DIY Car Repairs

[Bralek1125]

So, for the past few months, I've been interested in performing my own maintenance on my car. It's my first car and it's actually a fantastic little machine -- 2005 Hyundai Accent GT. Good news is, it still runs great! The bad news is that I (and my immediate family) know very little about car maintenance.

 

Recently, the poor thing does that whole squealing noise when I first start her up either in the morning or after she's been parked for a few hours (i.e., at work). And within the past couple of weeks, I've also noticed this 'choking' or 'pulling' motion (sort of a hesitance to accelerate, like the engine itself is skipping).

 

I'm not ridiculously worried, because I should be able to get whatever parts and have them installed without a problem. Auto shops are great. I've got a good one around here if I really, REALLY need him, but even so, I'd much rather learn to do it myself (if at all possible. Teach a man to fish, he stays fed for life, so to speak.)

 

Problem 1 : The Squeaky Noise

 

Research on the internet (which may or may not be accurate) suggests I need a new drive belt. Since the car has ~110k miles on it and I know for a fact 50k of those are mine, (bought it used), and belts need to be replaced every 60k-100k, I'm leaning towards this solution. Mainly because I have no idea if the guy that owned it before me replaced the belts or not. In which case, 110k miles would definitely be time to replace the belts. The part itself (or other possible parts I may need) are all under twenty bucks. Which isn't bad. The labor is what I'll be worried for, and estimates online claim ~150$ for getting a mechanic to do it. That's a major difference.

 

Problem 2 : The Starting Choking

 

Since this is a newer problem, I'm not sure where to start with it. The Check Engine light has been on in my car for a while, but unfortunately I come from a family that believes those lights are just useless. And I myself, to a degree, believe that the lights can be misguiding. At one point while I was driving back and forth to school, I once didn't tighten the fuel cap enough and the light came on. After some digging around, I found an article that said in some cars, check engine lights will come on if the fuel cap has been loosened/removed because you're now allowing fuel to evaporate. So I tightened that sucker and within a day of driving, the light had went off.

 

So, about four months ago, the light came on and tightening the cap didn't quite work. Oops.

 

I hadn't paid it much attention until two weeks ago when my car started pulling and I thought I was going to lose control of it and drive into a ditch.

 

Solutions on the internet...May be what's called a vacuum hose. There's a leak in it somewhere, and I need a new one or need to patch it up. It sounds like, to my amateur self, a similar problem to the belt. Natural wear and tear and it's just time to replace it.

 

________________

 

So, after you've read my brainstorming, I guess I'm looking for suggestions and thoughts. I'm going to run to AutoZone tomorrow since they'll test your Check Engine light for free and see what they say. Maybe if I'm lucky they'll take a look at the engine. On side notes, I'm also interested in changing my own oil, installing my own filters...I once had to replace a headlight and pay a guy twenty bucks to take the battery out, remove a light compartment, and stuff it in. That aggravated me because it was so simple I could have done it and while I didn't mind meeting the guy and having him show me how to do it, I just thought, it's something simple. People should be taught this vehicle maintenance themselves. He also commented that there was a buttload of erosion around my battery. How do you stop that from happening? Is there even a way to clean a battery?

 

I apologize for my ADHD brain. Hopefully someone's got some advice or their two cents will help me out. ^~^ thanks for reading!

[Pole Monkey]

Best thing you can do is get one of these: http://www.haynes.com/products/productID/206

You can usually get them cheaper at your local chain auto parts store. Good luck!

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[Agdoof]

Working basic maintenance on vehicles like the kind you're talking about can be deceptively easy, especially with a guide like the one Pole Monkey posted. I'd recommend getting it. I don't know if you have any tools of your own, but you'll probably have to buy some of those as well. It's a good investment, though!

 

Batteries can be cleaned, fairly easily. This is a good guide on how to do it: http://www.thetirechoice.com/learning-center/how-to-clean-car-battery-corrosion.aspx

 

Installing your own oil filter and changing oil is also simple, just make sure you have the proper tools for the job and don't do it right after the car's been running, or else you risk burning yourself. This is a nice and thorough guide: http://www.edmunds.com/how-to/how-to-change-your-oil-the-real-down-and-dirty.html

 

Never be afraid to double-check instructions. I've had plenty of friends screw up components and otherwise damage their vehicles because they wanted to wing it and just kind of glanced over their instructions.

[wildross]

Most auto parts stores have a code reader that they can use to tell you why the check engine light is on (our you can buy one yourself).

With 100 miles on it the squealing could also be the water pump or the ac clutch

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[gijoe4500]

Is the squeaky noise a squealing?  A squeaking?  Or what?  Does it do it when you're just idling or only under throttle?  In park or only while driving?  Only when you hit a bump?  or anytime?  There can be a ton of reasons while something squeaks or squeals.  A worn out belt is one of many possibilities.

 

 

As for the check engine light... go get it scanned, for free, at an autoparts store.  It could be anything from a loose gas cap to a bad sensor or some other cause.  If you have a bad sensor, you could be dumping in too much fuel, or not enough fuel, which would be very damaging to the engine.  And there are a lot of other things that could be wrong.  Its worth the 15 minutes to stop by Oreilly, or autozone, or wherever, and get it checked.

[slugg77]

I am in the car business (on the sales side, full disclosure), and I applaud you for wanting to maintain your car.  Check engine lights are there to tell you if one, or more, of the thousands of things that should happen while a car is running are happening incorrectly.  Sometimes it is simple-like the gas cap, sometimes it is major, have it scanned for free as stated above.  

 

Does the noise change in pitch or volume depending on what is happening while driving?

[Valerius]

I too applaud your decision to work on your Vehicle. I believe it is a skill that everyone should have, at least to some degree.

While I'm not a Mechanic I have worked on everything from changing a fuel pump to changing a tire. With the internet out there, particularly youtube. you can pretty much find anything you need to know about fixing a problem with your car from a relatively quick google search. Did you ever change your Drive belt out to solve problem number one?  you can likely go to Autozone and get a diagram as to how the belt is supposed to wind around free of charge. best of luck. and again I applaud you!

[insanity]

To add to the number of "squeal" solutions. My Dakota had the same issue for a long while, never was able to reproduce the squeal consistently, and it seemed to start and stop at random, though it did seem to be related to the AC since it would squeal more often when the AC kicked on. Then one day, probably a good year after it initially started, the entire engine seized and I had to coast to a stop. The AC compressor was the issue, replaced the belt and skipped over the AC and everything worked fine until I could get the money to replace the compressor.