Semiannual Specials

There are thousands of parts in your car. Some just sit there like car potatoes, enjoying the ride. Others are hard workers with a mission. Depending on how much they are called upon to work (and how well they were made), these hard-working parts will need to be adjusted every once in a while. On average, once in a while means about every six months or 6,000 miles of driving. Your mileage may vary. Your car’s carburetor (if not fuel-injected) mixes hundreds of gallons of fuel with the appropriate amount of air before it needs to be adjusted, for example. Your car’s tires will roll many thousands of miles before their position on the car needs to be rotated to even out the wear. Other adjustments your car will need include throttle linkage and brakes.

Okay, let’s weigh this against the cost of a new oil filter: less than five bucks (less than three bucks for many cars). So here’s the new rule I ask you to follow: Always change the oil filter when you change the oil. On behalf of your car, thanks!In addition to getting an oil filter for the oil change, you need oil! How much oil? Look in the owner’s manual. It may say something like oil capacity: or crankcase capacity: 3.5 L (3.7 qt.) including filter. Oil containers usually have marks on the side to indicate milliliters (ml) or ounces (oz).

To replace the oil and filter on your car, follow these steps:

1. As usual, make sure your car is parked in a level spot. Start your car and let the engine run for about 15 minutes to warm up the oil. Warm oil drains more thoroughly and brings with it more built-up sludge. Use this time to gather the tools you’ll need: a wrench (to remove the oil pan plug), an oil-draining pan, and an oil filter wrench. Rubber gloves will keep warm oil off your skin. Shut off the engine when you are ready to start. Wait about five minutes for the warm oil to drain to the lowest spot in the engine, the oil pan.
2. Place the drain pan under the oil pan plug. The plug has a bolthead and is located at the lowest point underneath the engine. If necessary, jack up the car and install safety stands. Using a wrench, tum the plug counterclockwise to loosen it. Set the plug and washer aside for later. Alternatively, you can use a hand-operated oil siphon to draw oil from the oil pan through the dipstick tube without having to crawl under the car.
3. After all oil is drained into the pan, reinstall the old plug and a new washer on the oil pan. Tighten the plug with a wrench. Don’t forget this step or your car’s engine could be ruined by operating as oil drips out the bottom. It would slowly bleed to death-not a pretty sight.
4. Move the pan to below the oil filter. On some engines, the oil filter can be reached from under the hood. Others require that you remove it from underneath the car. If necessary, jack up the car and install safety stands. Be careful when working around the underside of your car because the exhaust pipe and other components are hot.
5. Using an oil filter wrench, twist the filter counterclockwise two or three turns. Oil should begin dripping from the filter to the pan. Use your hand to rotate the oil filter until it comes off the shaft. Then tilt the filter so that oil in it can drain into the drip pan.
6. Make sure the new oil filter is the same size as the old one. Open a can of new oil, get some oil on the end of a rag or your finger, and spread it around the circular rubber seal on the end of the new oil filter. Place the new oil filter on the screwon filter shaft and tum it clockwise. Tighten the new filter by hand only, about two-thirds of a tum after the gasket makes contact with the filter holder. Don’t tighten the filter with the oil wrench.
7. Replace the oil, find the oil filler location and use a funnel to pour in the appropriate amount of oil, and then recheck the oil to make sure it’s between the ADD and FULL marks.
8. Replace the oil filler cap securely. Wipe off all tools with a clean rag and put them away for later use. Make sure you take the used oil to a recycling center or an auto parts store to have it properly disposed of. If you DON’T recycle oil properly, a large fellow who grunts with an accent will recycle you!

Check your oil level after your next short drive. Make sure the oil level is within range: above ADD and below FULL on the dipstick. Add oil as needed. Also look under the car to see whether there are any new oil drips, indicating that the oil plug or oil filter is not tight.

How Much Gas Do You Want? Adjust Throttle Linkage

The throttle linkage is simply the part of your car that uses your foot pressure on the accelerator pedal to control the amount of fuel going to the carburetor or fuel injectors. It’s a mechanical system of linkage, cable, and connections. Some cars seem to need throttle adjustment many times a year, but others require it only every few years. The best way to adjust the throttle linkage on your car is to refer to the car’s service manual. Every car has a slightly different linkage. Even so, they all work on the same principles. If you don’t have a service manual or you just want an overview of how the throttle works, keep reading. This job requires an assortment of wrenches and maybe a screwdriver or two (no, still not the liquid kind). You might also need some lubricant, depending on the linkage and its condition.

