How to Repair Your Car (Motorbooks Workshop) [Paperback]

Paul Brand (Author)

Book Description

Series: Motorbooks Workshop | Publication Date: October 15, 2006

From Motorbooks, the leader in automotive publishing for over 4 decades, comes the most practical car care guide ever produced to help the average car owner maintain and repair his or her vehicle - How to Repair Your Car. In this easy-to-follow guide, author Paul Brand, a nationally known automotive expert, takes you through the steps of auto maintenance and repair—simple steps that could add years to a car’s life and save a driver thousands of dollars in repairs. This is also the only car maintenance and repair guide on the market to contain 50 do-it-yourself projects in full-color, step-by-step instructions that are easy to follow and understand.

 

Focusing on post-1985 cars (with occasional explanations about earlier models), Brand introduces readers to the rudiments of automotive systems—from electrical, fuel, and cooling to drivetrain, suspension, tires, brakes, and exhaust—and discusses problems that arise in each system. The book includes practical advice for readers with only a passing knowledge of cars, as well as the basics of caring for a car’s exterior and interior.

How to Repair Your Car is a must-have for any car owner who wants to extend the life of his or her car, learn how to perform car maintenance or repair instead of paying a mechanic, diagnose simple noises and knocks, as well as learn tips for knowing exactly what they're paying for when their car goes to the shop.

 

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

In this easy-to-read guide, auto expert Paul Brand demystifies car repair and maintenance, with clear, simple explanations of how your car works and straight-ahead advice on how to fix problems. How to Repair Your Car includes 50 step-by-step projects that can be easily done at home with simple tools and will save you thousands . When problems arise that are beyond the skills of the average car owner, Brand explains how to talk to your mechanic and get the results you want without getting ripped off. Also included are troubleshooting charts that will help you diagnose and repair your car as well as Brand’s maintenance tips that will keepy your car alive and well for more than 100,000 miles.

About the Author

Paul Brand is well known and respected for his vast knowledge of automobiles. He’s the host of Autotalk, a radio show devoted to automobiles, and an automotive columnist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

 

 As an automotive troubleshooter, race-car driver, and leading instructor of law enforcement pursuit driving, Brand makes his shows and columns informative and entertaining with his wit, knowledge, and easy-to-understand advice on any and all auto problems. A typical show will find Brand expertly fielding questions about changing your own oil, finding the source of squeaks, squeals, and rattles or even deciphering the complex inner workings of an automatic transmission, an engine, or electronics.

 

One of Brand's goals is simply to help people understand more about automobiles so that they may get longer service life and be wiser customers. He is in great demand as a speaker at automotive conventions, trade shows, and anywhere there is a gathering of people connected with the automobile industry.

 

Brand resides in Lino Lakes, Minnesota.

 

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Motorbooks; 1st edition (October 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760322732
• ISBN-13: 978-0760322734
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #171,151 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a good book overall, February 2, 2008

By 

Frenchy in TN "RenaudTN" (Clarksville, TN) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: How to Repair Your Car (Motorbooks Workshop) (Paperback)

I think this book is pretty good for the 'mechanic wannabe' who's just getting started (like me). All the 50 projects are illustrated with photos which is pretty neat. At the end of each chapter, there is a troubleshooting chart listing common problems associated with the specific components that are discussed in the chapter.
Now, after reading this book, I think some projects could have been a little more detailed, and some other a little less: The project on 'how to fill coolant' takes two pages front and back, but the one on 'how to change thermostat' only takes one...
Also, some projects explain how to replace such and such part, but it doesn't explain why you would want to replace these parts if your car breaks down:
* "how to replace distributor cap and rotor"; sounds great, but how do I know that these are the parts I need to replace if my car breaks down? It doesn't say anything about that in the electrical troubleshooting chart in this chapter.
* "How to replace the starter"; sounds great too, but where do I find it? there's no diagram in this book that shows you where to look under the hood, beside a picture of a car, at the beginning of the chapter, with a front mounted engine (my car, like most front wheel drive nowdays, has an engine mounted sideway); and the car used as an example in this project is different than mine.
Anyway, the point is, a little more details would have been nice.
However, it is a decent book and it gave me a better comprehension of how things work under the hood. It also gave me more confidence to work on my car.
My advice is: buy this book to familiarize yourself with cars, and learn very basic car maintenance stuff such as changing your oil, checking your fluids, tires etc.
For bigger projects like 'how to replace a water pump' (project 29), this is probably not the book you need.

4.0 out of 5 stars Didn't have the tools, January 5, 2012

By 

Starla - See all my reviews

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This review is from: How to Repair Your Car (Motorbooks Workshop) (Paperback)

This is a good book, well written with clear directions ... or so it seems when I read it. I don't have the tools they recommend you have and only recently got a garage where I could potentially use them. I may have to update this review when I get enough tools to actually use the book.

On the upside for me, it does discuss what to look for in a mechanic, which has been helpful. It's also nice to have a basic understanding of what's going on with my car when it acts up.

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative, March 11, 2011

By 

J. Ditter - See all my reviews
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This review is from: How to Repair Your Car (Motorbooks Workshop) (Paperback)

I have only read a few parts of it, and while it tries to dumb it down, they need to dumb it a little more. I am not naturally good when it comes to cars, and if you're like me this book is both informative and yet difficult. Its worth checking out for sure, but I'd suggest finding a friend with automotive skills to help you out on all but the easiest things you can do.