Learning to be more mechanically minded
Discussion
First of all, a confession. I love cars and always have done, but when it comes to knowing mechanical stuff I'm a complete dunce. I can change wheels and batteries but that is the limit of my experience!
So my question is, how do I rectify this? I don't really have any mechanic mates and to be honest I'd rather do it by myself anyway.
I have an old snotter Fiesta which I'm happy to use as a guinea pig. I figured I would just buy a Haynes manual and carry out a basic service, then take it from there. What do you think of that idea? I'm not likely to cock anything up so badly that I can't put it back together am I?
So my question is, how do I rectify this? I don't really have any mechanic mates and to be honest I'd rather do it by myself anyway.
I have an old snotter Fiesta which I'm happy to use as a guinea pig. I figured I would just buy a Haynes manual and carry out a basic service, then take it from there. What do you think of that idea? I'm not likely to cock anything up so badly that I can't put it back together am I?
Marf said:
Best is to learn by doing.
Do you have any mates handy with a spanner who can stand over your shoulder and guide you whilst you do the work?
That's how I learnt.
Sadly my ability to differentiate between a spanner and a screwdriver clearly marks me out as the mechanical genius among my friends! I'll be flying solo, I guess I'll just come crying to PH if I get stuck!Do you have any mates handy with a spanner who can stand over your shoulder and guide you whilst you do the work?
That's how I learnt.
I'm in a similar situation - want to learn but really don't know where to start.
My aim is to buy a cheap old 'classic' (using that term incredibly loosely!) and basically take it apart and try and put back together again - not too bothered about f
king it up as is it a learning exercise and the scrappy will always take it away and I can start again.
building up my tool collection at the moment and getting my head around clearing out the garage of all other st, then to ebay to get something cheap!
Also, there will be an owners forum for whatever make which will be invaluable plus the good folks on here know a thing or two.
My aim is to buy a cheap old 'classic' (using that term incredibly loosely!) and basically take it apart and try and put back together again - not too bothered about f
king it up as is it a learning exercise and the scrappy will always take it away and I can start again.building up my tool collection at the moment and getting my head around clearing out the garage of all other s
t, then to ebay to get something cheap!Also, there will be an owners forum for whatever make which will be invaluable plus the good folks on here know a thing or two.
doogz said:
That's mostly how i learned. Although when you get in slightly over your head, and realise your car's in bits, it's Sunday afternoon, and you're working Monday morning, it does help to have a mate/relative you can call on.
We've all been there, happily working away realise its 6pm and you're surrounded by parts/you don't have the one tool you really need to finish the job.Starting off by giving the car a service is probably the best way though and just gradually work your way up to the 4/5 spanner jobs.
I learnt from Haynes manuals but that was in the old days when cars were a lot simpler to work on. Nowadayss you have to know how to remove various panels, shields and covers by which time the will to live has evaporated.
You also have to accept that while it is a laudable ambition, you will break stuff unnecessarily by accident that will incapacitate the car from time to time and you will wish you hadn't started stuff and you will occasionally round nuts and such that will seriously test your patience. You may even cry with tears of frustration but the final sense of achievement will be worth it. *
Incidentally I buy rubber washing up gloves and gut the "sleeves" off to permit air circulation as the latex gloves last about 2 seconds. Swarfega is good stuff but ingrained oil isn't a great advert.
You also have to accept that while it is a laudable ambition, you will break stuff unnecessarily by accident that will incapacitate the car from time to time and you will wish you hadn't started stuff and you will occasionally round nuts and such that will seriously test your patience. You may even cry with tears of frustration but the final sense of achievement will be worth it. *
- or possibly not.
Incidentally I buy rubber washing up gloves and gut the "sleeves" off to permit air circulation as the latex gloves last about 2 seconds. Swarfega is good stuff but ingrained oil isn't a great advert.
LuS1fer said:
I learnt from Haynes manuals but that was in the old days when cars were a lot simpler to work on. Nowadayss you have to know how to remove various panels, shields and covers by which time the will to live has evaporated.
You also have to accept that while it is a laudable ambition, you will break stuff unnecessarily by accident that will incapacitate the car from time to time and you will wish you hadn't started stuff and you will occasionally round nuts and such that will seriously test your patience. You may even cry with tears of frustration but the final sense of achievement will be worth it. *
Incidentally I buy rubber washing up gloves and gut the "sleeves" off to permit air circulation as the latex gloves last about 2 seconds. Swarfega is good stuff but ingrained oil isn't a great advert.
