Having the confidence and know-how to start and complete an at-home repair on your personal vehicle is an amazing feeling!

And Anyone Can Do It!

There was once a version of myself that had a hard time believing that I could trust myself to fix anything, let alone my vehicle. Going to school and learning about automotive maintenance changed my life. It gave me the confidence and the courage to dive in and see how far I could go. It’s a powerful thing in my life, and now, it’s important to me to share what I have learned with anyone interested in knowing more about simple automotive maintenance and repairs that can be accomplished safely, at home, and on your own.

I didn’t start out with a ton of tools and experience.

The first toolbox I ever owned was a small, black, 3/8″ drive, Stanley socket set. I still have it, actually, and still use it all the time! When I first inherited this toolbox, though, I had no idea that it was a 3/8″ drive socket set. I only vaguely knew what a socket was, and I certainly didn’t know what a “drive” was. I don’t think I even used the set for years after receiving it, and now I use it almost every time I have to open my toolbox.

Not only have I learned a lot about tools and how to use them, but I’ve also come to understand the importance of being prepared for how “messy” getting into a repair on a vehicle can be. Notice I wrote CAN be. The job is as messy as you make it.

The more prepared you are for containing the messes, the smoother and safer the job you’re doing is going to be!

No matter what kind of work you plan on doing to your vehicle, please remember that safety is the most important part of the job. Your vehicle’s safety effects not only you, but also those around you, as well as the environment.

That said, let’s jump right into Tips for Safety!

Below is my #1 Safety Tip

(for life in general, but also and especially for in the shop)

#1: Keep a Clean Work Environment

Performing maintenance on a vehicle means working with oils, grease, and grime of all kinds. Just because the job can be messy, though, doesn’t mean that it needs to be!

Wherever it may be that you decide to set up shop – here are a few things I recommend to keep things Clean and Safe:

• Clear the Area of Tripping Hazards – Extension cords, tools, old and new parts, and spills are just some examples of things that can easily end up underfoot and cause someone to trip. Falling down hurts, but falling with a tool in your hand can end in a much worse injury.
• A Well-Ventilated Area – Exhaust from many vehicles (especially from diesel engines) contain harmful fumes or carbon monoxide, which can be deadly if prolonged exposure in an unventilated area occurs.
• A Dry Place to Store Tools and Chemicals – Having your tools stored in a dry place keeps them from getting rusty or damaged. A damaged tool can be a very dangerous object! Chemicals should also be kept in a safe, dry spot and out of reach of children and animals.
• A Fire Extinguisher – There are different types of Fire Extinguishers suited for different types of fires. A common household combination ABC Fire Extinguisher should be sufficient for your shop space. *When using a fire extinguisher do not spray foam directly into the fire – spray first at the edge of the flames, gradually spraying forward and upward. The jet of foam works by falling lightly onto the fire to smother it.*
• A Bucket or Container to Collect Oil or Other Fluids – Oil, Brake Fluid, Coolant, Automatic Transmission Fluid (ATF), Hydraulic Fluids, etc., are all environmentally UNFRIENDLY and should be contained and disposed of properly. Your local Home Depot or AutoZone should be able to dispose of your hazardous materials. I recommend using at least a gallon milk jug with the top cut off because it can usually fit into and under tight spaces.
• Kitty Litter – Kitty Litter is incredibly absorbent and great for cleaning up accidental spills. First, pour the kitty litter around the spill to contain the spill from spreading. Then cover the rest of the spill with kitty litter. You will need to stomp the kitty litter into the spill a bit and let sit for half an hour to an hour. Sweep up and dispose as you would Hazardous Waste.
• First Aid Kit – Having a Basic First Aid kit is essential in almost every setting, and your shop space is no different. If a small, manageable cut or scrape occurs in the middle of performing a repair, having an alcohol pad and a bandaid on hand can get you taped up and ready to jump back into your repair in a few minutes. *If a serious injury does occur during a repair do NOT hesitate to get professional medical attention! Certain “small” injuries (such as a High-Pressure Injection Injury) can be detrimental if not seen by a medical professional as soon as possible.*
• A Buddy in the Know – I always recommend letting somebody you trust know when you are planning to do any at-home maintenance or repairs, *Especially if you plan on doing them on your own.* Having someone that can check in on you periodically when working alone on your vehicle is critical if something does happen and you can’t get to your phone.
• Eyewash Station – Can even be just a designated water bottle or bucket with clean water to splash your eyes out if chemicals, fluids, dirt, or debris do happen to make contact with your eyes! *You should also try to always be in the habit of wearing safety goggles!*

Which brings me to my next Safety Tip:

#2: Personal Protection Equipment (PPE)

