Learning to diagnose car problems

[Betho]

So my husband and I have been wanting to learn to work on our own cars for quite some time now. We don't have anyone around who can teach us how to do it, though, and so we finally are just taking the plunge to do it.

My question is this - the Haynes manuals seem to be pretty complete but what about diagnosing problems? Is here some sort of book, website or manual or something we can use to diagnose what could be wrong?

For instance, our power steering pump just went out on our truck and my hubby is gonna fix it today with the help of the manual and a youtube video that luckily is featuring the same year/make/model as our truck.

But we have another car that's been acting a little weird in odd ways and I'm sitting here thinking... I don't even know where to begin. We may end up taking it to a mechanic just for the diagnosis but just in general I was just wondering if there's an easy way to figure this stuff out? Not just with that particular car, but just generally.

[Darren]

Originally Posted by Betho

So my husband and I have been wanting to learn to work on our own cars for quite some time now. We don't have anyone around who can teach us how to do it, though, and so we finally are just taking the plunge to do it.

My question is this - the Haynes manuals seem to be pretty complete but what about diagnosing problems? Is here some sort of book, website or manual or something we can use to diagnose what could be wrong?

For instance, our power steering pump just went out on our truck and my hubby is gonna fix it today with the help of the manual and a youtube video that luckily is featuring the same year/make/model as our truck.

But we have another car that's been acting a little weird in odd ways and I'm sitting here thinking... I don't even know where to begin. We may end up taking it to a mechanic just for the diagnosis but just in general I was just wondering if there's an easy way to figure this stuff out? Not just with that particular car, but just generally.

As far as manuals, I buy the manufacturer's shop manuals off eBay. Those are far more complete than Haynes.

[Old Vet]

Diagnose the cars today you will need a computer. In the old cars you must have Fuel, compression and a spark. But in today's cars there are many sensors that will make it not run at all or badly. There is a place to plug in the computer and find out what is the matter. You can go to any automotive store the will diagnose for free. But if it is not one of the things that are not under a sensor you are on your own.

[cider]

Back to manuals...our public library has the complete Chilton Library online. All we do is put our library card # in and we can access it from home.
You might check your library and see if it is available to you.

Can't help you with the diagnosing, sorry.

[Cabin Fever]

In the front of each Haynes manual is a section on troubleshooting.

[plowjockey]

Originally Posted by Betho

But we have another car that's been acting a little weird in odd ways and I'm sitting here thinking... I don't even know where to begin. We may end up taking it to a mechanic just for the diagnosis but just in general I was just wondering if there's an easy way to figure this stuff out? Not just with that particular car, but just generally.

Everyone has to start with the basics, for troubleshooting.

A "little wierd"?

Is it a squeak, a rattle, or a thump? Does it lose power going uphill, or not want to stop downhill? Start hard, or not want to shut off? Makijng a ticking or missing noise, etc.

Start with what you think it shoud be doing and then diagnose from there.

Doing simple things like googling "97 ford ranger rattle in rear end" can yeild great results, since some problems are inherent to certain makes and models.

If your vehicle shows "check engine" ODB II codes, you can get a parts store to diagnose what the code means for free (usually) or get a reader for $50-100 and intrepret the codes yourself.

IMO if you are going to do your own work, invest in decent tools and take care of them. Buy special tools as you need them. Nothing worse than taking on a repair job, without proper tools.

try to figure out the problem youself, If you don't figure it out or make it worse, take it to a mechanic.

Good luck.

[lonelyfarmgirl]

there is a shop section here on this site. Post the specific problem there and see who can help. My husband is a mechanic and an outstanding diagnostician. Maybe he can help you. I would need specific details. pm me if you want. I know that doesn't exactly help you do it on your own, but the best teacher is experience. Gotta start somewhere right?
DH uses either Chilton manuals, or he orders the specific book from the manufacturer. Also they can get expensive. The Chilton books are usually 85 to 150 each. He just ordered one for a 1998 Lexus he is working on and the set of two is 160$.

[Yvonne's hubby]

In the days when dinosaurs roamed our fair planet I got a job as a mechanics helper mostly to learn and gain some experience. That worked out very well for me. I learned a lot in just a few months, and then moved on up to working on the line at a foreign car agency. I got familiar with a LOT of different designs quickly. Diagnosis is the key, and to do that you have to understand the theory being applied to your particular vehicle. Chiltons manuals are a great resource of info, and so is the internet today, but there really is no substitute for opening the hood, making a fist and slamming it as hard as possible into the engine compartment. Now that you have that whole bloody knuckles thing out of the way... it time to go to work. Get greasy, and before long you will know just about everything you want to know about fixin cars.

[Macybaby]

Dh - who has done mechanic work for over 30 years, says find yourself a mentor, someone to give you advice and walk you through things. With newer vehicles, the diagnostic tool is needed. Otherwise you play "guess which sensor" Lots of time the care if fine, it's a sensor that has gone bad.

And like Yvonne's Hubby said, expect to make a blood offering for each repair - so you might as well get it out of the way at the beginning.

Yesterday the neighbor kid's old Suzuki conked out in our driveway. Took out the timing light and determined it had no spark - love those old ones. BTW - DH was on the road, so he walked me through how to use it over the phone. DH does a lot of over the phone mechanic work now days - our son lives in GA and does as much of his own work as he can (and more and more for his friends once they found out he had tools). So often DH and DS are on the phone going over the steps, and if there is a question, DS can snap a picture with the phone and show DH exactly what he's dealing with.