So a Haynes book isn't going to assume I have masses of knowledge already then?You also have to accept that while it is a laudable ambition, you will break stuff unnecessarily by accident that will incapacitate the car from time to time and you will wish you hadn't started stuff and you will occasionally round nuts and such that will seriously test your patience. You may even cry with tears of frustration but the final sense of achievement will be worth it. *
- or possibly not.
Incidentally I buy rubber washing up gloves and gut the "sleeves" off to permit air circulation as the latex gloves last about 2 seconds. Swarfega is good stuff but ingrained oil isn't a great advert.
generally speaking most older cars are a peice of pish to work on, ok there are a few stubborn bolts here and there but you'll find it's surprisingly easy once you get into it.
all you need is a few basic tools to begin with, an internet connection, the relavent owners forum, and maybe a workshop manual.
do the basics first, learning brakes, suspension components etc.. then maybe move onto the slightly more difficult stuff.
More modern cars with all the electrical gubbins are a little bit more tricky but still manageable for anyone with reasonable intellect. Some of the thickest people i know are fantastic mechanics
on the car forum front, from person experience, i'd suggest using car specific/owners club forums as thats where the intricate knowledge usually is found. site like PH are good fun and all but i've found all kinds of folk chip in with 'nuggets' if info that's usually bks.
i wish you luck, and fun
all you need is a few basic tools to begin with, an internet connection, the relavent owners forum, and maybe a workshop manual.
do the basics first, learning brakes, suspension components etc.. then maybe move onto the slightly more difficult stuff.
More modern cars with all the electrical gubbins are a little bit more tricky but still manageable for anyone with reasonable intellect. Some of the thickest people i know are fantastic mechanics
on the car forum front, from person experience, i'd suggest using car specific/owners club forums as thats where the intricate knowledge usually is found. site like PH are good fun and all but i've found all kinds of folk chip in with 'nuggets' if info that's usually b
ks.i wish you luck, and fun
You'll be fine!
I started in the same way servicing the cars, and gradually built up to the point where I'm making a fuel injection system for the Westfield from GSXR-600 parts.
You're bound to balls something up... But that's how you learn.
(the most experienced bloke has probably made all the mistakes!!)
I started in the same way servicing the cars, and gradually built up to the point where I'm making a fuel injection system for the Westfield from GSXR-600 parts.
You're bound to balls something up... But that's how you learn.
(the most experienced bloke has probably made all the mistakes!!)
ChrisDB7 said:
So a Haynes book isn't going to assume I have masses of knowledge already then?
I haven't bought one in a while and then only for American cars which are designed to be serviced not discourage you. My education started with an A-series Austin engine on which you had to manually adjust tappets and where everything was "obvious" and sturdy enough to withstand the hamfisted so my education was more "gradual". It had two fuses for the entire car!I still shy away from electronics on modern cars and still only really understand basic stuff myself. A DSG gearbox would be magic to me and electronics and CANBUS like speaking Chinese.
A Fiesta should be OK though. The main fault with Haynes manuals used to be that it told you how to dismantle stuff then casually said "assembly is the reverse of dissembling" at which point yopu stare at the array of oily parts and try to learn to read backwards. They also tell you to do something as though it's easy wwhen you require 3 arms and a pet octopus so allow plenty of time. Again, a Fiesta shouldn't offer too many problems and these days there is so much on the internet that there is always help.
What ever you do, don't read anything in this thread http://www.pistonheads.com/xforums/topic.asp?h=0&a... that was written by the OP of the thread
If you're willing to get stuck in, a Haynes manual and some time will definitely start you off on the right path, and once you understand the basics, the more complicated stuff isn't really too bad.
If you're willing to get stuck in, a Haynes manual and some time will definitely start you off on the right path, and once you understand the basics, the more complicated stuff isn't really too bad.
andymach23 said:
A torque wrench is a worthwhile investment. It's good to know that bolts are tightened correctly, especially on safety critical items. It's also easy to overtighten and strip threads.
As are good spanners like halfords professional. A bad spanner will always break or make a job more difficult by rounding nuts. These days you need star keys as well as many fasteners use them and Allen keys seem to be a thing of the past largely. You'll need a good hydraulic jack and some axle stands too.Not being afraid to balls up is important. Like I did recently.
