones, make sure to replace all of them in insure that they will not leak.

8. Add oil to the car at the fill hole up to the specs in the owner's manual. You don't want to overfill!

9. Older Toyota Corolla’s will take a little over 3 quarts, newer Corolla’s will take exactly 4, Camry's will take 3 7/8, and all Toyota and Lexus V6 engines will take 5 quarts. 4 cylinder Honda’s and Acura’s will take 4 to 4 1/2 quarts. Otherwise add four quarts and check the dip stick and add more until it reads full. Now start the car and run the engine for about 10-15 seconds then check the oil level again and add oil to the full line. On some cars such as a V8 Mercedes it can take as much as 8 1/2 quarts. Also be aware that some new Mercedes do not come with dipsticks so be sure to measure how much oil you took out and put back the same amount (normally 8 quarts). Finally make sure to use good oil not the cheapest stuff you can find it really makes a difference. Some Mercedes, Porsche, Audi and BMW will require either Mobil 1 synthetic or Castrol Syntec synthetic oil.

10. Replace the fill cap and close the hood.

11. Start the engine, watching to be sure the oil pressure light goes off after start-up, and be sure to look under the car while the engine is running (put car in park or neutral with the Parking Brake on) to check for any drips. If the filter and drain plug aren't tight, they may leak slowly. Run the engine for a minute or so.

12. Make sure to change the oil on a regular cycle, as recommended by your car's specifications. 3,000 miles is a good benchmark for conventional motor oil (with 6,000 miles being the standard for full synthetic), but for many vehicles, the duration between conventional oil changes may be longer.

Tip & Warning of How to Fix Cars Air Condition

Tips
1. If you suspect bad wiring, most compressors have a wire leading to the electric clutch. Find the connector in the middle of that wire, and unplug it. Take a length of wire and run it from the compressor's wire to the plus (+) side of your battery. If you hear a loud CLACK, the electric clutch is fine and you should check the car's wiring and fuses. If you get nothing, the electric clutch is bad and the compressor will have to be replaced. Ideally, if you can do this test while the car is running, you can see if the hub spins. Take care to keep fingers and loose clothes away from moving pulleys and belts. That would rule out a clutch that actuates properly but then slips so badly it won't generate pressure.

2. If your system is empty and you're refilling it, and have access to a small vacuum pump (like what they'd use in a lab or shop), it's best to suck all the air out of the system before filling it. Air contains moisture, and moisture is bad in AC systems because it corrodes things.

3. Your system will have a light oil in it. If you vent off any refrigerant, be prepared to wipe some oil off things nearby.

4. Another possible replacement refrigerant is HC12a which is used quite a bit more in Europe. It performs better than R-134a or R12. It is more flammable. HC12a is more eco friendly than R12 or R134a. Venting HC12a is not believed to cause environmental damage. Must be ordered on the internet as local shops do not seem to stock it. The issue is that shops will not work on a car that has other regrigerants in it. Special equipment is needed for each type of refrigerant's recovery. Standard R12 or R134a is a safer choice.

Warnings
1. Be extremely cautious about converting your old R-12 system to R-134a. The R-134a conversion kits sold at Auto Parts stores and even WalMart, are called "Black Death Kits" by some AC repairmen. Frequently, the new R-134a refrigerant will not circulate the R-12 oil and you will burn up your compressor. The R-12 mineral oil has chlorine contaminants that will destroy the R-134a PAG or POE special oil. The only way to reliably convert from R-12 to R-134a is to remove the compressor and flush out all the old oil with the new type of oil; then replace the old Receiver-Dryer or Accumulator with a new one; then flush out all the lines, the evaporator, and the condensor with special cleaner then vacuum to a steady vacuum; and finally charge with 70-80%, (by weight) of the original R-12 weight, with R-134a; and expect poorer cooling ability. It is much easier to keep the old R-12 system running with R-12 that is readily available via ebay.

2. Venting refrigerant -- even R-134a -- is illegal in the United States, so act accordingly.

3. NEVER connect refrigerant cans, oil or leak-detector cans to the "high pressure side" of the system. This is often marked with H or HIGH, or a red connector cap. Cans can explode, and that would hurt.