To adjust the throttle linkage on your car, follow these steps:

1. Open the hood of your car and look for the throttle linkage system. It consists of one or more rods, cables, springs, and metal plates between the car’s firewall and carburetor. You may have to remove the air filter from the top of the carburetor to see all of it.
2. Starting at the firewall, wiggle the parts to make sure they are fastened securely to their mountings and to each other. Tighten any loose mounting bolts. Don’t move the throttle linkage forward and back too often because it will put fuel in the carburetor, “flooding” it and making starting the car more difficult.
3. Carefully spray the linkage joints with WD-40 or similar cleaning lubricant so they move freely. Wipe away excess lubricant.
4. If possible, disconnect the end of the linkage from the side of the carburetor. Some connections snap off, others might require removing a pin or clip. Then move the throttle linkage forward and back a few times to make sure it works smoothly. Tighten and lubricate as needed. Reconnect the linkage when done.

Adjust the Carburetor

If your car has a fuel-injection system instead of a carburetor (refer to your owner’s manual), there’s not much you can or have to adjust. Fuel is regulated by an electronic signal from your car’s computer. The carburetor is an important part of many cars over a decade old. It mixes the right amount of fuel and air to make a combustible vapor that your engine’s spark plugs can ignite. The adjustments you can make are the ratio of fuel to air (rich or lean) and the amount of fuel fed to make the engine operate when the car isn’t moving (at idle). Most newer carburetors are sealed at the factory and don’t allow owner adjustments. So you can spend the time required to adjust the carburetor doing something else.

But if you have an older car and need to adjust the carburetor, here’s how to do it:

1. Attach a tachometer to your car’s engine following the manufacturer’s directions-unless your car already has a tach in the instrument cluster. Tachs measure the engine’s operating speed in revolutions per minute (rpms).
2. Start the engine and let it run for about 15 minutes to warm it up. Look it over.You’re looking for screwheads that can be turned to adjust the idle speed and the idle mixture. Hints: The idle speed screw is at the end of the throttle linkage and at the side of the carburetor; the idle mixture screw (or screws) is on the carburetor itself.
3. To adjust the idle speed, you use the tachometer to set the engine’s speed at idle. Your car’s owner’s manual tells you what that speed should be, or there may be a sticker on the inside of your car’s hood that indicates the idle speed. For many cars, idle speed is 500 to 750 rpm. Using a screwdriver, turn the idle speed adjustment screw clockwise to increase rpms or counterclockwise to decrease rpms. If your carburetor has an idle solenoid adjustment, you need to make a second adjustment for a high idling speed. There are many carburetor designs out there. Follow instructions in your car’s service manual for this adjustment.
4. To adjust the idle mixture, make sure the tachometer is connected to the engine to tell you its operating speed. Find the idle mixture adjustment screws on the carburetor (underneath the air cleaner). A single-barrel carburetor (on smaller or older cars) has one idle mixture screw, whereas a two- or four-barrel carburetor has two screws. Turn the screw(s) in, or clockwise, until the engine is at its lowest speed. Then turn them out, or counterclockwise, until further turning doesn’t increase speed. That’s the best mixture for the idling speed. Do this a couple of times to get the best mixture, especially if your car has two idle mixture adjustments.

Adjusting Brakes

When ya gotta stop, ya gotta stop-and you won’t if your brakes aren’t in good shape and properly adjusted. The brakes on your car should be checked and, if necessary, adjusted about every six months, depending on mileage. City drivers probably use brakes (and horns) more frequently than rural drivers. However, cars driven on dusty rural roads can collect dirt on brake components.

Foot pressure on the brake pedal is transferred hydraulically to the four brakes, one at each wheel. Two types of brake systems are in use today. The wheels may have eitherdrum or disc brakes, or both-drums in the rear and discs on the front. Drum brakes slow down the car by pressing two half-circle brake shoes against the inside of a round brake drum. Disc brakes perform the same function by squeezing brake pads against both sides of a round brake disc.

Adjusting brakes simply means making sure the brake shoes or brake pads are close to the friction surface but not so close as to drag and wear out. Smart folks that they are, brake manufacturers include provisions for adjustments of their systems. In fact, many drum and all disc brake systems are self-adjusting and really don’t need your help to keep themselves well-adjusted.

