another car question...

[Rubber314Chicken]

I use a similar set. The jack isn't the greatest, but it works fine for general home use. The jack stands are sturdy and hold well.

cool. I'l let my dad know then. and I've got a ton of 4x4's to provide a plan b to a plan d, so I think I should be able to do that.

 

[kjman87]

This is the set i have been using for like 3-4 years now and it works great every time...though I will admit if you have a low profile vehicle it can get to be a pain...my old jetta was lowered to the point that my cat would hit a speed bump in the middle of the car so i just drove my front wheels up onto a 2X12 and it was fine...

$50 for a 2.25 ton jack and stands. Not bad and its craftsman!

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_...t&sName=Lift+Equipment&filter=Brand|Craftsman

 

[Ashley1]

Here is a link to a tutorial on Expert Village on how to change oil, this should help quite alot

http://www.expertvillage.com/video-series/1187_oil-change.htm

The video shows a Pontiac Grand Prix but you would go about changing the oil on any car in pretty much the same way. The only real difference would be the location of the oil filter on the specific car you are working on and or the size of the oil drain plug.

I hope this helps, i worked as a tire, oil tech so i can say from personal experience that once you've changed the oil on one veichle you can pretty much change the oil on any, all that varies is size of drain plug and filter location really. You may find some cars have two oil drain plugs, but so far i've only seen this on a 89 mustang.

Oh and this is pretty rare but some cars may use a different type of oil drain plug, one i have seen needed a socket with an Allen key head on it to be removed but this is pretty rare so don't worry to much about that.

Enjoy!

 

[Rubber314Chicken]

I have a funnel that I use for gas... could I use it for oil if I cleaned it with soap and water first, or should I buy one for the oil?

 

[Tommy Boy]

I have a funnel that I use for gas... could I use it for oil if I cleaned it with soap and water first, or should I buy one for the oil?

Nah, you can use it, just clean it off first like you said.

 

[Rubber314Chicken]

okay, cool. I'll probably be getting that this weekend then.... and maybe another set of jack stands to do tire rotations (and possibly alignments) as well.

 

[root]

rotating tyres is fairly easy, as is changing the oil.

personally I'd be inclined to go to a garage to get the alignment done as they will use equiment to make it more accurate (certainly most tyre fitters in the UK will has lasers that they use to align the wheels to ensure it's done right).

other things like changing transmission fluild and gear oil, even changing the drive shafts is stuff that I do at home on the driveway...

Changing brake pads is fairly simple too. what I would suggest is getting a good manual for the car, I assume that Haynes Workshop manuals are available in the US as well as the UK, a good manual with proper diagrams and instructions is invaluable! and it'll help you asses what you feel is at your level of competance and what stuff is really best left to the professionals.

 

[Tommy Boy]

Yeah, some things are just better left to the professionals, for alignments they use computerized machines that make sure that the tires are in perfect alignment, if they aren't, you will wear out your tires prematurely and the car won't handle right. There is quite a bit of stuff you can do yourself on a car though, but like root said, go get a haynes or chiltons shop manual on the car you will be working on. If you are fairly new to cars or working on cars, it will help loads, and even if you aren't new to working on cars, it will still help you.

And root.....I like your signature...Denis Leary is great.

 

[Rubber314Chicken]

Yeah, some things are just better left to the professionals, for alignments they use computerized machines that make sure that the tires are in perfect alignment, if they aren't, you will wear out your tires prematurely and the car won't handle right. There is quite a bit of stuff you can do yourself on a car though, but like root said, go get a haynes or chiltons shop manual on the car you will be working on. If you are fairly new to cars or working on cars, it will help loads, and even if you aren't new to working on cars, it will still help you.

And root.....I like your signature...Denis Leary is great.

okay, I'll have to look into one of those books... one of the cars the tranny is going... its an automatic, and doesn't wanna change gears... you could drive it and it would stay at 2500 rpm. I think it needs the fluid changed.

 

[Jesusfrk611]

okay, I'll have to look into one of those books... one of the cars the tranny is going... its an automatic, and doesn't wanna change gears... you could drive it and it would stay at 2500 rpm. I think it needs the fluid changed.

Probably tranny going out until it's fixed or replaced, doubt it's just that it's need the fluid changed.

We got an old car that has an auto and it only goes into first gear, won't switch and recently stopped going into reverse. We just use it on the pasture, so it's not a big deal. It needs to be fixed for it to go into any other gears. Pretty soon it will probably not even go into first. The fastest it will go w/o over revving the engine is like 30mph.