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Proper tools for a first time car buyer
I am thinking about buying my first car in about a year or so, What do people here think are the tools that a person should need?
Before you ask, I am an average mechanically inclined adult. At home I take care of plumbing, electronics and most minor fixits.
anyone?
Before you ask, I am an average mechanically inclined adult. At home I take care of plumbing, electronics and most minor fixits.
anyone?
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Click type 3/8 torque wrench for the oil drain plug, "Blitz" oil dran pan-Round-15 qt.(gotta have)
63250 or 63600 filter removal wrench (gotta have)
http://www.lislecorp.com/tools/catalog/filters/index.htm
Takes a while for pictures to load.
3/8 drive english/metric set.
Maybe a 1/2 inch breaker bar and deep well socket for wheel removal. Always have this puppy in car.
I'm sure there's more-depends how serious you get. Under warranty not too serious.(see telephone above)
spare fuses
flares or triangles
first aid kit
fire extinguisher
as was said, 3/8" socket set and 1/2" breaker bar and sockets
vise grips
channel locks
phillips and standard screwdrivers
wire cutters and small wire terminal kit
electricians tape
small roll of tie wire(mechanic's wire, bailing wire, whatever you want to call it)
flashlight
yeah, a cell phone is handy too.
Some AdditionsModifications to the Excellent Lists Above:
rags
handi-wipes
flashlight you can hold in your mouth
tie wire (for when stuff falls or is knocked off off, a temporarily fix)
simple test light
TWO pair of vise-grips, one big one smaller.
I guess, it's a good idea to carry flares, first aid kit and some of the items mentioned in previous posts. I don't but it's no doubt a good idea.
I used to carry a box packed with some of the items mentioned but NEVER used any if it.
That is...after I got rid of my last MG !
The tools you need for putting on the space saver spare in in the trunk - IF the wheel that now has the flat wasn't put on with a torque wrench in whic case you won't be able to get it off anyhow.
Some people still do their own oil changes, but generally speaking, unless you love that sort of thing, it's not worth the trouble. Avoid Jiffy Lube, et al, and you will do just fine with a shop changing your oil.
Have them check the water level in your battery while they're at it.
Oh - there is one tool you SHOULD have. An electronic tire pressure gauge. The ones at gas stations aren't very accurate, and you do need to check your tire pressures whenever the weather goes up or down 30 degrees or so.
This may sound silly, but I'm quite serious. There is very little an average guy should bother with on a car except for tire pressures.
tow strap
mag flashlight
1/2 breaker bar with a 7/8" socket (wheels)
76 piece mechanics set (std and metric 1/4,3/8,1/2)
towels/blanket
bungee cords
knife
plyers (gerber multifunction tool)
gloves
As noted above, though, don't get one of those really cheap, made in taiwan/china, sets. Most of those are TERRIBLE. I've broken wrenches, sockets, etc., where I actually couldn't believe it was physically possible to make steel that soft!
But it's true, there's not much the average owner can do anymore, and this will only get worse. The technical goal seems to be the completely sealed, maintenance free, disposable and recyclable car. Like TV sets.
30,000 miles?
100,000 miles with the platinum plugs?
Not like the old days !
1/2 inch breaker bar with a small set of impact sockets for my wheels, I use the impact they are heavier and shouldnt break, I have broken regular sockets taking wheels off my old truck which spent some time in NY
fuses, and oil, flares, for road side fixing along with a small roll of bailing wire and a army blanket to slide on while under the truck.
screw drivers and wrenches
I have a 98 ranger and have done the folowing on it myself no help
rotate tires, change plugs, and plug wires, replaced the alternator, replaced the upper and lower radiator hoses
I am not a mechanic just a shade tree mechanic the above was done because I bought the truck used and all except the alt was prevenitave maintance the brakes were checked and are ok would have changed them if they looked worn badly
I buy my tools from pawn shops because you can find good ones really inexpensively if you know the names to buy such as snap-on craftsman thorson and I cant remember the other one thats big for pro mechanics those are the brands to stick with made here in the states all of them I believe and are good steel only have broken one craftsman socket in the 7 years I have really done work myself
pulling the wheel studs on an old van using a breaker with a 18 inch cheater not sure how I broke that hmm
also, a can of compressed air... or at least a length of hose... is very useful to blow sand and grit off engines, manifolds, etc. before cranking off engine externals. you don't want that rough slop inside, so blow it off first.
if you are determined to fix it all on the road, you also want some hi-temp red or grey silicone gasket, some gasket sheet, #2 Permatex sealer... and bang down a piece of type M copper tubine (1/2 or 3/4 inch) with a hammer to make a scraper for old gasket slop. you don't want to use anything as strong as steel, because that will wreck the planing of the mating parts. copper scrapers are the way to go.