Besides basic tools, you may need a brake spoon, a tool that looks like a bent flat screwdriver. In fact, if you don’t have a brake spoon, use a screwdriver for the adjustment.

To adjust drum brakes on your car, follow these steps:

1. Safely jack up the car and place stands under it. You will be working from the back side of the wheels, so give yourself enough room to work.
2. Find the brake adjustment access hole on the back side of the wheel. Many are near the bottom edge of the hub and covered with a rubber plug. Uncover the hole using a screwdriver to pry off the plug. Inside is a star wheel adjusting nut with lobes or bumps on it. Moving the lobes up or down rotates the star wheel and moves the two brake shoes into or out from the drum.
3. Insert a straight screwdriver or a brake spoon into the adjustment hole until it contacts the star wheel adjusting nut. Grab the tire and spin it. At the same time, rotate the star wheel up by moving your end of the screwdriver or spoon down until the brakes stop the wheel from moving. The brake shoes are now in contact with the inside of the brake drum.
4. To back the brake shoes off the brake drum, rotate the star wheel down by moving your end of the screwdriver or spoon up. Remove, reinsert, and repeat the movement three more times to back the brake shoes off the drums. Spin the wheel by hand and listen for the drag of brake shoes on the drum. As needed, repeat the process of moving the star wheel, one lobe at a time, until the brake shoes don’t drag against the drum.
5. Reinstall the brake adjustment access hole cover.
6. Repeat the process on the other drum brakes.

As you adjust your car’s brakes, or even if they are self-adjusting, spend a few moments visually inspecting the system. The brake system uses hydraulic pressure that presses brake parts together to slow the wheels. Brakes use hydraulic fluid inside heavy-duty hoses, so look for these hoses running to the back side of your car’s wheels. Inspect the hoses for wet spots where fluid may be leaking. Also look at the back side of the wheel where the brake hose attaches.

Adjust Tire Rotation

Car tires are, literally, where the rubber meets the road. As they roll their way to your destination, they also wear out. Old bias tires wore out in 10,000 to 20,000 miles. New radials last four times as long-unless they don’t wear evenly. It’s easy to reduce uneven tire wear by making sure tires are inflated properly and rotated or moved to different positions on the car to equalize wear (forthcoming). Not all car and tire manufacturers recommend rotation. Some suggest that tires should be replaced when they are worn, without first trying to rotate them. Tests have shown that rotation doesn’t prolong tire life; it only makes wear more even among the four tires. They suggest that front tires frequently wear faster than rear tires (which is why they are rotated) so they should be replaced as a set. The rear tires also should be replaced as a set when worn. Check your car’s owner’s manual for the tire rotation pattern, if any, suggested for your car. The only tools you’ll need for the job are those that came with your car: a jack and a lug wrench, also known as a tire iron.

To rotate the tires on your car, follow these steps:

1. Safely jack up and place stands under all four wheels of your car. If you cannot lift all four wheels, jack up and place stands under one side of your car or the other.
2. Remove wheels as needed, reinstalling them on the car for the most even and efficient wear, as recommended by the car’s owner’s manual.

For front-wheel-drive cars and front-engine, rear-wheel-drive cars with radial tires, move the front left tire to the left rear and vice versa. Then move the front right tire to the right rear and vice versa. For front-engine, rear-wheel-drive cars with bias-ply tires, move the front left tire to the rear right, the rear right to the front right, the front right to the rear left, and the rear left to the front left wheel. Got that? If your car’s spare tire is a standard tire (rather than one of those weird spare-only tires that look like a large chocolate cruller), you might want to rotate it among the others. If so, rotate as recommended by the manufacturer.

It’s a wonder what a little engine oil on the fingertips can do to bond man or woman and machine. So let’s get started.

Every Seven Days or Once a Week-Whichever Comes First

Got a couple of minutes? That’s all it takes once a week to make sure your car is in good shape. In fact, it takes less time to check your car every week than to worry about it.

