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1. Wheel alignments (you need to go to a shop, unless you can afford $20,000 for an alignment rack)
2. Whee balancing (manual bubble balancing is way too inaccurate. You would need to pay $2,000 for an electronic wheel balancer)
3. Fluid exchanges (you need to own this expensive machine to DIY)
4. Any engine or transmission software reprogramming
5. Making extra keys
6. Coolant flushes (you would need a hot water hose, since you can't put in cold water into a hot engine)
7. Brake or fuel line replacement, other than if the line is straight.
My brake line snaked all around the rear suspension and axle bar and to the wheel cylinder. It was all corroded and burst one day. I use a pipe cutter and flarer and bender to make a new one from straight line, and it ended up looking nothing like the one that failed, since there were so many bends going in all different directions to replicate. I wound up putting the line through the coil springs to make it work.
Hint for next time: hire a pro
8. Nitrogen tire service (you would have to be able to afford an expensive nitrogen machine)
9. Drilling out a broken starter bolt
The repair shop I went to couldn't get it out since part of some flange blocked their drill and their drill bit was not long enough. So they needed a machine shop with special tools. The machine shop used to have a service where they would travel to you, but not anymore, so the repair shop had to remove the entire engine and drive it to them to remove the bolt. Why they couldn't just tow the car there, I do not know. My car was out of service for 5 days. Luckily, the shop had to foot the entire bill.
10. If you live in an apartment and your lease bans car repairs on their property, forget about everything!
I agree on 1,2 and 8, not sure where you are coming from on the others. I just choose not to do those things anymore because I can afford to pay someone to do the work now , compared to when I was younger.
Most of that list can be done by a DIYer. I've done all of it except tire work simply because I don't own the machines. But everything else I've done in my own driveway. Home alignments are fairly easy with the right tools/setup and some basic understanding of geometry. Electronics programming can be done based on the vehicle. For instance, with Ford/Lincoln there is software called Forscan that will access the programming and let you do a lot from your own driveway. Programming keys is part of that.
11. Changing wiper blades, tried it and almost got myself killed in the process, never again.
You're lucky you survived, for 2 reasons:
#1. You get to listen to people like me laugh uproariously as we try to guess what almost killed you.
#2. Your relatives will not have to read "killed by windshield wiper" on your grave marker.
1.
7. Did you seriously run it through the coil spring, or are you just making that up? Premade brake lines are available.
I asked the dealer. They said they don't make them. I asked what if I brought the car into the shop. They said the mechanic would charge straight time for how long it took to craft the line.
8. What's an "expensive nitrogen machine"? I was under the impression that basically they just had a tank of nitrogen with a regulator and hose coming out of it. If you really wanted to buy your own tank of nitrogen and a regulator from a welding supply store bad enough I'm sure you could. It'd probably be cheaper than an air compressor. Personally though, the plain air that I use has plenty of nitrogen in it already for my needs.
OK, here's a few more to throw up for debate...
-Windshield replacement?
-Putting gasoline in your vehicle if you live in New Jersey?
-Mounting new tires?
-Changing your own oil for cheaper than what you can pay someone else to do it for? (Especially since you need that expensive fluid changing machine from number 3, lol).
I used to own a tire-mount machine from Homier. They were merchants who traveled to a new town each week and set up camp to sell auto tools.
Also, you can't fill-up with gas in Oregon either. It is fun watching the attendant drip gas all over your car. :-( Or only having 2 out of the 8 lanes be open at Costco since there is only one attendant. Or having to wait 5 minutes for them to get to your car. Or watching them top off the gas or fill at high speed, which is bad for your car.
Not completely true. If you just need to reset toe that can be done in a driveway. I did mine this past weekend using a couple of jack stands, a string, and a tape measure. Caster/camber is a little more difficult though.
This is a myth. Those flushing machines can more often than not cause damage to the internals of the system you are trying to clean out by pumping debris through the system. A "spill and fill" is often the best method and is very easily done in a driveway.
Depends on what type of programming you are trying to do. My diesel truck has a programmer on it due to DPF deletes, so I can change the parameters, etc... from my couch with my laptop and then plug the SD card back into the tuner.
