Fixing Cars

Update, we added more information on our Auto Repair Manuals and Car Repair Diagrams page with links to some helpful resources.

If you are trying to learn how to paint your car or perhaps you want a few books on doing your own car repair then these books are a great start. They contain great information for the beginner or even those who have been working on cars for years.

A good technical understanding of cars along with the correct car repair manual for your vehicle will help you familiarize yourself with doing your own repairs. Even if you’d don’t intend on starting right away, just having these materials will give you the proper introduction of what is to come.

Automotive Detailing Manuals will show the proper steps to maintain your vehicles paint using mechanical buffing machines. Its critical that you understand the various types of buffing compounds that are available.

An Automotive Electrical Manual will show wiring diagrams and wiring harnesses. The wiring diagrams or schematics will show your vehicles electrical system for finding bad grounds or locating the testing leads for verifying the proper signal or voltage is being sent.

Automotive Electronic Reference Manual: Illustrated / Print / Diagnostic Trouble Codes / Articles / Bulletins / Scheduled Maintenance
If you haven’t used these types of manuals before, it will be a little overwhelming with data at first. They have “exploded diagrams” of every single nut and bolt that your car has. You’ll know the part #’s and descriptions so you know what the particular part is called. This is helpful when trying to identify parts for replacement. Or even trying to figure out what goes where after tearing into your car to do repair work.

Additional Categories: There are many categories for finding books and reference materials for working on your project. Here are a few categories that have an abundance of selection when it comes to finding the manual you need:

Cars
Pickups, SUVs, Vans
Racing
Motorcycles
Hot Rods & Customs
Muscle Cars
Build Horsepower,
Haynes Books and Chilton Manuals
Trucks & Heavy Equip.
Railroads
Tractors
Ships
Collectibles
Calendars
DVDs & Videos
Prints & Posters

In addition to the repair books, you can find books on how to build horsepower, restore and customize your vehicle. There are categories like restoration, turbocharger, supercharger and nitrous, fuel systems, tools, brakes, and many more.

If you are ready to dive in Click here for Automotive Repair Manuals and have access to the same info your mechanics use.

The HID kit for a Mustang has ballasts, lamps, wiring and brackets. The xenon lights have connectors for the wiring harness to connect to the ballast.

The HID (high intensity discharge) upgrade takes about 30 minutes to install. The result is a dramatic improvement to visibility, with different color options. The options are yellow, typically for fog lights (3000K), white (4300K), pure white (6000K), super white / bluish tint (8000K), and blue (10000K).

The benefits in having the HID lighting is primarily the improvement in your vehicle headlights which usually average about 1200K, so you gain almost 3 times the actual light output. In addition, a typical headlight consumes about 55 watts, where the HID system only consumes about 30 watts.

The installation is fairly simple and straightforward. The mounting brackets for the ballast and wiring is all included in the package. The connectors allow for easy plug and play type install. This is an upgrade you’ll appreciate every time you are driving at night or in times where visibility is limited due to weather conditions.

So I just got a message from David of Davidsfarm on Youtube, who I blogged about recently here.  David is killing it, and its such a good indication for content creators no matter what your passion is, if you create it they will come.

The thing that I admire most about Davids work is the style of his videos.  By style, I mean no fancy graphics, or editing in music, etc. 

The reason I like it is because its so quickly produced, meaning he can grab the video camera and go.  That means he can get a video up every other day or so, and without a film crew or writers or whatever.

I happened to glance at his bio as I was grabbing the link to a recent video and I just couldn't stop laughing: 

Occupation: Self employed garbage picker, problem solver and repairman.  (that is just awesome)

Posted via email from DIY Car Repair Blog

In our new iPhone app for DIY car repair we have broken it down into chapters. This chapter is about determining whether your serpentine belt is due for replacement.

This belt should be tight with little movement. If you see any signs such frayed edges or squeaking noises the belt should be replaced.

The belt can be tough to change, so be sure to have tools that provide enough leverage.

Also, take note of the belt diagram so can wrap the new one around engine accessories like the alternator, a/c air aircondtioning and belt tensioner.

iPhone for car repair:

http://bit.ly/3Sc49O

Here is some information on autozone about cracked or frayed belts.

Davidsfarm is a youtube phenomenon and the story behind it is simple. Davidsfarm is a farm up in canada where David works on cars and video tapes the activities and shenanigans that occur. His videos are entertaining and informative, a mix that has been very popular in producing a big audience. Dave is amassing a huge following on youtube, with over 50,000 subscribers to his channel and over 8MM channel views. Checkout Davidsfarm on Youtube and the following describes his channel-

From Youtube:
David’sfarm is a 100% Canadian Interactive YouTube Channel where I produce raw videos of wild redneck influenced cars I collect and build !! We take them on the wildest Joydrides!! I own a huge 100 acre Farm ,with jumps and trails, that I maintain all year round. I also enjoy making “How-to” instructional videos teaching others unique and cheap alternatives in repairing automobiles, heavy equipment and appliances. I am a semi retired appliance technician/Jack of all trades! Sit down, grab a drink and enjoy yourself! You will Laugh and Learn endlessly!!

In addition to providing entertainment to his viewers he is also satisfying the desire to learn about cars in a fun way. His information on doing budget repairs is another reason why people are so receptive. In this economy, people are looking for any and all ways to save money and DIY.

David makes a good living from his channel too, as YouTube sends him a share of the revenue his channel brings in when people click on ads. I’d argue that given this size audience on an automotive specific site would generate higher CPM’s as more advertisers are willing to spend more to be seen on niche sites where the content is focused.

This is a big opportunity for people who are willing to put it all out there and be totally transparent. Gary Vaynerchuk, who has been extremely successful and is promoting his book Crush It relys on these types of concepts in being immeresed in the community.

There is really no magic to this, building a brand is a lot of hard work, but by simply having the willingness to put yourself out there regardless of what some people might think is what differentiates your brand. Even if it means making a mockery of others, these videos are drawing a huge audience.

I read about the Prius UPS project probably a year or so ago and had some email correspondence with the brains behind the operation, Richard Factor. He decided to use his Prius as a backup power source, just as you would a backup generator when the lights go out. What I find most interesting is that this further substantiates that the DIY often leads what eventually gets produced by manufacturers. It will continue as more information becomes available online, and people research the subjects related to what they want to build. The old email archives like gm_ecm provided collaboration and exchanging of ideas. Some of them electrical engineers talked about how to build circuitry to utilize the wideband oxygen sensors that were found in “lean burn” Honda Civics from California to use in race cars and performance applications. Now several entire companies that employee hundreds and thousands of workers have been the result of such projects.

I find it fascinating to see things where people hack and build what they think would be cool. When I was young I remember opening a christmas present on christmas eve only to have taken it apart less than 24 hours after opening it. I had to know how it worked, and since then I’ve always been fascinated by projects or hobbies that exist in basements and garages.

I also wrote about the chocolate powered race car where its becoming a very effective way for corporations to do product development. The schools provide an atmosphere in which students are challenged to come up with unique ideas. Not only do they become familiar with how the companies operate and incorporate new technology but they potentially make good relationships with potential employers.