• Eye Protection – Super Important! The most important tool you possess is your eyes, not only in a shop setting but in life in general! It is essential to protect your eyes by getting in the habit of always wearing Safety Goggles. My advice: get a decent pair that fit comfortably. Many mechanics won’t bat an eye at spending $50 on a specialty tool they’ll use twice a year but balk at spending a little extra on a pair of comfortable and reliable safety glasses they’ll wear most every day. It’s common knowledge that eyes are sensitive to dust, chemicals, vapors, liquids, and metal shavings. Less commonly known is that said irritants; once sprayed, blown, or knocked off what you’re working on, have a funny way of shooting straight for your eyes.
• Ear Protection – Power tools are louder than you would guess; and tend to echo if you work in a bay or garage-type area. If you have a hard time keeping track or carrying around the big over-the-head ear-muff hearing protection device, there are also the squishy spongey ones that you push into your ear. Ear plugs are a small thing to keep track of that can save your ears from life-long damage.
• Face Masks – You should always know where you can find a face mask to wear to protect your lungs from fumes and dusts.
• Clothing / Hair and Jewelry – I went to school and had my first couple jobs in the field in Phoenix, Arizona, where temperatures reach over 110 degrees F. I would have loved nothing more than to wear shorts instead of thick pants while working, but durable clothing is a must! Shop work is often done in an outdoor or open bay setting, and the clothes you choose should act as a protective barrier against rough surfaces, varying temperatures, and grime. Keep in mind that you’ll want to wear comfortable and well-fitting clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty and wear little to no jewelry. Anything that dangles is liable to get hung up or caught on a moving part, including loose hair. My hair was grown long for a while, and even braided, it was best worn tucked into my collar.
• Footwear – You’ll want to wear closed-toe shoes at the least. Toes are fragile and sharp things end up on the ground sometimes. I like to wear a boot because of the thicker soles and ankle support. The work boots I wear have a steel toe, but many prefer a composite toe.
•  Gloves/Rags – I keep a box of disposable gloves and a pair of durable multi-task gloves inside my toolbox. Any disposable glove really helps to keep parts, tools, and your hands cleaner throughout the entire repair. When operating power tools or moving around larger parts I wear a more durable pair of gloves. Welding requires a leather glove while cutting should be done with no glove.
• Lifting and Carrying – Learning and implementing the correct way to lift and carry is the only way to protect your back from injury. Before lifting, always know where you are carrying to, and make sure your path is clear. When lifting, secure your grasp on the object to be lifted then push up and away from the ground with your legs instead of picking the object up using your shoulders and back. Avoid twisting during a lift, or attempting to carry items that aren’t packaged together well. And, of course, always remember to ask for help carrying if the items are heavy or obtuse.

#3: Don’t Force It

Once I graduated from school and started my first job in the field of mechanics, the one mistake I made the most often was trying to force things. Trying to force things to come loose, fit where they didn’t want to, or be finished within a specified time limit. Trying to force things can end up being dangerous in the shop environment when ultimately, taking your time will save you time in the long run.