Your car is a drinker; it uses several fluids. These fluids include oil, coolant, windshield washer fluid, brake fluid, and maybe power steering fluid. Your car also uses pressurized air to keep tires inflated. The fluids can evaporate, deteriorate, or leak out, and the air can leak out. In each case, the fluid or air must be checked and replaced as needed. That’s something you can easily do on a regular basis to help keep your car troublefree. Your weekly checks can be done over the weekend or before you drive to work on Monday morning (or whenever your work week starts). If you don’t drive your car very often-maybe it’s your second car-you can check the fluids and pressure less frequently, but make a habit of it. Make your checks on the 1st and 15th of the month, or on even-numbered Wednesdays, for example. If you’d rather watch the odometer than the calendar, make these checks after every 250 miles of driving. Or you can make these checks every time you fill your gas tank. The important thing is to do them regularly.

You might not need tools for these checks. They are mostly visual checks. However, you might need a wrench or pliers to open a power steering or brake fluid reservoir. You will need an air pressure gauge to check pressure in your car’s tires, but you can probably borrow one from a service station attendant. By keeping a rag in the trunk or under your car’s seat, you can make sure you don’t get your hands dirty as you make these checks. You can perform these checks just about anywhere. Some people do them in their garage. Others do them in the driveway or in the parking lot after work. You should be able to efficiently complete these weekly checks in just a few minutes. To ensure that fluids are settled (and you don’t get burned), make sure your engine hasn’t been running within the past half hour. To make the process easier, the weekly checks described in the rest of this Article appear in a logical order.

Check Oil Level

Parts in your car’s engine rotate at tremendous speeds. Oil circulates in the engine to lubricate these parts and keep them from wearing out. When the engine is off, this oil settles to the lowest spot in the engine-the oil pan. An oil pan stick or dipstick was installed on the engine by the manufacturer to allow you to check the level of the oil. Warning: Don’t attempt to check your oil in a white tuxedo.

To check the oil level in your car, follow these steps:

1. Have an old rag on hand to wipe the dipstick. Make sure your car is level and the engine is cool. Open the hood and look for the dipstick. It is a rod with a curved handle sticking up from one side or the other of your engine. Push the dipstick down in its tube, if needed, to make sure it accurately measures the oil level in the oil pan.
2. Pull the handle up to remove the dipstick rod from the engine. There should be a light or dark brown liquid coating the last couple of inches on the rod. Hold the rod away from your fine clothes to make sure oil doesn’t drip on them. (If the liquid is reddish-brown, you have the automatic transmission dipstick. Replace it and keep looking for the engine oil dipstick.)
3. At the lowest end of the dipstick rod will be marks and maybe the word FULL. Lower on the rod will be another mark and maybe the word ADD. Some dipsticks have only a narrow area stamped with a criss-cross design or just two dots. If so, the highest point of the design indicates FULL and the lowest point means ADD. Visually check to identify the highest point on the stick covered by oil. This point should be somewhere between the FULL and ADD words or marks.
4. If the top edge of oil is above the ADD mark, the oil level is okay. If the top edge of oil is below the ADD mark, you must add oil without overfilling it. How much? For most cars, the distance between the ADD and FULL lines is about one quart of oil. So you can add one quart of oil. If the oil mark is well below the ADD mark, put one quart in, let it settle a few minutes, and then recheck the oil once.
5. To add oil, first find the oil cap on the engine. Some cars have a twist-off cap on the valve cover (a long and wide part on top of the engine that often has a design or lettering). Other cars have an oil-filler tube with a round cap that you should pull off. To make sure this is the right place to put oil, remove the cap and look for signs of dark brown oil buildup.
6. Remove the cap from the oil container (of course, you’ve made sure the oil is the same as that already in the car) and carefully pour oil into the engine. If this can’t be done without spilling oil on the engine, use a funnel. (Oil won’t hurt the outside of the engine, but it smells awful once the engine gets hot.)
7. Wait a few minutes until the oil settles into the oil pan, and then recheck the oil level to make sure it’s between the ADD and FULL marks. Filling oil past the FULL mark can cause more harm to an engine than running it too low. Why? Because excess oil is worked up into a lather by moving parts, reducing the oil’s lubrication qualities.

Keeping Your Car’s Cool

Another important fluid in your car is the coolant. Coolant is a mixture of antifreeze fluid and water that circulates throughout your car’s engine to remove excess heat. The coolant then circulates throughout the radiator where air flow cools the liquid before its journey back through the engine.

