Basic Car Repairing Tips Everyone Should Know

Many of you have been driving cars for decades now. In fact, in today's world, for most people, it's tough to imagine a life without a car. However, like other machines, cars are not foolproof, which means they can break down without notice and leave you stranded. In such a scenario, you would be left frustrated, especially when you're in the middle of nowhere with no help in sight. However, all cars have some basic issues that can be easily rectified by you if you've got some information about these things. With that in mind, we've put together a list of basic car repairing tips-

Changing Engine Oil

As we've been saying, a car's engine oil is to its engine what blood is to the heart of humans. One needs to avoid using old oil or wrong grade oil to ensure that the engine runs smoothly and offers optimum performance. Therefore, knowing how to change your car's engine oil is one of the most basic car repairing tips everyone should know of. Replacing the oil is pretty easy unless it gets hard to take out the oil filter and oil drain plug of your vehicle due to their inaccessible location.

Steps to change engine oil in a car include removing the oil drain plug, removing the oil filter and draining all the oil, installing a new oil filter, replacing the drain plug, removing the oil filter hole cap, and filling in new oil. You can refer to thousands of Youtube videos available for those doing for the first time.

Also Read- How to Choose Best Engine Oil?

Changing Punctured Tire

Tires are easily the most important part of your car as they are the only part that is constantly in touch with the surface the vehicle travels on. However, tires need regular maintenance to ensure they keep serving you flawlessly. In fact, even with regular checkups, you might end up with a flat and having to replace the tyre yourself. Knowing how to change a flat tire can really help you save yourself from getting stranded on the road. 

Steps to change a car tire include loosening the lug nuts using a wrench, using a jack to lift the car, removing the lug nuts and the wheel with the flat tyre, placing the wheel with the spare tire on the bolts, wrenching the lug nuts back, and lowering the car. After that, it's a safe practice to check if the lug nuts are as tight as possible.

Also Read- When Should You Change the Tires of Your Car? – Complete Guide

Changing spark plugs

the spark plug is the device responsible for starting the combustion process in a petrol engine. The spark plug consists of three primary layers. The outermost layer is a threaded metal shell which gives it structural integrity. Connected to this shell on one end is the side electrode which is grounded as it is connected to the metal casing. Inside the metal, the shell is a porcelain layer that acts like an insulating surface for the main electrode inside. Within this insulated porcelain casing lies the main electrode through which the current passes.

To replace a spark plug, one needs to locate it, remove the spark plug wire, remove the faulty spark plug, insert the new spark plug, put the wire back, and you're done. Again, one can refer to thousands of Youtube videos available for those who are doing this for the first time.

Also Read- All You Need to Know About Car Spark Plugs

Removing scratches from paint

We all hate it when we notice scratches on the car paint, don't we? Even some tiny scratch that's visible to the naked eye spoils the beauty of the car. What's even worse is that the service centres paint the entire panel again to hide a scratch, which is something that can cause you thousands. However, one of the basic car repairing tips one should know is to remove such small scratches yourself.

To do this, one needs to first figure out how deep the scratch is. After that, one should lightly sand the scratch using light grade sandpaper, apply some rubbing compound, polish the area with a rubbing compound, wash the area, and wax it to give the car a shiny look. It's a quick and effective way to save a lot of money.

Change Car Battery

Usually, a modern car battery can last up to 3-4 years. However, in case you get stuck with a dead battery, you can really be looking at a lot of trouble, especially since nowadays, car batteries also have to take care of various electronic aids and gadgets that come along with the car.

However, it's fairly easy to change a car battery. All you need to do is to remove the covers from the battery, disconnect the negative cables, put the clamp away from the battery post, do the same for the positive clamp, remove all screws, replace the old battery with the new one and reconnect the clamps. Also, while putting the cables away, make sure you label them which cable is what so that you connect them correctly with the new battery.

Replace Headlight and Taillight Bulbs

Headlights and taillights are really important parts of your car. Unfortunately, however, they're often overlooked. Subsequently, broken lights or fused bulbs lead to reduce visibility in the dark, which, in turn, can cause an accident. Hence, it's necessary to be aware of the method to change bulbs. This way, one can even save on costs that might be incurred from the visits to the mechanic.

The process to change a bulb involves removing the screws that connect the headlight to the bracket, removing the electric connectors, replacing the faulty bulb with a new one, reconnecting the connectors, and replacing the headlight unit in the frame. Please use a similar process to replace the frame.

Also Read- High Beam Headlights- What are the Rules?

Replacing wipers

Yet another part of a car that often goes ignored for much of the time is its set of wipers. However, it's worth noting here that not having wipers in good condition can not just cause. a lot of trouble when driving in the rain but can even damage the windscreen glass permanently. Thankfully, one needn't visit the service center to replace faulty wiper blades as they can be easily changed at home.

The procedure to do so involves lifting the wiper arm away from the windscreen, pressing the small tab that lets you pull out the wiper blade, aligning the new wiper blade with the arm, and pushing it until it snaps fits.

Replacing air filters

Again, air filters are often overlooked as they are not visible even when you open the hood. However, they play an important role in ensuring your car breathes in clean air. They are also quite inexpensive and can be replaced at home. The process is really very easy.

All one needs to do is to open the hood, locate the air filter housing, remove the cover, take the air filter out, clean the housing, install a new air filter and replace the cover. That's it! It's important to follow the manufacturer-specified schedule for the replacement of the filter, even if your car hasn't clocked enough mileage.

Change Brake Pads

It goes without saying that the brakes of a car are definitely its most important parts. They not only ensure your safety on the road but even of other road users. Many car accidents take place due to the brake system failing. Therefore, it pays to keep the brake system in good health, and one can start with ensuring the brake pads are in useful condition. Thankfully, changing them isn't a huge task and can be done easily at home.

Steps required to change the brake pads include loosening of lug nuts of the wheel, jacking the car up, removing the wheel, removing the slider bolts, removing older brake pads, installing new brake pads, putting the slider bolts back, and finally, mounting the wheel back securely.

Jump Start

While this isn't exactly a repair, we have still put it in our list of Basic Car Repairing Tips Everyone Should Know, as it's important to understand this technique before you find yourself stranded on the road owing to a dead battery. By knowing this technique, you won't require to call roadside assistance and save time and money.

Jump starting the car is quite easy. All you need to do is to take the jumper cables out, put both the vehicles in neutral, switch off the ignition, attach the red clips to the positive terminal of the two batteries, attach one end of the black cable to the negative terminal of the other car, attach the other end of the black cable to an unpainted metal surface and start your car.