• Things That Are Too Tight – A stuck nut or bolt is the most annoying thing to try NOT to force. I can’t tell you how many bolts I used to break – and not because I’m super strong or anything. Once a bolt breaks, it needs to be extracted, which is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and could lead to damaged parts. Worse than a broken bolt is a busted face or knuckle, which happens all too easily if your wrench slips while you’re pushing or pulling with all your strength. When faced with hardware or parts that don’t seem to want to budge, a little liquid penetrating spray goes a long way!
• Things That Are Too Hot – The engine, the exhaust system, and even the cooling system are all out to burn you if you don’t give them enough time to cool down. It’s not uncommon to feel pressured to get an oil change done as quickly as possible or tempted to open a radiator cap when a vehicle overheats. The safest option, however, is to get your tools ready or review the steps of your upcoming repair while waiting for the vehicle and all its components to cool down.
• Things That Don’t Fit – It might mean an extra trip to the parts store or a friend’s house to borrow a tool, but finding the parts and tools that fit correctly is crucial for getting the job done safely. Tools that are too loose can damage parts and hardware or cause physical harm to the person using the tool. Replacement parts and hardware that aren’t the correct fit can end up being dangerous in the installation process and to other vehicles encountered down the road. *Story Time* I was replacing a gearbox once that I was sure was the correct part, in the correct place, and that I had all the right tools and hardware, yet it would not fit back together on the truck. I used a pneumatic, 1/2″ impact driver to mount the gearbox back onto the frame rail and mistakenly pinched a steel hose that delivers power steering fluid from the reservoir to the gearbox. It was an expensive mistake, and the replacement bit of steel hose was on backorder, so the truck I had been working on had to stay down for several days. The moral of the story is: there are very few things mechanically that should require much brute force to fit back together. These few things, typically, can be done with tools like presses or pullers. As much as it might make you feel better in the heat of the moment to hit it with your heaviest hammer or pry bar, resist the urge to force it and take the time to fix whatever it is that’s keeping things from going back together in the same way and same condition that they came apart.  
• Things That “Take Too Long” – Everyone has their own way of doing things, but when it comes to doing vehicle repairs or maintenance, sometimes there is a very certain way to do the things. There are many instances where there is an exact torque specification, or a sequence in which bolts needs to be tightened in, or o-rings, snap rings, spacers, or washers that need to be in the correct order, or fluids that have to be within a set minimum and maximum range. This information is all readily available in service manuals and even more conveniently, online. Even a job as simple as changing a tire, which in itself only takes a few minutes, has some very important steps for preparation at the beginning as well as a couple seconds of diligence at the end to complete the job properly. These standards are for SAFETY, and shortcuts can lead to serious consequences. Back to the example of changing a tire, the first thing you need to do is lift the vehicle so the tire is off the ground, correct? Nope! The first thing you will want to do is make sure the vehicle is in park with the parking brake on and then chock at least one rear tire. *Click Here for my step-by-step tutorial and video on How to Safely Jack a Vehicle* One of my teachers gave me some really great advise that I’ll pass on to you now: If you don’t have time to do it right the first time, where are you going to get the time to fix it when it needs to be re-done? There’s no such thing as free parts and labor, someone’s paying for those mistakes, and most likely it’ll be the mistake maker. And at the end of the day, parts and labor are a small price to pay compared to a hospital visit if safety standards are ignored.

If you’re on this page and have read this far I’m fairly certain that you aren’t the type to ignore safety standards. Good for you.

Before I jump into this next section on Tools, I have just a couple more little Safety Tips to cover, real quick!

#4: Clear Your Schedule

You’ve decided that you’re taking this repair or upcoming maintenance into your own hands. You’ve done the research, you’ve read everything you could and watched every video out there to prepare. You’ve got your kitty litter and fire extinguisher and safety goggles. You’ve got all the parts and supplies and tools that you’ll need ready to go. Now what?

• Pick the Day and Time – Pencil yourself in! Every vehicle I worked on as a fleet technician had to have a work order assigned to it that I was responsible for. Everything billed to that work order would have a corresponding “book time”. It helped me realize that even “cleaning a battery” should take 15 minutes. By the time you open the work order, bring the vehicle into the shop, verify the repair, get the tools and supplies you need for the repair, DO the repair, check the repair, return the vehicle, clean up after your repair, record the repair, and then finally close the work order, yeah, some time has passed. Give yourself that time! Give yourself extra time. Especially if this is the first time you’ve done this particular job. Things tend to go a lot more smoothly without the added frustration of being rushed.
• “Sorry, I’m Busy” – Even if you’re doing an at-home repair, you may need to plan for other at-home tasks to be delegated elsewhere. The weekend you plan to do your repair isn’t the best time to watch your neighbors dog, or sister’s kid, or even your own dog or kid. The shop environment can be dangerous for children and animals. And unless your friend is coming to check up on you periodically for safety reasons, they don’t really need to hang out. The garage setting may seem like a cool place to have a couple beers or a cigarette or two, but being intoxicated or having lit cigarettes in the shop is not safe.

Which brings us to my final Safety Tip:

#5: Know When to Ask For Help

You did it, you cleared your schedule, you have the shop to yourself, and you are in the groove, you even made a DIY Maintenance and Repairs Playlist and everything is going great, until all the sudden it isn’t. A rusty, old bolt broke, or you get half-way through the repair and realize you’re missing something, or maybe you’re *this close* to finishing and you can’t get the belt on or the last bolt in. Whatever the case, you already know better than to force it! Sometimes, walking away for a minute or two and watching a youtube video is enough to gain a new perspective, but other times, you might just need an extra set of eyes or hands. No one expects anyone to become a master mechanic over night, and no master mechanic ever got to where they are by not asking for help. What asking for help boils down too in the end is not about saving yourself time, or energy, or the frustration of broken parts, even though it does indeed do all these things. Asking for help is a matter of safety. Unsure? Don’t guess, Be Sure. Then and only then is it safe to finish the job you started.

Alright, we made it through the Safety Tips. It was a lot of information, and some if it was a little intense. Think of these Safety Tips as the first tool you pull out of your tool box, the kind of tool you can always keep in your back pocket. Tools were made to make a hard job easier, or a seemingly impossible job possible.

TOOLS