For many struggling families buying a new car is out of the question. According to the AAA, U.S. car dealers on average sell seventeen million cars a year. This year auto sales are projected to dwindle to nine million.

1. 4 Car Maintenance Tasks You Can Do Yourself
With the current economic downturn, people are cutting corners wherever they can. As a
consequence, more automobile owners are keeping their cars for a longer period of time.
For many struggling families buying a new car is out of the question. According to the AAA,
U.S. car dealers on average sell seventeen million cars a year. This year auto sales are projected
to dwindle to nine million.
Fewer new cars sold means that more and more older cars will be in need of fixing up. In good
economic times, when it comes to performing routine maintenance, most people normally take
their cars to a mechanic. However, many people these days cannot afford expensive mechanic
costs and are therefore tackling routine maintenance and auto repairs on their own.
Performing routine maintenance on your own is one of the best ways you can reduce the amount
of money normally spent on car maintenance each month. By performing certain routine
maintenance jobs and minor repairs, you can increase the life of your vehicle while spending less
at the auto repair shop.
Regular Maintenance
There’s no better way to keep your car out of the repair shop than by doing regular maintenance
on it. Constantly performing maintenance tasks on your car may seem like a waste of time, but
keeping your car’s systems in good working order is well worth the money and effort in the long
run.

2. It is recommended that you take your car to a mechanic once or twice a year since maintenance
tasks like changing the oil or replacing a fuel filter can be somewhat of a challenge for a novice.
However, there are many auto maintenance and auto repair tasks that require little experience
and only simple tools.
The following DIY maintenance tips will help you maintain your car in top shape, while
avoiding costly repair bills later. Repairs and maintenance you can do yourself will not only save
you money and time at the repair shop, it will give you a great sense of accomplishment.
Because routine maintenance involves more than just changing the oil, you need to be aware of
what your vehicle requires to maintain it in excellent condition. Therefore, before you begin,
locate the owner’s manual that came with your car.
Also find a repair or service guide, which you can usually purchase from a dealership or parts
store. Browse through it to learn about any parts you might need or whether the car manufacturer
recommends that a dealership mechanic perform a particular task.
Basic DIY Maintenance Tasks
For the DIY mechanic who wants to get his hands dirty – and greasy, following are four basic
maintenance tasks you can do yourself. The first two are easy fixes; the last two are more
advanced.
1. changing the oil
2. replacing the fuel filter
3. replacing warn brake disc
4. replacing a fuse
Replacing a Fuse
If all of a sudden both of your headlights go out at the same time, you should check the fuse box.
There are three kinds of automotive fuses: blade, glass tube, or ceramic.
A car made before 1980 has the tube style or ceramic fuses shaped like little torpedoes, which
makes them easy to install. The kind of fuse used in most modern cars is the blade style that
plugs into the fuse box much like a wall plug.
Step 1: Many cars these days have two separate locations for fuses. Regardless of how many
fuse boxes your car has, one will be located under the dashboard usually in front of the driver’s
left knee, behind a clearly marked plastic cover.
Under the cover is a neat row of various colored fuses and a diagram indicating which fuse
operates what. Most cars provide a few spare fuses plus a fuse puller for removing an old fuse
and inserting a new one.

3. When installing a new fuse, be sure it’s the same amperage, which is denoted by color and also
imprinted on the fuse. If there is no headlight fuse marked on the diagram, your car most likely
has a second fuse box somewhere under the hood. See Step 2.
Step 2: Most cars nowadays have a second fuse box located under the hood. It’s usually easily
accessible and also contains a diagram. The same procedure is used for replacing a fuse under
the hood as for replacing one under the dash.
Replacing Warn Brake Disc
Short car trips can be extremely irritating if your car has a warped or worn brake disc. Replacing
brake discs is easy and inexpensive.
Anytime you work in the wheel area, make sure your car is supported on jack stands, not by an
emergency tire-changing jack or scissor.
Step 1: Remove the brake caliper in the same way you would replace brake pads. After you
unbolt the caliper, so that you won’t need to unbolt the brake line, use a bungee cord or similar
hanger to hang the caliper somewhere out of the way.
Step 2: After removing the brake caliper, remove the carrier, which is the structure that holds the
caliper and pads in place. To remove it, take off the two bolts on the back. Keep all of the parts
you remove with the corresponding bolts.
Step 3: You can now remove the old brake disc, which is held in place by one or maybe two set
screws located on the front. Use a large Phillips head screwdriver to remove the bolt(s) that are
holding the brake disc in place.

