There are two ways to do a work, first is do with rules and second is do with rules and add some common sense to do it even more smartly. I’ll tell you the smarter way. Here our target is to change our car engine oil and we know old oil is needs to be drained out as much as possible from the engine so that new oil does not turn black as soon as we pour it due to remains of old oil.

Plan a Saturday night when you won’t be using your car that night (means you don’t sleep walk and sleep drive LOL) and with some free time on Sunday (the next day). Prepare the place you will be using to change your car engine oil. I recommend that place to be your garage with a floor that is not inclined on any side but perfectly leveled. Saturday evening before auto spare shops closes keep a drain pan, wrench that fits your oil sump nut (the nut below your car engine from which engine oil flows out if loosen), disposable glove, funnel and some rags ready in your garage. Wear your not so new and good looking clothes and drive off to an auto spare part shop and but engine oil and oil filter for your car. Oil filter should be of OEM type as they are good enough, just tell your car model and the auto spare part dealer will give you the oil filter for your car. Go shopping for items that you might need for your home till Sunday morning because remember you won’t be able to use your car the whole night and next Sunday morning as well. Reach your home, park your car in garage with hand brakes and open the hood/bonnet whatever you call it. Now without any delay take the drain pan, place it below the sump nut and using the wrench open the sump nut. Don’t worry if the nut falls in the drain pan, you can retrieve it later.  Things will be quite hot under your car so when you go under your car make sure your hand or face don’t touch anything. If your hands are long and car is not that big, you even don’t need to get under the car, just stretch yourself a bit and you can reach the nut. When the nut is fully open you will see black oil going into the drain pan. Enjoy the moment! Clean your wrench and hands with rag if it came in contact with oil immediately. Now look at your engine and loosen the engine oil checking dip stick. For those who are extra cautious you may want to take out one main HT lead or just the negative (-) terminal of your car battery so that someone don’t start your car by mistake. Starting and using the car without engine oil will kill the engine in few minutes. After you have done all this close the hood, lock the car and go to sleep.

Whole night the old oil drop by drop was drained from each and every corner of your engine. I told you to immediately drain oil after you came home driving from spare part shop because using the car on road for sometime will make sure old mixes all the sludge of engine in itself and also becomes thin due to the heat of engine. So when you drain it hot, it comes out with all the sludge easily. Next morning come and most probably no more drops would be coming out of the sump. Wear gloves and safety glasses too. Now locate the oil filter in your engine and move the drain pan just below it. Don’t throw this oil; let it be in pan for some time. If you have dropped the sump nut in it take it out using any wooden stick. Since engine is cold now you don’t have to worry about burning yourself. Now unscrew the old oil filter (anti clock wise) with your hands. If you can’t use both your hands and with a jerk apply your full strength and it should open. Use sandpaper if your hands are slippery. If it still doesn’t open, you will need an oil filter opening tool. While opening the filter keep your face away as some old oil will drop, well sometimes lots of oil if your filter is big. Once open pour all the oil that is inside the filter in the drain pan and keep this old filter aside with open side up.  Use rag to clean that place from where you took out the old oil filter. Get few drops of oil from the new engine oil that you bought for your car, just few drops not more than that and apply it over the gasket (round black rubber part) of new oil filter. Now screw this new oil filter it in its place in clock wise direction. Tighten it with your hand only, not any tool. Take the sump nut, clean it with rag and put it back in its place (the sump) and tighten it with wrench. Do not over tighten else it may slip. Now open your car hood, push the dip stick back in its place and locate the engine oil filter cap on your engine. Mostly it’s a big yellow or black plastic cap right on top of engine, so easy to locate. Open it and using funnel pour the new engine oil. Again enjoy the movement of extreme satisfaction!  Once done, place the filler cap back in its place, clean the engine with any spilled oil and wait for few minutes. Now take out the dip stick and look at the oil level. It should be touching max level now. If it does not don’t panic, wait for some more time as oil can take time to travel below the sump where oil level gets measured by dip stick. If it’s still below max level (slightly lower is ok) then you might need to buy smaller pack (500ml or so) of the same engine oil and top up till dip stick reaches max.  In any case do not fill the oil above max level.

