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So, I am a self admitted penny pincher, and as a result I do anything I can by myself without having to get a pro to do it. Fortunately for me, I was born with the ability of being extremely mechanically inclined, with an engineering mind, so I usually have zero difficulty doing these things.
Here are some examples of jobs I did over the years to save money....
1. I have a 42" Samsung Plasma tv. A few years ago, the picture went out. My wife was pissed that the warranty was expired, and the tv guy she called said he would take a look at it, and that it was probably something in the circuits that was acting up. He wanted $75 to look at it, and estimated $400 for the repair. Instead, I took it apart myself. I found that not only were no fuses blown, nothing was burned up, and the circuitry looked fine, but the attachment pins for the picture power supply were coated in dust and grime. I took a can of compressed air, blew it out, and wouldn't you know it - it worked just fine. Cost me about 7 cents
2. When I first moved into my house, the windows were literally falling out of the house. I got prices from several companies. For 7 windows the lowest price I got was $3,850. Without knowing what to do, I bought the windows myself and installed them. I also installed french doors on the back to replace the sliding glass door. My final cost? Just over $1,400.
3. When I first got my car, it had everything wrong with it. I needed 4 tires, new brakes, a fuel filter and pump, battery, alternator, idle control valve, pcv valve, air intake control, coil springs, ball joints and tie rod ends. I got prices from 7 places. The average estimate was about $2,600. So I bought the parts and did it myself. All total, I spent around $700.
So, these are some of my good DIY experiences. Now for the only bad one. My car has been running like **** for a while. After a lot of research, I figured it was the spark plugs. I had 6 to change. The front 3 were easy, then I couldn't see the back 3. So I go online, and find out you have to take the intake manifold, the throttle body, the air intake valve, pvc valve, idle control valve, the EGR valve, a bunch of gaskets and a few other little things like hoses apart just to get to those back 3 spark plugs. Being the idiot I am, I go oh, ok, shouldn't be too bad....
2 hours later, I have over a dozen pieces and over 3 dozen bolts laying around next to a pile of hoses. I change the three spark plugs. Then comes the fun of putting it back together. By some amazing act of the universe, I am able to get it all back together correctly on the first go. I turn on the car, the RPMs go up over 8k, it backfires, then dies. Confused, I pop the hood to see that when I reassembled the throttle body, the throttle cable had snagged itself on the cover, instead of going into its slot. Easy fix - I push it down where it goes, and the car starts up fine....for a second. It's sputtering hard, and sounds like someone trying to gasp for air under water. Then I hear a loud hissing noise.
I cut the car off, and start inspecting and almost immediately see the problem. Underneath the PCV valve, there is a steel tube with two bolts that connects to the bottom of the PCV valve unit. I notice something odd. There is a metal gasket half where it should be, the other half hanging down and out of place. Apparently during disassembling and reassembling, I had not noticed this gasket. When I reassembled it all, apparently one side of the gasket tilted downward. The air flow was completely shut down due to the blockage, so I took it apart and put it in correctly. Now the car runs like it's new.
I learned a valuable lesson today. If you have a ford engine that's 24 valve DOHC, **** the spark plugs, pay someone else to do it. I will sell this car before I ever attempt to do that again. On the bright side, it only cost me $12 lol, so I can't be too upset.
I know I'm not the only one with a horrible experience, I wanna hear some stories.
Here are some examples of jobs I did over the years to save money....
1. I have a 42" Samsung Plasma tv. A few years ago, the picture went out. My wife was pissed that the warranty was expired, and the tv guy she called said he would take a look at it, and that it was probably something in the circuits that was acting up. He wanted $75 to look at it, and estimated $400 for the repair. Instead, I took it apart myself. I found that not only were no fuses blown, nothing was burned up, and the circuitry looked fine, but the attachment pins for the picture power supply were coated in dust and grime. I took a can of compressed air, blew it out, and wouldn't you know it - it worked just fine. Cost me about 7 cents
2. When I first moved into my house, the windows were literally falling out of the house. I got prices from several companies. For 7 windows the lowest price I got was $3,850. Without knowing what to do, I bought the windows myself and installed them. I also installed french doors on the back to replace the sliding glass door. My final cost? Just over $1,400.
3. When I first got my car, it had everything wrong with it. I needed 4 tires, new brakes, a fuel filter and pump, battery, alternator, idle control valve, pcv valve, air intake control, coil springs, ball joints and tie rod ends. I got prices from 7 places. The average estimate was about $2,600. So I bought the parts and did it myself. All total, I spent around $700.
So, these are some of my good DIY experiences. Now for the only bad one. My car has been running like **** for a while. After a lot of research, I figured it was the spark plugs. I had 6 to change. The front 3 were easy, then I couldn't see the back 3. So I go online, and find out you have to take the intake manifold, the throttle body, the air intake valve, pvc valve, idle control valve, the EGR valve, a bunch of gaskets and a few other little things like hoses apart just to get to those back 3 spark plugs. Being the idiot I am, I go oh, ok, shouldn't be too bad....
2 hours later, I have over a dozen pieces and over 3 dozen bolts laying around next to a pile of hoses. I change the three spark plugs. Then comes the fun of putting it back together. By some amazing act of the universe, I am able to get it all back together correctly on the first go. I turn on the car, the RPMs go up over 8k, it backfires, then dies. Confused, I pop the hood to see that when I reassembled the throttle body, the throttle cable had snagged itself on the cover, instead of going into its slot. Easy fix - I push it down where it goes, and the car starts up fine....for a second. It's sputtering hard, and sounds like someone trying to gasp for air under water. Then I hear a loud hissing noise.
I cut the car off, and start inspecting and almost immediately see the problem. Underneath the PCV valve, there is a steel tube with two bolts that connects to the bottom of the PCV valve unit. I notice something odd. There is a metal gasket half where it should be, the other half hanging down and out of place. Apparently during disassembling and reassembling, I had not noticed this gasket. When I reassembled it all, apparently one side of the gasket tilted downward. The air flow was completely shut down due to the blockage, so I took it apart and put it in correctly. Now the car runs like it's new.
I learned a valuable lesson today. If you have a ford engine that's 24 valve DOHC, **** the spark plugs, pay someone else to do it. I will sell this car before I ever attempt to do that again. On the bright side, it only cost me $12 lol, so I can't be too upset.
I know I'm not the only one with a horrible experience, I wanna hear some stories.
.......