You don't do coolant flushes on a hot engine anyhow..... This is one of the simplest tasks a DIYer can do. It just requires patience and following the procedure. Remove the drain from the radiator and let it drain until empty. Replace the drain and fill the radiator with a 50/50 mix (or whatever the manufacturer recommends) and then purge the air from the system.
Done this a million times. You either buy the replacement lines, or you bend your own. It simply requires patience and careful hands. But it's done often.
Can be done in the driveway with an EZ out bit and some patience. I've drilled many a broken exhaust flange bolt out this way. Your shop appears not to know what they were doing. You don't remove an engine to get a broken bolt out.
You should change the title of the thread to 10 car jobs that are difficult for inexperienced non-diyer's to do.
Ok, thanks! I will change the title.
Re coolant changes, Chiltons recommends that you do the change when the coolant is hot, since hot coolant hold more dirt than cold coolant. So the car has to be at operating temperature. Same for an oil change or transmission fluid change.
And I'll add one to the list:
automatic transmission fluid change:
The first time I did this, I was over confident, and I tried to carefully lower the pan, but it was full of fluid, and I dropped it. Red ATF went all over the newly-paved driveway.
1. Wheel alignments (you need to go to a shop, unless you can afford $20,000 for an alignment rack)
2. Whee balancing (manual bubble balancing is way too inaccurate. You would need to pay $2,000 for an electronic wheel balancer)
3. Fluid exchanges (you need to own this expensive machine to DIY)
4. Any engine or transmission software reprogramming
5. Making extra keys
6. Coolant flushes (you would need a hot water hose, since you can't put in cold water into a hot engine)
7. Brake or fuel line replacement, other than if the line is straight.
My brake line snaked all around the rear suspension and axle bar and to the wheel cylinder. It was all corroded and burst one day. I use a pipe cutter and flarer and bender to make a new one from straight line, and it ended up looking nothing like the one that failed, since there were so many bends going in all different directions to replicate. I wound up putting the line through the coil springs to make it work.
Hint for next time: hire a pro
8. Nitrogen tire service (you would have to be able to afford an expensive nitrogen machine)
9. Drilling out a broken starter bolt
The repair shop I went to couldn't get it out since part of some flange blocked their drill and their drill bit was not long enough. So they needed a machine shop with special tools. The machine shop used to have a service where they would travel to you, but not anymore, so the repair shop had to remove the entire engine and drive it to them to remove the bolt. Why they couldn't just tow the car there, I do not know. My car was out of service for 5 days. Luckily, the shop had to foot the entire bill.
10. If you live in an apartment and your lease bans car repairs on their property, forget about everything!
As others have noted:
1) You can do a DIY alignment with string and a straight-edge.
3) You can do most of it with a turkey baster and a wrench. plastic tubing for bleeding valves, and a catch bottle.
4) I do this all of the time in my VW/Audi and Toyota/Lexus cars. Software programs are very cheap.
5) I've made two extra keys for Lexus with the software program mentioned above. Cost me $250 for a blank key, a locksmith to cut it, the software, and a laptop to run the program.
6 & 7) see number 3
8) I don't think anyone cares to use nitrogen, most see it as a marketing gimmick. The air we breathe is 78% nitrogen anyways.
9) A right-angle drill or a longitudinal motor would make this job a lot easier.
10) Most DIYers could do the majority above under a shady tree.
11. Changing wiper blades, tried it and almost got myself killed in the process, never again.
Speaking of being killed, one time an ASE-certified mechanic tried to work on an air bag or near it. It accidentally went off, and caused the tool to impale him in the heart, causing instant death.
Also, you can't fill-up with gas on Oregon either. It us fun watching the attendant drip gas all over your car. :-( Or only having 2 out of the 8 lanes be open at Costco since there is only one attendant. Or having to wait 5 minutes for them to get to your car. Or watching them top off the gas or fill at high speed, which is bad for your car.
Self-service gas pumps became legal in Oregon the first of the year. Please try to pay attention.
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