Auto Repair Tools To Have When Fixing Your Car At Home
Rather than buying thousands of dollars worth of tools to add to your tool box collection here are some basic auto repair tools to have handy in your garage. Keep in mind I am not talking about overhauling an engine or transmission. I am talking about your basic tasks at home such as working on your car’s cooling system, changing your oil and filters and possibly tuning up your car. This is what I would recommend.
Your basic hand tools that you will need are your standard and metric sockets and wrenches. These especially come in handy when your replacing belts, starters and alternators. Speaking of which do not forget your trusting digital volt ohm meter for testing electrical circuits to the starter and the alternator. You can use your digital volt ohm meter for testing fuses, voltage, and amperage. The tool I find that comes in handy a lot of times is the 12 volt test light. This really comes in handy when I am going down the row of fuses looking for a bad one.
The standard 5/8 and the 13/16 sockets will be used for the two different type of spark plugs out there. Extensions and swivels come in handy when ever you are ready to tackle them hard to get to spark plugs. Although these basic hand tools will be used only a few times, try and get a good named brand so they don’t break on you while using them. The adjustable ratchets they make today are pretty reliable in helping you to get a good grip on nuts and bolts.
One hand tool to have all year around is the cooling system pressure checker you can pick up for around a hundred bucks at your local auto parts store. This tool is very easy to use and will attend you obtain those tough antifreeze leaks. Weather it be summer time or winter just pump up your cooling system to your systems specifications which is usually around 15 pounds of pressure and start looking for antifreeze leaks.
This last tool is used for pulling codes from your car’s computer system. Any time your “check engine light” comes on unbiased scuttle the scanner in and retrieve the trouble code that is normally stored for you. This scan tool can normally be bought for around forty or fifty bucks. After you retrieve your stored code or codes then reset the switch to turn off the check engine light.
For more reading on Automotive tools used please check out, “The Auto Repair Shop and the Tools used.” And for more year round car care tips go to, “Auto Repair Savings and my Special Links.”
Filed under Automotive Repair Insurance by on Feb 27th, 2011. 