4. Stay away from major leaks of refrigerant. As it vents it will get cold enough to freeze your skin.

5. Look out for moving fan blades and fan belts!

6. HC12 is a hydrocarbon, usually some mix of butane or propane. It will explode with an ignition source. Light up a cigarette if you have an evaporator leak and your car becomes a bomb. Professionals don't use it because of this very reason.

How to Fix Cars Air Conditioning

Steps
1. Realize that auto AC is basically a refrigerator in a weird layout. It's designed to move heat from one place (the inside of your car) to some other place (the outdoors). While a complete discussion of every specific model and component is well outside the scope of this article, this should give you a start on figuring out what the problem might be and either fixing it yourself or talking intelligently to someone you can pay to fix it.

2. Become familiar with the five major components to auto air conditioning:

• the compressor, which compresses the refrigerant in the system (on modern cars, usually a substance called R-134a)
• the refrigerant, which carries the heat
• the condenser, which changes the phase of the refrigerant and expels heat removed from the car
• the expansion valve, which isn't really a valve at all but more like a nozzle and functions to similtaneously drop the pressure of the refrigerant liquid, meter its flow and atomize it
• the dryer/evaporator, which transfers heat to the refrigerant from the air blown across it, cooling your car

3.Understand the air conditioning process: The compressor puts the refrigerant under pressure and sends it to the condensing coils. In your car, these coils are generally in front of the radiator. Compressing a gas makes it quite hot. In the condenser, this added heat and the heat the refrigerant picked up in the evaporator is expelled to the air flowing across it from outside the car. When the refrigerant is cooled to its saturation temperature, it will change phase from a gas back into a liquid (this gives of a bundle of heat known as the "latent heat of vaporization"). The liquid then passes through the expansion valve to the evaporator, the coils inside of your car, where it loses pressure that was added to it in the compressor. This causes some of the liquid to change to a low-pressure gas as it cools the remaining liquid. This two-phase mixture enters the evaporator, and the liquid portion of the refrigerant absorbs the heat from the air across the coil and evaporates. Your car's blower circulates air across the cold evaporator and into the interior. The refrigerant goes back through the cycle again and again.

4. Check to see if all the R-134a leaks out (meaning there's nothing in the loop to carry away heat). Leaks are easy to spot but not easy to fix without pulling things apart. Most auto-supply stores carry a fluorescent dye that can be added to the system to check for leaks, and it will have instructions for use on the can. If there's a bad enough leak, the system will have no pressure in it at all. Find one of the valve-stem-looking things and CAREFULLY (eye protection recommended) poke a pen in there to try to valve off pressure, and if there IS none, that's the problem.

5. Make sure the compressor is turning. Start the car, turn on the AC and look under the hood. The AC compressor is generally a pumplike thing off to one side with large rubber and steel hoses going to it. It will not have a filler cap on it, but will often have one or two things that look like the valve stems on a bike tire. The pulley on the front of the compressor exists as an outer pulley and an inner hub which turns when an electric clutch is engaged. If the AC is on and the blower is on, but the center of the pulley is not turning, then the compressor's clutch is not engaging. This could be a bad fuse, a wiring problem, a broken AC switch in your dash, or the system could be low on refrigerant (most systems have a low-pressure safety cutout that will disable the compressor if there isn't enough refrigerant in the system).

6. Look for other things that can go wrong: bad switches, bad fuses, broken wires, broken fan belt (preventing the pump from turning), or seal failure inside the compressor.

7. Feel for any cooling at all. If the system cools, but not much, it could just be low pressure, and you can top up the refrigerant. Most auto-supply stores will have a kit to refill a system, and it will come with instructions. Do not overfill!

Vehicles Weekly Check Sheet

You should follow check sheet weekly.

1. Engine oil level
2. Power Assisted Steering Fluid level
3. Coolant level
4. Battery condition
5. Brake Fluid level
6. Screen Washer Fluid level
7. Screen Washer Jets
8. Tyre Pressure
9. Tyre condition
10. Spare wheel
11. Lights
12. General Vehicle condition
13. Legal documentation
14. First aid kit