Hi all,

 

I have looked on youtube at repairing your own vehicle.

There is no courses in the Uk that cater in a weeks crash course like a one week tiling course, I mean a weeks course in basic D.I.Y. in maintaining and servicing a vehicle.

Colleges in the Uk have the courses but not enough people to attend then they cancel them.

I am interested in learning about my cars mechanics and I have Haynes Manual and some tools.

Rather that get a new car, I would rather keep this and buy tools every week or month, and be able to learn how to do basic mechanical stuff like checking brakes and oil changes. Diagnostics and basic repairs of stuff, and learn a bit about bodywork repair and even welding in my spare time.

I buy books, but its not same as doing a crash course on it.

I thought there would have been a massive demand at £45 an hour repair bills.

 

Moose

I thought there would have been a massive demand at £45 an hour repair bills.

 

Moose

Yeah, and that's pretty cheap too. I think the thing is that so many car manufacturers nowadays make things so hard to do that people just don't bother with it any more. Like the Renault Megan where you have to take the wheel and arch liner off just to change a bulb. And most have under-trays that need to be taken off, can't remember if it was my dads old Octy or the Jetta he has now but he used to do all his own oil changes ect but the car has an under-tray on it that has no apparent way of removing it, so it can't be taken off by the looks of it meaning you can't get to the sump plug and then if you could some have the filter in an inaccessible place (even on his old M reg Audi 80 we had to bend the battery mounting bracket to get the filter out once removed) Then there's the sheer amount of things that need a computer to diagnose and electrical stuff you simply can't fix. And he tried to change the brake disks but needed a special tool to remove the back ones so ended up taking it to a garage anyway. Yes, there is a lot of stuff you can still do to them but for what it takes it's just not worth bothering when you already have it in the garage just saying by the way it needs this doing as well while it's in would only add half an hour to the bill.

Granted that some of the servicing might not be feasible but 'having the basic skills' can't be a bad thing can it! Seems a shame that the OP can't find a course.

miggymoose, what area are you based in?

The reason for the high prices are because of the training involved. My City and Guilds took nearly 4 years to complete and cost over 30K. Would be worthless if someone could learn everything in a week.

Also, car Manufacturers don't want you fixing your own car. It puts them out of pocket. One of the reasons more and more manufacturers are involving the ECU's to control more. Personally I think everyone that drives a car should be made to learn the Basics, especially pressures and levels etc.

but then as a mechanic I've worked on so many cars where someone has "had a go" and made the car unsafe or made matters ten times worse. At the end of the day. If in doubt, leave it alone and get someone competent.

Personally I think everyone that drives a car should be made to learn the Basics, especially pressures and levels etc.

 

this is now part of the driving test and has been for sometime

I think your best bet is to find a friend who has done a bit before and ask them to show you how to: change discs/oil/filters etc. this could be done at the time of service, you buy the parts and then a nice tip for your friend. Finding out the hard way is not really much fun, although saying that, there is one way to find out. Give it a go. But I would suggest you found someone who has some knowledge in the field to stand/sit/kneel/lie beside you whilst you attempt it. Who can give you pointers as to what you are doing wrong or which step to take next.

I'm lucky that I get to service and repair my own car with a friend who is a mechanic in his garage, it is a case of 'He does the work and I follow like a lost lamb asking questions relentlessly about everything and anything I don't know about the car'.

Lots of 'what's that?' 'How is that connected?' 'What does that do?' 'How do I remove that?'

JRJG

Granted that some of the servicing might not be feasible but 'having the basic skills' can't be a bad thing can it! Seems a shame that the OP can't find a course.

I'm not denying that is is goot to have the skills, and yes it is a shame that there aren't days available to learn them. I'm just saying that car manufacturers aren't making it easy to do it in the first place.

In my opinion if you know how an engine works and you are technically minded, then you have no issues at all servicing a vehicle. For instance if you know your way around an engine how hard can it be to get some tools out and repair/remove or replace parts.