Breaking down on the side of the road is never a good thing, but when you are calling a tow truck for an easy repair, it is just simply silly. Thus, we have brought together some of the best minds in the towing industry to quickly review the 5 car repairs everyone should know how to do. These repairs will not only allow you to get back on the road in no time, but it will allow you to make pre-emptive repairs when you start to hear things go a little haywire under the hood.
Changing your oil
Fresh oil does wonders for your car, and being able to skip the dealership for an oil change will save you thousands over your cars lifetime. The general rule of thumb is to change oil every 3000 miles, however, as cars have gotten a little better on mileage, you can normally push this to every 5000 miles. Here are the steps:
- Drain the oil by removing the oil drain plug
- Unscrew the oil filter, empty and replace
- Allow oil to drain into a proper container
- Screw in the new oil filter and put the drain plug back in
- Remove oil filter cap and fill with 4-5 quarts of oil
Changing a flat tire
Dealing with a flat tire is never fun, but for those who know how to complete the swap out, their wallets are always a little heavier. It might seem simple, but you would be surprised how many people cannot do it! Here are the steps:
- Use a tire tool to loosen the lug nuts
- Lift the vehicle with a jack
- Remove the lug nuts and the flat tire
- Put new tire or spare tire on the hub wheel
- Snug the lug nuts back on with the tire tool
- Lower the vehicle to the ground
Changing Spark Plugs
As many of you know, spark plugs are an essential part of all gas and diesel engines. These little parts, although cheap, are what allows your engine to purr. You should replace your spark plugs roughly every 10,000 miles. Here are the steps:
- Remove the spark plug wire
- Remove the faulty plug with a socket or wrench
- Insert new plug and tighten
- Reattach spark plug wire
Changing a car battery
A dead battery is never something that is great to deal with, but changing a dead battery for a new one should not be rocket science. These swaps are normally completed within minutes and will save you money over the long haul. The steps to changing a car battery are:
- Remove any covers from the old battery
- Disconnect the negative cable and then the positive cable
- Remove the old battery and replace it with the new one
- Connect negative cable and then positive cable
- Replace any covers over the battery
Removing windshield wipers
Changing a wiper should not be something you are paying for, and especially as it literally takes seconds. Here are the steps:
- Lift wiper arm away from the windshield, and depress the small tab which allows the wiper blade to come off
- Line up the wiper blade with the wiper arm and push in tightly
- Secure the wiper by snapping down the tab.
