When you're learning a new skill, like how to do stuff on your car, it's really easy to pick up bad habits, and without someone to point it out straight away you could go on forever without even realising you have them. Bad habits won't stop you from working on your car, but they can hold you back from doing the most awesome job possible, so it's best to try and kick a bad habit once you know you've got one. Here's a few common bad habits which may sound familiar... 1. Not Using Grease on Anything, EverAlthough everything on this list is irritating, not using enough grease is particularly annoying. When we come to work on a car that's clearly never been introduced to grease before it quickly turns what should be a simple job into a huge hassle. Not using any grease when you're working on your car will cause bolts to seize in and snap off when you try to take them out again, and then they'll need drilling out. If you come across a seized in bolt you'll spend twice as long working it back and forth and WD40-ing it, which is the only way to get out a seized-in bolt without snapping it. Not only will it slow you down but not using any grease can wreck your car too. Unlubricated brakes can seize up causing premature pad wear which will cost you more money in parts at the very least and might even cause brake failure. You should also grease door and bonnet hinges to stop them from wearing and flying open at inopportune moments, like when you're driving down the motorway at 70mph. A large tub of copper grease with a brush is fairly cheap and ideal for most jobs (you can buy the spray can versions of copper grease but they're more expensive and not really necessary). Copper has a high melting point which is good for the kind of temperatures your car will be reaching- low temperature grease will just burn off, so whatever you use check it's suitable for the job. 2. Thinking You'll "Fix it Later"AKA being lazy, doing things halfheartedly with the vague notion of sorting it out properly at a later point. If you're not motivated to do it now, chances are you won't be at a later point either. This attitude wastes your valuable time (which is the only thing you can never have more of) as you'll spend extra time doing the same thing twice. For example, if you've got the gearbox off your car for repairs,which is a huge job in itself, you may as well do the clutch while you're in there if it's something that's likely to need doing in the near future or you don't know when it was last done. Small things left unfixed often become bigger, more serious problems so it's in your best interest to sort out issues as soon as you know about them. Do it once and do it right. 3. Neglecting the Safety StuffYou all know what I'm talking about right now. Not wearing protective equipment to do something "quick". Not wearing goggles because it will only take two seconds to grind those brake drums. Not wearing a welding mask because you only need to spot weld one small bracket on. The time you'll save not putting on proper safety equipment is not worth a 4 hour wait in A&E followed by a trip to an eye specialist in another hospital (not that I'd know anything about that...) On a similar note, but thinking long term, not wearing knee pads when you're working on a cold floor is not worth the achey joints you'll suffer from in later years. And not wearing a proper dust mask when you're grinding, painting or even just sweeping a really dusty floor (hoovering is safer) is not worth the future risk of needing an oxygen mask to climb the stairs. 4. Losing Your ToolsAs in, leaving tools under the bonnet of a car never to be seen again or leaving magnetic torches stuck under cars. Hopefully I don't need to spell out why this is a bad thing. Just try to get into a good habit of collecting up all your tools after a job and properly cleaning them by giving them a wipe over with WD40 before you put them away, especially if you've borrowed someone else's tools! 5. Over TighteningPeople who aren't overly familiar with working on cars can make the honest mistake of over tightening everything, presumably because they're terrified of leaving anything loose- which is an excellent instinct to have! Well done for not wanting pieces of your car to fall off! But over tightening causes its own problems. If you're working with anything aluminium on your car over tightening can strip the threads (Fun Science Fact: this is because aluminium is a soft metal). Basically this means if you go crazy with the ratchet you'll round out that hole so there's nothing left for a bolt to grip into and it can let go at any time- which can seriously break your car. Common examples of this are:
Most often over tightening isn't obvious until you come to work on the car a second time. Even if that stripped bolt's managed to hold on, as soon as you disturb it again it's game over. If you're working on your own car and are unsure about this tightening business then buying a Haynes manual and torque wrench would be a good investment. A torque wrench will cost around £30 (although you can spend a lot more if you feel like it) and a Haynes manual £20 (a second hand one will be cheaper) so for less than £50 you can easily avoid breaking your car. On a similar note just being too rough in general is something you want to avoid when working on your car. Some parts of your car can stand up to a beating and sometimes need a good hammering- but there's also lots of delicate (very expensive!) parts, especially under the bonnet which if you're not careful can break easily. 6. Diving In Without a PlanIs this you? When working on my car, I often get the car into a state where it's unmovable before realising: A) I don't have the right tool/ parts B) I don't know what I'm doing Don't worry, it's completely normal to get excited about a project and carried away taking everything apart before you realise you really have no idea how that came apart why doesn't this new part seem to fit the same is it just me or is it the wrong part and where the hell did it even come from again and WHY CAN'T I FIND ANYTHING ABOUT THIS ON THE FORUMS!?! Yeah, it happens. If you are unsure about something just take some step by step pictures on your phone, or even film it. Matt often does this when working on wiring plugs to remember which way the wires go. And just because you gave them your car registration it doesn't mean car part companies are infallible. You'd be surprised at the slight variation there can be in parts for the same model of car so always double-check the new part numbers against what's already on your car BEFORE you start taking anything apart (if you can't see the part numbers just compare the parts by eye). If possible, it's a good idea to start a job on a Friday night as you might need more parts than you anticipate if you find something else wrong once you get under the bonnet, and if you're doing a job on a weekend you'll struggle to get more parts as lots of places shut at 12pm on a Saturday. Want Some More?What bad habits do you have? Tell us in the comments. If you liked this you may enjoy: See you next time!
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