When all done, put the HT lead back or battery negative cable if you had taken it out to prevent accidental cranking of engine and start your car. Check that engine oil warning light is not glowing on your dashboard, if it does it means oil is low. The light will however come for few seconds even when engine is started because your oil filter is new and takes some time to get wet with oil fully and start working. If all fine, you have just successfully changed your car engine oil yourself! You have not only saved money but also made sure that your car gets the right oil in right quantity and everything is genuinely done. Some workshops use recycled oil if you are not around and alert enough to check what’s going inside your car, they even might not change the filter and save on spare parts as well, worse they might not even take good time to let entire old oil get out of the engine and pour new oil not only dirtying the new oil but also increasing oil quantity in the engine which is harmful for engine.  You might not find drastic change in your engine response for now but after driving about say 50km you will start noticing some good changes in your engine due to this efficient way of oil changing. Make a note of KM reading on the odometer and date of change of oil on a small piece of paper and stick it inside glove box of your car. This way you can remember to change oil according to your manufacturer recommended interval. Same way you can change engine oil of your bike too. Enjoy the smooth ride and drive safe!

Request: Please do not throw old engine oil in drain, seal it in an air tight plastic container and give it to any auth. Auto workshop from where it will go for proper disposal. Also crush the new engine oil container so that it cannot be used for refilling and selling fake oil.

You definitely love your car if you have reached this article and started reading it with interest after reading its title “DIY Car Engine Oil Change”. People don’t want to dirty their hands and change oil themselves and leave it on mechanic at service center.  However this is good till your car is under your warranty but after that you are not sure what type of oil is going inside your car engine. Even under warranty you should keep an eye.  Engine oil is vital part and before it gets too black and stop doing its work, you should change it. Black oil always does not mean its gone bad, its only carrying the dirt of your engine and keeping your engine clean but not allowing those dirt to settle on engine components. Ok now let’s get back to topic of oil change for an old car which is not under warranty and you are free to try your own brand of oil.

First of all you need to check your car manual for the “grade” of engine oil your car engine needs. It’s written something like 15w40 or 20w50 etc. If you have lost the manual then don’t worry, just search Google and you should get fairly accurate info. For older engines with lots of kilometers done, 20w50 which is thicker oil is good. For newer engines 15w40 is good enough but you can also use 20w50 if you drive in extremely hot climate conditions or using or using alternative fuels like LPG or CNG which makes engine valves hotter than when same engine is running on gasoline.  These ratings were for mineral engine oils, if you check out synthetic range of engine oils, you will see ratings like 5w50 or even as low as 0w50! The number before “w” represents viscosity of oil when engine is cold and after “w” when engine is hot. Cold engine needs thin oil so that all components get lubricated as quickly as possible to avoid wear and when engine is hot, it needs thick oil to withstand heat and provide lubrication in extreme condition. So now you got why synthetic oils are better for your car but they come at premium price. So if your budget allows, do use them else stick to mineral oil which are also good.

Once you have selected the right engine oil for your car, you need to buy few other things as well which includes:

1. New Oil Filter
2. Drain pan (if you don’t have already)
3. Disposable gloves (cheap plastic ones)
4. Wrench to open oil sump nut.
5. Rag to clean spilled oil, grease and grime.
6. Funnel

Now what is oil filter? Where it is located? And what is sump nut? Worry not I’ll tell you everything.  Apart from Oil, Wrench and New oil filter, you really don’t need to buy anything else if you don’t have but also want to save money.

Read Part 2 of this article >>

If you drive a car then sometimes you must have noticed fatigue and you might have not given it attention thinking of just temporarily weakness. Problem can be with your car too! After some usage the driving may not remain the same as it is with a brand new car but you can do some bits to keep it running like “out of showroom” and most importantly save yourself from unnecessary fatigue.