Put a 2 by 10 on top of a floor jack and under the subframe (before I removed the four bolts mentioned above). Lowered the engine slowly watching for anything that I missed. Wheeled the undercarriage with engine and trans from under the body. Lowered the body back on to the jack stands. Unbolted the engine from the chassis and raised the engine from the chassis and mounted the engine on to an engine stand.Overhauled the engine.
Any tools that I needed and didn't have were rented through Murray's Auto Parts. Go pay full price for the item, keep it as long as you want. When done, return it for a full refund.
With computers, engines are easy to work on.
Buy your tools, use them and then return them taking advantage of some store's liberal (and dumb) return policy.
thank you,
Mr. Shiftright the Host
Yep, everybody ought to have their own cherry picker.
Buy your tools, use them and then return them taking advantage of some store's liberal (and dumb) return policy. "
They have rent places where one can rent a cherry picker. Just prepare your engine for removal, go rent the picker, pull the motor and set it where you want, return the picker as soon as possible.
Obviously you are one who does that kind of business, because Murray's practices this kind of business to promote their sales. If people like you wouldn't try to rip people off in auto repairs, maybe the do-it-yourselfer would go go the repair shop. I remember Jackshaw Pontiac trying to boost the price of a power steering pump replacement just because the car has a computer in it. The argument was that in order to replace the power steering pump, they, "Have to re calibrate the 'EPROM' chip." The only relation that the computer has to the PS is the pressure signal sensor on the line. By the way, I and others complained to Pontiac and as a result, Jack Shaw Pontiac is no longer there. That location is now a Mueller Tire place.
I think that it is great that as automobile technology becomes sophisticated, that the tools needed to repair the vehicle are available to the consumer at "NO CHARGE." For someone who is concerned about loss of business, house come you sell foreign cars, and not American?
Boy are you in for a rude awakening. Right now, there is a house bill that is trying to get passed to protect the consumer's rights to the information, let alone the tools, to repair their vehicles.
Should this bill fail, the information available to repair newer vehicles will only be available to dealers. You will have no choice what-so-ever, but to have your vehicle serviced at a dealer.
The house bill is HR 2735 IH
Motor Vehicle Owners' Right to Repair Act of 2001 (Introduced in the House)
And if you think that it WILL pass (which will protect independant mechanics and consumers), think again, cause the OEM manufacturer's will be fighting the passing of this bill tooth and nail.
Especially Honda, since they pulled thier information to the consumers for new models.
Boy are you in for a rude awakening. Right now, there is a house bill that is trying to get passed to protect the consumer's rights to the information, let alone the tools, to repair their vehicles.
Should this bill fail, the information available to repair newer vehicles will only be available to dealers. You will have no choice what-so-ever, but to have your vehicle serviced at a dealer.
The house bill is HR 2735 IH
Motor Vehicle Owners' Right to Repair Act of 2001 (Introduced in the House)
And if you think that it WILL pass (which will protect independant mechanics and consumers), think again, cause the OEM manufacturer's will be fighting the passing of this bill tooth and nail.
Especially Honda, since they pulled thier information to the consumers for new models. "
It dosen't take a whole lot of common sense to figure out what kind of tool one needs to fix something. I have also repaired almost everything by using the simplest of tools. I have found that auto manuals will specify "tools needed" for a specific repair. I have done with out these. A little common sense is what is needed. For example, on the front crank shaft sensor, the manual specifies that a sensor alignment tool is needed to reinstall the sensor. I had no problem using common sense and visual inspection to align it. It wasn't like my tolerances were five places to the right of the decimal place. There is another tool called a front seal installation tool. I tapped mine in with no problem. The hell with Honda. I buy strictly American, eg. Chevrolet. If you think car companies are hurting now, wait until the owners of their products cannot fix em. "Never buy taht POS again. Can't work on em." Besides, I have a series of dealer contacts who have helped me with this information. It's a buyers market out there, and if they want my money, they will give me what I want. Welcome to America.
And, then there are some procedures that are changed, because of updates and such, if not done right, will create the problem again, independant mechanics and even consumers need to be able to obtain that information and alot of everyday folks get very little cooperation from some of their dealers.