To check the radiator coolant level, follow these steps:

1. Make sure the engine and radiator are cool. If not, wait until they are before checking coolant level.
2. Open the hood and find the radiator. It’s typically located at the front of the engine compartment just behind the bumper. On most cars, a coolant reserve tank located nearby holds the top layer of coolant from the radiator. If so, look at the side of the coolant reserve tank for two lines: one identifies MAX (maximum) levels, and one identifies MIN (minimum) levels. The highest level of coolant should be between these two marks.
3. If coolant is low, tum the radiator cap counterclockwise one-quarter tum to relieve any pressure remaining in the cooling system. Then push the cap down and tum it counterclockwise until it is off.
4. Check the coolant level in the radiator. If it is below the base of the filler neck, add coolant (remember: half-antifreeze and half-water), and then replace the radiator cap.
5. Open the cap on the coolant reserve tank and add coolant until the level is between the minimum and maximum marks. Replace the tank cap. Clean up any coolant that may have spilled on the floor or ground.

Check Power Steering Fluid Level

Not all cars have power steering. Steering systems have evolved over the years so that power steering is not necessary on many smaller cars. But if your car has it, you should check the power steering fluid level once a week or every 250 miles unless the owner’s manual says otherwise.

To check the power steering fluid level, follow these steps:

1. Find the power steering reservoir on your car. Power steering units pump or circulate hydraulic fluid to help you easily steer the car with reduced effort. This fluid is held in a reservoir attached to the power steering pump. On most cars, this pump is rotated by a fan belt at the front of the engine, so that’s where to look first.
2. To check the power steering fluid level, remove the cap or top to the reservoir. The cap on some power steering reservoirs has a dipstick attached to the underside, indicating the full and add levels. Other reservoirs have a mark on the inside of the casing to show where the level should be filled to. Note: Power steering fluid expands when hot. That means the level in the reservoir is higher if the engine has been running recently. Some power steering dipsticks are marked for FULL HOT as well as FULL COLD. Check the level when cold, if possible.
3. To add power steering fluid, check your car’s owner’s manual for the fluid brand recommended by the manufacturer. Then pour fluid into the reservoir as needed to bring it up to the full mark. Don’t overfill. That’s it. You should check your power steering fluid level weekly or every 250 miles, but you shouldn’t have to top it off more than every couple of months. If you do, there’s a leak somewhere and repair is in order.

Check Brake Fluid Levels

Brakes are obviously important to your car. Without them, you would run right past where you wanted to stop. Brake systems use hydraulics to magnify the pressure of your foot on the pedal to stop the car. Hydraulic systems, in turn, use hydraulic fluid. In this case, the fluid is called brake fluid. Power brake systems also use a booster to enhance your power to stop the car.

To check brake fluid levels in your car, follow these steps:

1. Find the master brake cylinder. On many cars, look under the hood on the wall between the engine and the driver’s area (called the firewall). The power brake booster, a large round unit, may be mounted on it. Some import and older cars have them under the floor below the driver, accessed by moving the carpet to expose a metal plate that is, in turn, moved to uncover the master brake cylinder.
2. Clean off the top of the reservoir before opening it so that crud doesn’t fall into it. Then remove the cover from the master brake cylinder reservoir. The cover usually has a four- or six-sided head that can be unscrewed with a wrench.
3. Visually check the level of brake fluid in the reservoir. Make sure the fluid is up to just below the cover’s threads or a FULL mark on the inside of the reservoir.
4. To add brake fluid, make sure you have a can of brake fluid (the owner’s manual tells you which Department of Transportation, or DOT, grade to use) that you opened in the past year. At about two bucks a pint, you can afford to throw out older brake fluid and use only the fresh stuff. With the master cylinder cover removed, carefully pour brake fluid in until the level is about 1/4 inch below the top. Replace and tighten the cap.

If the master brake cylinder is empty or nearly empty, you might have to bleed the brakes. One more related task: Some cars have a hydraulic clutch booster. This helps your foot move the car’s clutch plate or disc. If your car has one, you can check your owner’s manual to see where and what to do about it. In most cases, the clutch booster uses brake fluid, so checking the fluid level for that is the same as checking the fluid level for the hydraulic clutch booster.