[HermitJohn]

Originally Posted by Old Vet

Diagnose the cars today you will need a computer. In the old cars you must have Fuel, compression and a spark. But in today's cars there are many sensors that will make it not run at all or badly. There is a place to plug in the computer and find out what is the matter. You can go to any automotive store the will diagnose for free. But if it is not one of the things that are not under a sensor you are on your own.

Still piston engine, still need fuel, compression, and spark at correct time. Lot people forget that.

The trouble codes retrieved from car computer are not necessarily all that great to diagnose problem. Just cause the computer say throws up code for bad oxygen sensor, that most likely is not the problem. Its something else that causes a fuel/air mix that puts it out of range of the oxygen sensor. So if you just replace whatever code throws up, most likely you will end up playing expensive game of whack-a-mole.

One of the better ways to shade tree a modern car is to use google and look for common complaints from other owners for your year and model vehicle that fit the symptoms you have.

There is a reason all my vehicles are old and non-computer. I can rebuild the whole dang engine cheaper than replacing couple accessories on modern car. If grim reaper doesnt get me before, assume govt will eventually make me drive a car under 10 year old. And eventually if our country is still stupid enough to forgo mass transit in favor of every individual driving a private car, we will be forced to lease cars, not buy them. then the manufacturers will be responsible for all repairs. And the car itself will phone home when it needs repair and you will have to deliver it to the dealer or be fined. Your car will tattle on you to cops, to the mechanic, to goodness knows who. You will be a cog in a machine just swiping your implanted chip to debit your account. No thinking, no do-it-yourself. Resistance is futile.

[ErinP]

Originally Posted by Darren

As far as manuals, I buy the manufacturer's shop manuals off eBay. Those are far more complete than Haynes.

Us too.
We have an "official" shop manual for every vehicle we own. I think the most we paid was $40 for the Focus manual. Even so, it was well worth it.

I would also recommend finding a code reader! We have a tuner/code reader for a pickup, for example, that has been completely invaluable.
It's been running really rough, powering down while driving and occasionally won't start on the first two or three tries.
Symptom-wise, the field is WIDE open.

But running a code check, it consistently throws a 1211. So now we're narrowed down to oil or fuel quality, the ISP sensor, the high pressure oil pump or the computer itself. (Because the manual will give you a small list of possible causes, Nevada, not a single "fix this")
Work from cheap to expensive.

[unioncreek]

Try this forum, you can choose what car you have and post a question: http://www.automotiveforums.com/ . There are other forums for most makes of cars just google.

Bobg

[Danaus29]

The OBD II tool is not always 100% accurate. We have a non-firing spark plug code on our car. It's been an issue since the factory intake (which was plastic) melted. Changed plug, changed wires, changed distributor cap (oh yeah, changed the intake too, twice now). No miss in the engine, car runs fine. So dh tells the kids, "the check engine light is on. One of you needs to crawl out on the hood to see if it's still there."

When dh started working on cars way back in the 60's there was a lot of guess work involved unless you knew the little tricks or you were lucky enough to have an experienced mentor. Some stuff is pretty cut and dried. But the sensors on the new cars are difficult to diagnose. And I think every stupid almost impossible to diagnose problem has occurred on our vehicles. And if your vehicle is more than 10 years old the parts that fail most often are the obsolete parts.

[Wis Bang 2]

Find someone willing to show you the basics.

Maintenance items, Oil changes, brakes and minor running gear repairs, changing worn shocks [not struts] and such is mostly common sense and requires mostly common hand tools. You can still 'shade tree' this aspect of auto maintenance on newer vehicles.

Even the Haynes manual can make a difference and their descriptions are based on disassembling that car. With access to the right tools I've followed their directions on three different timing belt replacements that were successful.

They were real good year ago, my Datsun F-10 manual had detailed wiring diagrams and a section of drawings of every major electrical group with a break down of connector type and shape plus wiring color codes. Much better detail than today's Haynes books.

Heavier body maintenance needs more tools. Air Impacts and Air ratchets and air cutting tools w/ appropriate supports like jack stands, etc. let you get into exhausts and heavier maintenance if you make the investment.

Anything requiring diagnostic tools [if you can't get it free at Auto Zone, et all] as well as specialized tools ups the investment.

Between my tools and those I inherited from my father [and grandfather] I'd think my collection would run around $20,000 in today's dollars. I have a good friend who is a flat rate technician. He has a good $100K OR MORE invested. A good auto scanner can be $2500.00. I remember a Diesel specialist saying he spent that, or more, for each of the diagnostic computers he owns...yup one for EACH engine maker!

Get someone to show you the ropes and decide how much you want to invest VRS shopping it out to a pro.

Every time I purchased a specific tool [example strut compressor] I tried to remember how many times using it VRS renting one made the purchase worth doing.

My problem is now I don't feel like working in the driveway any more. Some things are now easier to farm out. I'm glad when my grown daughters call me before AAA!

I do remember looking at some friend's repair bills and thinking that every $100.00 I spent on parts seemed to save me around $200.00 of labor minus band aids, hand cleaner & stuff.

[Esteban29304]

The computer is a great asset to working on cars. there seems to be a help forum for about any make & model. Just type in & search.