A few months ago I went to change the oil on my TD5 Discovery. I tried to get the oil filter off and it would only budge a bit. Ended up with it totally chewed up from sticking a screw driver through it loads of times.
Then I realised I was tightening it instead of loosening it. Eventually got the filter off and changed the oil. Felt like a prize fool but won't make the same mistake again.
Then noticed an oil leak under the car. It was coming from somewhere behind the oil filter. Took some photos of the area with the digital camera and could see that the leak looked like it was coming from the oil cooler that the oil filter housing was attached to. Had to do a bit of reading up to figure all this out. Looked like I had disturbed the gasket with all the working at the filter.
Only issue with this was I needed to take the turbo off to get at this part. Ordered up all the gaskets I needed, then took the Turbo off and the oil filter housing. When loosened the oil cooler I lost loads of coolant. I changed the gasket on this and put everything back together and started the car.
Oil was pissing out everywhere. A total flood. I had to take the turbo off again to investigate, which was a piece of piss, 2nd time round.
The gasket for the oil filter housing had slipped when I was putting it on.
Now with everything back together the oil has stopped leaking. What a palava, but I learned loads doing all this.
Excellent tip on the washing up liquid gloves by the way.
A few months ago I went to change the oil on my TD5 Discovery. I tried to get the oil filter off and it would only budge a bit. Ended up with it totally chewed up from sticking a screw driver through it loads of times.
Then I realised I was tightening it instead of loosening it. Eventually got the filter off and changed the oil. Felt like a prize fool but won't make the same mistake again.
Then noticed an oil leak under the car. It was coming from somewhere behind the oil filter. Took some photos of the area with the digital camera and could see that the leak looked like it was coming from the oil cooler that the oil filter housing was attached to. Had to do a bit of reading up to figure all this out. Looked like I had disturbed the gasket with all the working at the filter.
Only issue with this was I needed to take the turbo off to get at this part. Ordered up all the gaskets I needed, then took the Turbo off and the oil filter housing. When loosened the oil cooler I lost loads of coolant. I changed the gasket on this and put everything back together and started the car.
Oil was pissing out everywhere. A total flood. I had to take the turbo off again to investigate, which was a piece of piss, 2nd time round.
The gasket for the oil filter housing had slipped when I was putting it on.
Now with everything back together the oil has stopped leaking. What a palava, but I learned loads doing all this.
Excellent tip on the washing up liquid gloves by the way.
Well I had my first go at the weekend, changing the brake discs and pads.
I learned my first lesson, never buy the tat that passes for tools from Halfords!!
I was doing so well. Jacked up, Axle stand on, wheel off. The front part of the caliper holding the front pad came off nice and easy, now all I needed to do was remove two nuts at the back and the rest of the caliper would come off completely releasing the brake disc to be swapped.
Unfortunately these two nuts were very stubborn! So I gave it a bit of elbow grease and the socket cracked and snapped! It was a cheap, thin piece of kit from a halfords set so I went back to the shop to get a socket that was more up to the job (and my powerful build obviously). Whilst I was at the shop I'd stuck a bit of WD40 on it, taking care to keep it from the breaks. Anyway I try again and eventually it gives! Or so I think. The ratchet had given instead!
Its all sorted now though
I've got to say the Haynes book is pretty useful. How much should I be looking to spend on a wrench handle which will do the job?
I learned my first lesson, never buy the tat that passes for tools from Halfords!!
I was doing so well. Jacked up, Axle stand on, wheel off. The front part of the caliper holding the front pad came off nice and easy, now all I needed to do was remove two nuts at the back and the rest of the caliper would come off completely releasing the brake disc to be swapped.
Unfortunately these two nuts were very stubborn! So I gave it a bit of elbow grease and the socket cracked and snapped! It was a cheap, thin piece of kit from a halfords set so I went back to the shop to get a socket that was more up to the job (and my powerful build obviously). Whilst I was at the shop I'd stuck a bit of WD40 on it, taking care to keep it from the breaks. Anyway I try again and eventually it gives! Or so I think. The ratchet had given instead!
Its all sorted now though
I've got to say the Haynes book is pretty useful. How much should I be looking to spend on a wrench handle which will do the job?
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