The only way that the consumer will not be able to repair their vehicle will be the day that auto manufactures produce the disposable vehcile.
we are not too far from that. I was in a GM dealer the other day, and if your vehicle is under warranty when the motor goes, they replace the entire pack with a target motor as an alternative to the mechanic repairing it. I'm told that this resulted in a reduction in auto technician work force for some dealers.
The manufacture is going to look out for the customer. If the manufacture wants the customer business, then the customer is going to want to be able to select where and who fixes his vehicle. This is what competition is all about.
I won't buy a foreighn vehcile because the parts are too expensive. I certaintly won't purchase one if I cannot fix it. besides, people who take their vehicle to a dealer, usually do so under warranty. When the warranty expires, they trade it in for a new vehicle. These are people in the 40K+ bracket and who don't want to be bothered.
I would never leave plugs untouched in an aluminum head for longer than 20,000 miles let alone 100,000 miles. They tend to freeze to the aluminum and you can strip the head when you do eventually take them out. Take them out at 20k, check them and put anti-seize compound on the threads before you torque them up correctly. Usually a very low level. Check it out for your model car. New plugs will have the torque settings usually printed on the package.
However, plugs in an aluminum head would be a perfect example. There is an almost natural tendency to overtighten plugs.
Yet some manufacturers require/recommend specific tools for pulling/tightening the plugs in the aluminum header anyhow.
But I don't think that it is that critical for wheels. Unless you are pretty strong, use power/air equipment or a breaker bar to tighten your lug nuts, you'd have to be quite an idiot to really overtighten them.
That said, I use the torque wrench on my wheels. But I might be a little anal in that respect.
The torque wrench is far more critical, from my point of view, when trying to tighten multiple fasteners against a flat seal. This could be a valve cover or an oil drain pan. You overtighten one fastener and you're "screwed".
It is not like head bolts, which require a torque.
I'm very touchy about spark plugs in an aluminum head and can't warn people enough about it. I bought an 87 used Honda Prelude once. The car ran well enough but when I went to change the plugs the #4 cylinder plug was so tight I eventually broke it off when I tried to take it out. It was obvious the plugs had never been changed in 100k miles. Well it cost me all the effort to take the head off and have it repaired at a shop. So now I just remove the plugs every 20k or so and coat the threads with anti-seize compound. I also learnt never to take a plug out when the engine is still hot - it can also seize. The engine was cold on the Honda though.
WOW
I have been looking at some and they are $70-$80
I said F that and just ask my dad to bring his home from work when i need it
All craftsman.
have a breakerbar with a 7/8" socket for my rims.
Just picked up a 76 piece mechanics set (std and metric) for $49.99 (reg $69.99) a few wks ago. Already has come in use. I had a std set which cost $39 but needed metric because most of everything on my truck is metric. Was gonna buy a metric set for $39 also but seen this for $10 more plus it has 2 more ratchets
I needed to buy all this cause everytime i need a socket it seems my dad took his to work. Sucks when you get ready to change your oil and you dont have a 15mm socket. Or once when i was gonna tighten my torsion bar bolts (raise front end) and i didnt have an 18mm socket.
RESPONSE: I have found that the thickness of the impacts will not allow one to access to some bolts, such as the head bolts under the valve pan cover. I ran into that on some earlier models, e.g., pre 1980.
"I needed to buy all this cause everytime i need a socket it seems my dad took his to work. Sucks when you get ready to change your oil and you dont have a 15mm socket. Or once when i was gonna tighten my torsion bar bolts (raise front end) and i didnt have an 18mm socket"
Response: a 19/32 english socket will work as well, but I have two 15mm sockets: both impact, but one DW and one a shorty. After the set, I but my sockets as needed.
You won't see many Craftsman tools in the boxes of professionals. Still, Sears sells a couple of different quality (and price) levels. Their top of the line stuff is pretty decent.
On the prepackaged sets, Sears likes to use 12 point sockets instead of 6 points that work better.
Twelve point sockets are rarely used by professionals unless it's a special application.
Trust me on this one...
With 20 years in the tool business, I'm sure you could tell us all a lot. I hope you do. I have been an active user of automotive hand tools since my childhood. I have done many extensive repair jobs at home that most people would never attempt. My father was my earliest instructor. I was learning to overhaul engines before I was old enough to get a drivers license. My comments in this thread are based on my life experiences pursuing this avocation of rebuilding automobiles and motorcycles, and the ramifications of those activities. Perhaps my opinions have some value, as well. I'll say that I spend less time in the garage these days than in the past. Obviously, I have time away from the grease to type on this keyboard!
Use the six point.
Harry
1. A credit Card
2. Cell Phone
3. A trusted repair shop. (forget dealers)