Check Tires and Pressure

Tires of a few decades ago, called bias tires, needed to be replaced once every year or two. Today’s radial tires can, with regular maintenance, last five years (or one year of a teenage driver). Today’s tires also are safer and make a car easier to steer when compared to the older, bias tires.The key statement in the last paragraph is “with regular maintenance.” That’s where you come in. You can either check the air pressure in your tires or ask the gas station attendant to do it once a week. By doing so, you can make sure you get SO,OOO-not 2S,OOO-miles from your SO,OOO-mile tires. It can also save fuel because underinflated tires reduce fuel economy.

To check tires and pressure on your car, follow these steps:

1. Read your car’s owner’s manual or the side of a tire to learn what air pressure you should have in your tires, measured in pounds-per-square-inch or psi. Most modem car tires have recommended pressure somewhere between 24 and 34 psi when the tires are cold. A typical recommended cold pressure is 28 psi. Add 2 to 4 psi when carrying a heavy load or pulling a trailer. The tire’s maximum load pressure is embossed on the tire wall. Don’t exceed it or the tire police will repossess your tread. Actually, excessive pressure makes tires wear unevenly and reduces their usable life.
2. Check tire pressure in your driveway or at a nearby gas station when the tires are not hot from driving. Find the valve stem on the front left (driver’s side) tire. It protrudes from the wheel rim. If the valve stem has a cap, unscrew it and set it aside. Place the mouth of your tire pressure gauge against the end of the valve stem. Push it until you hear a rush of air, and then release it. The tire gauge has a dial or a sliding scale that indicates how much pressure is in the tire.
3. If air pressure is lower than it should be, add air using an air line at a gas station or tire shop, or a hand pump (and get the added benefit of exercise). If pressure is greater than it should be, use the nipple on the tire gauge to press the center of the tire valve stem and release air. Release a little, and then recheck the pressure. Remember to replace the valve stem cap if your tire has one.
4. While you’re there, visually inspect the tire for wear. Some tires have a tread indicator that shows you when the tires are too worn to be safe. Inspect the tire for damage as well. A cut in the tire casing can become an auto accident just a few miles down the road. Wear across the tire tread should be even. If not, take your car into a tire shop.
5. Repeat this process for the left-rear, spare, right-rear, and right-front tires. This circling of the car makes it easier to remember which tires have been checked if you’re interrupted. Don’t forget the spare tire.

Why all this ruckus about tire pressure? Because the main reason why tires don’t live as long as they’re designed to is not high blood pressure; it’s low tire pressure. Low tire pressure makes tires wear out at the edges. It also makes the car ride sloppy. Checking tire pressure once a week or every 250 miles is an easy way to increase the life and safety of your tires, and it takes just one to two minutes.

When the Bottom of the Tire Is Flat

Before driving anywhere, even a quick two-mile hop, make sure you have a good spare tire on board and the correct tools.

To change a flat tire, follow these steps:

1. If you’re at the side of the road, turn on your emergency flashers and raise the trunk lid to signal to others that you are having a problem.
2. Use the flat edge of a tire tool or screwdriver from your trunk to pry the hubcap (if your tire has one) off the wheel rim. Use a tire tool to loosen, but not remove, the four or five lug nuts holding the wheel to the axle.
3. Place a block behind a wheel on the other axle. Then place the car jack under the car frame or on the bumper as described in the car’s owner’s manual. Stop raising the jack when the wheel is high enough to rotate the tire without touching the ground.
4. Remove the lug nuts and place them in the hubcap so they don’t get lost. Remove the tire and set it out of the way.
5. Install the spare tire on the car. Of course, you’ve been checking spare tire pressure during your weekly checks, so you know the tire is good! Screw the lug nuts on the car by hand, making sure the tapered side of each nut faces the wheel.

1. Lower the jack until the tire firmly touches the ground but isn’t supporting the car. Use the tire tool to tighten the lug nuts in a criss-cross pattern.
2. When all lug nuts are tight, lower the jack until it can be removed. Replace the wheelcover by pressing it against the wheel rim. If the wheelcover won’t easily go on, place it in the trunk and drive to a service station or tire shop so that they can install it for you.
3. Visit a tire shop immediately to have your flat repaired or replaced. You don’t want to get stuck 15 miles from town without a spare tire! Safety First.

That’s about it. Invest a few minutes in your car once a week and you’ll not only save hundreds of dollars in potential repair bills, but you’ll also understand your car better. You might decide to hire everything else out-or not. In any case, you’ll have a clearer understanding and a sense of satisfaction-about your car.