When we drive the car, we have so many things to do drive car safely on road that not for a single minute we are relaxed. This lead to brain not giving you feedback of how hard your clutch pedal has become and how much pressure you are putting on brakes and accelerator. Even gear change may not be as smooth as before but since it’s a small change that we don’t notice it but it doesn’t mean its not affecting our body.

Next time when you start driving your car, take your car on a quite and lonely road where you can concentrate on the feedback your car is giving and not risk others on road while noticing all this. Drive the car with calm mind and see if you need to put more pressure on clutch pedal than you needed before or just anything that is causing discomfort. Stop and make a list of it. Next time you go to service, get those all fixed with your full satisfaction. Before you go for any major repair, it will be better to check a new model of your car. Suppose you feel that clutch is tight and your service center suggest clutch overhaul then first check a new car in showroom which will give you feel of exactly “how much” tight is your car’s clutch. If there is only slight difference then tell them to change clutch cable only and see if that brings the clutch smoothness and lightness back to normal.

Other cause of fatigue is longer drive on congested roads. Traffic means you will have to change gear frequently, use clutch also again and again, basically you will be involved in doing many task for longer time that will strain your body and mind. Avoid routes that are prone to traffic jams. Also carry some slow and soothing songs with nice tune that you should listen on low volume, it will keep you relaxed and you won’t get irritated easily.

Use AC if it’s hot outside and even if you feel you can do without it, switch it ON. We don’t feel much heat because when door glass are rolled down, we get lots of air circulation but under the seat there is no air circulation and without our knowledge its getting too much heated there.

Footwear also play important role. If you wear shoes with thicker soles, it gives less control on all the pedals operated by foot. Wear shoes with thinner soles but not too thin either. Just see which of your shoes gives best control and ease of operation as it can vary from person to person. I like wearing thin sole sandals as they give me best control and comfort while most people like proper shoes.

Now you can save you thousands of bucks that you might spend on buying car or bike or just any lead acid battery even when its not needed. Lead Acid battery plates develop sulphur with aging and this blocks current leading to low voltage and a time comes when battery is no more able to maintain 12v and car does not start.

I have tried this trick on my car battery which went dead few days back, just 10v was left in it and was going down to 4v on using self. First I tried charging it using battery charger for one whole day and night but I found as soon as I remove it from charging, it would go to 10v at once. So battery was dead, there was no reaction (bubbles) in one of the cell. I was about to change my battery then found this tip and it worked for me

The real thing:
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When you are not able to recharge the battery and it won’t maintain 13v then do this.

1. Open all the caps (from where you fill water) of cell and drain the acid. (You can use this acid to remove algae). Please do this cautiously, wear surgical gloves and goggles to protect your eyes and hand from acid.

2. Take an empty 600ml plastic cold drink bottle, fill it with distill water and add 2 teaspoon of magnesium sulfate in it. Shake shake shake! shake it well untill all the salt gets dissolved in distill water. You can get magnesium sulfate from people who supply chemicals in school labs.

3. Fill each cell with this magnesium sulfate solution you just prepared, don’t overfill, just about 0.5 inch above plates is good. Tap the battery from each side so that air bubbles trapped in plates escape.

4. Don’t put the caps back, leave battery open and put it on charging. I used 5 Amp charger for my 35 Amp car battery. Charge it for atleast 24 hours. Use atleast 10% current for charging, for example your battery is of 12v and 65 Amp then use atleast 6.5 Amp current and 13.8V for charging. I would recommend slightly higher of about 8 or 9 Amp.

5. Remove battery from charging and check voltage. Wear your goggles and peep in cell using a torch to see tiny bubbles coming up from each cell plates. This indicate that your cells are working! If you don’t see this then your battery needs more charging. If you do see bubbles and battery voltage remains constant between 12.6 – 14v then you just saved your battery and it can be used in your car now!

The magnesium sulphate solution will turn into acid when battery is charged so you don’t need to add acid later. If you feel electrolyte level has gone down after this long charging, you can add distill water. But remember don’t overfill the cells as overfilled cells with experience slow charging.