4. If the screws are stripped or damaged, you will have to drill them out. After you have
successfully removed the screws, slide off the old brake disc from the hub. To help loosen it up
you may need to give it a few taps with a dead blow hammer.
Step 4: Installation of the new brake is the reverse of removal. Remember to replace the brake
disc screws.
Changing the Oil
Changing the engine oil in your car on a regular basis is necessary to ensure proper engine
function. An oil change helps a car run more smoothly, get better gas mileage, and last as long as
possible.
You should never change the oil while the engine is hot as the oil can be as hot as 250º F. Allow
the engine to cool for at least two hours before you start the oil change.
Find a place that is level, solid ground where you can jack up your car safely. Put a piece of
cardboard or plywood underneath the engine in case you spill some oil.
Step 1: First, drain the old oil, which is in the oil pan located at the bottom of your engine. The
large bolt on the bottom of the pan is actually a drain plug that holds the oil in the pan.
Step 2: Before removing the drain plug, so that you will not spend all your time cleaning up oil,
position the recycling container under the oil drain.
Then remove the drain plug, letting it drop into the top of the recycling container. A screen on
top of the container will not allow the plug to drop into the mucky oil.
Drain all of the oil out, then replace and tighten the drain plug to the torque specifications for
your car. Cap the recycling container and take it to a location that accepts used oil.
Step 3: With an oil filter wrench, remove the old oil filter. Turn the wrench counterclockwise
until the oil filter is free. Be careful; the filter is still full of old oil that can spill out. While there
are some oil filters that you can reach from the top, most will require you to be under the car.
Step 4: With the old oil drained out and the old filter removed, it’s time to install the new filter.
First, you must prep it by using some new oil to grease the rubber gasket on the end of the oil
filter. Then you can screw the new filter in place.
Next, fill the new oil filter to about two-thirds full with oil. Going over the specified amount
might cause you to spill some oil a you screw the filter on.
Step 5: Holding the filter upright, carefully screw the new oil filter clockwise. Remember that it
has oil in it. Do not use a wrench to install the new filter. Just twist it on as tightly as you can
with one hand.

5. Over-tightening can strip the threads thereby causing a leak. Of course, under-tightening can also
cause a leak. The key is to tighten it only as far as possible using one hand, and no more.
Step 6: To fill the engine with oil, remove the oil fill cap and insert an oil funnel. After checking
your owner’s manual to learn how much oil your engine holds, pour a little over three-quarters
that amount into the engine.
For example, if your car holds four quarts of oil, add three and a half quarts. You may want to
use the five-quart containers of motor oil that have a handy guide on the side showing how much
oil you have poured into the engine.
Step 7: Lastly, check your oil and add enough to bring it to the right level.
Important: Replace the oil cap. If oil sprays, it can cause a fire.
Replacing the Fuel Filter
A fuel filter normally only costs less than $20, but it can keep you from spending thousands of
dollars on engine damage. Therefore, it is imperative that you change the fuel filter on a regular
basis in order to protect your engine from damage.
A fuel filter protects some of the engine’s most delicate parts. A properly functioning fuel filter
is extremely important to protecting the engine as the tiniest particles can clog fuel injection
systems and carburetors.
If the filter becomes clogged, the fuel attempting to pass through to the engine will be impeded.
Therefore, the fuel filter, which only takes a short time to replace, should be replaced once a year
on a vehicle of average use.
Step 1: Be sure to wear eye protection. Before replacing the fuel filter, you absolutely must first
relieve the pressure inside the fuel system.
A fuel injection system functions under extremely high pressure. Therefore, if you do not release
the pressure before you begin unscrewing fuel lines, the result can be an explosion.
To release the pressure inside the fuel lines as well as inside the fuel filter, locate the fuse for the
fuel pump, which is in the fuse box. If your fuel pump does not have a fuse, locate the relay that
operates it. After locating the fuse or relay, start up the car.

6. Keep the engine idling while you remove the fuse or relay. You will know when you’ve pulled
the correct one because the engine will die immediately.
Since the fuel filter is using all of the pressurized fuel in the system, the fuel lines will no longer
be pressurized and you can safely unscrew the fittings on your fuel filter.
Step 2: For your own bodily protection, you must complete Step 1 first. Then you can remove
the old fuel filter.
For a fuel injection car, which most are nowadays, be sure you have two open end wrenches that
are the right size tools for the fuel filter and fuel line fittings. In most cases the wrenches will be
two different sizes.
Grasp the wrench that fits on the filter, and turn the wrench on the fuel line fitting counter
clockwise until the fitting comes out. Do the same for the other end of the filter.
Step 3: With fuel lines disconnected from the filter, remove the old fuel filter. Using the proper
tool — usually a screwdriver — release the clamp that holds the filter. The old fuel filter will
probably still have some gas in it, so remove it carefully.
Step 4: To install the new filter just do the opposite of the removal. Remember to put back the
fuel pump relay or fuse.