Disclaimer: Use this tip at your own risk, in no case I will be held responsible for any accidents or loss caused by trying tip described above.

When someone buys a car, there are some strong reasons behind it. No one just decides for a car in few minutes and get whatever brand and model he finds first. If have decided that you only need a brand new car because of some special reasons (there can be many) then no need to read further, for people who can think of used car as option, read on the benefits. First of all the main reason you buy a car is to move around, go to places. The first benefit of a used car is the price. You get it for much less than new one and price depreciation is almost nil. For example if one buys a new car for say 4000$ then after 4 years no one will buy it for $4000 again from you no matter how good is the condition of car and how much you have spent on this car in 4 years for accessories. But if I buy a used car for $2000, after using it for 4 years I can still sell it for $2000 if I maintain it well and find a good customer. Of course it doesn’t mean you had a free ride all these 4 years because used car may sometime need more attention (money) on its maintenance and may also consume more fuel than newer models.

Second biggest benefit I personally feel is freedom. Freedom in sense that I don’t feel uncomfortable taking my car to those narrow streets where it is prone to scratches. Also I can park it anywhere and as I am sure its not shiny new to attract people do vandalism. Bad roads are also not a big problem for used car owners because they know if any damage will be cheaper to repair than new models. So the basic purpose of car that is moving people around is best fulfilled by a used car. For people who have lots of money, it may not make sense but it’s for those for whom buying a new car means a lot of money.

Old technology used in your used car may not give you best fuel efficiency and refinement but it has other great benefits. Maintenance cost is much less; easy to repair and less parts even means more reliability. Today car have so much electronics in them that failure in even one part can leave you stranded on road. I am not against new car technology but this can be counted as a drawback you get with new cars. One big example is of timing belt. If a newer generation car engine have timing belt failure (it’s a rubber belt so it can break) it means your car will have to spend lots of time in garage for repairs and you need to shell out lots of money, for older cars, it does not take even an hour to change the belt and you only need to change the belt, nothing else and you are good to go. These were the few reasons that go in favor of used car, I might write more reasons as I experience with my own used car that I am happily driving since 4 years.

Fuel prices keep increasing and as your car gets older, its love for fuel increases. You notice that you are visiting fuel pump often than before and fuel expenses has increased noticeably. If your car is too old (say more than 10 years old) then it will be wise to sell it off and get a more fuel efficient car. But let’s stick to the topic of fuel saving on your current car.

To start with, fill your car only in morning or at midnight. Now it’s not necessary that you make a visit to petrol pump at these odd times only to fill your car, you can do it whenever you find a reputed pump while returning late night or while going to office in morning. Reason is when fuel is colder, it’s denser and you are sure of getting right quantity of fuel in your car.

Now when you have right amount of fuel, next thing you should do at fuel pump is get your tire pressure checked which is free at most petrol pumps. Correct tire pressure will help in achieving a good fuel efficiency.

Now drive off the pump but keep your right foot in control, do not floor the accelerator pedal or press quickly. Train your right foot to press accelerator pedal as gently and slowly as possible and pressing it all the way down.

Use brakes only when absolutely needed, in city traffic you can always use engine brake to slow down. Engine braking comes when you are in lower gear and you are not using clutch and accelerator at all. If you have to apply brakes to slowdown a bit (for example to keep good distance from car in front of you) try not to use clutch at all, if engine tends to stall then ofcourse you have to use clutch.

Check your car from inside and look for unnecessary things stuffed in your car which are adding weight to your car. Engine is using more fuel to carry these unnecessary loads. Now don’t throw that spare wheel and curse me when you have a flat tire LOL

Roll down the windows and see if you can do without AC. Using AC means adding load to engine and engine will obviously going to gulp down more fuel.

One last tip is for overall benefit of your car is that get it serviced regularly at authorized workshops and don’t just rely on what they are doing to your car. Check yourself like they have changed oil filter, engine oil, air filter etc or not and things like wheel balancing are alignment are carried out or not if it was needed.