Auto Repair For Dummies (Paperback)

~ (Author) "If you're not particularly mechanically inclined, you may watch those who are with admiration and amazement - and exasperation because they have something you don't:..." (more)
Key Phrases: rust arrestor, thermostatic spring choke, metal master cylinder, Keeping Your Car, Specifications Record, Yellow Pages (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Most of us don’t know the first thing about the machines we’re licensed to drive – and this can turn a ticket to freedom into a ticket to trouble. If you’re like most people, you probably tend to drive around until something goes wrong with the car. You then incur the expense of replacing worn and burnt-out parts (or the entire engine) when low-cost, regular maintenance could have kept your wheels turning for a long time.

Auto Repair For Dummies is indispensable for anyone who is tired of nodding and smiling at the incomprehensible mutterings of your mechanic, only to end up shelling out money for repairs that you neither fully understand nor always need. This easy-to-understand guide is also for you if you

Don't have the vaguest idea of how a car works.

Can't identify anything you see under the hood of your vehicle.

Are tired of other people assuming (especially if you’re a teenager or a woman) that you aren’t capable of handling repairs yourself.

Don't want to feel helpless in an emergency.

Are tired of being ripped off because of your own ignorance.

This book shows you how your car works; what it needs in the way of tender loving care; and how to keep from being overcharged if you need to entrust repairs to someone else. Auto Repair For Dummies also gives you the scoop on these topics and more:

What makes your vehicle go (and how and why)

A program of "preventive medicine" to avoid trouble

Shopping for tools and knowing how to use them

Diesel engines and alternatively powered cars

How to keep your car looking its best

Dealing with on-road emergencies

Checking your tires, alignment, and steering

By handling the simple maintenance and tune-ups and being able to diagnose trouble and perform the less complex repairs yourself, you’ll save some serious money. Once you break the ice (or crack open the hood), the heady sense of power will carry you through basic car repair and maintenance with confidence and ease.

From the Publisher

Keep your wheels on the road and out of the shop with this friendly guide to auto care. In plain and simple language, Deanna Sclar dispels the mysteries lurking under the hood by explaining every auto systemand shows you step by step how to diagnose problems, make uncomplicated repairs, and perform routine maintenance.

Discover how to:

*Keep your vehicle purring with routine maintenance

*Troubleshoot typical problems

*Remove small dings, dents, and rust

*Deal with flats and breakdowns

*Avoid getting confused by automotive jargon

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 600 pages
• Publisher: IDG Books Worldwide; Rev Upd edition (September 30, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764550896
• ISBN-13: 978-0764550898
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #38,576 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

88 of 92 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic beginner's book, June 28, 2000

By	jerry barnes (Medford, Oregon) - See all my reviews

I recently purchased an older model American car... the kind with a carburetor and distributor and--get this--spark plugs that you can actually reach without removing half the stuff from the engine. It has been so long since I could really work on my own car that I had forgotten how to do basic tuneups and keep my auto in primo condition. This book is outstanding for explaining how it all works and how to do the basics yourself. It begins with a simple but thorough explanation of all the systems (electrical, fuel, suspension, steering, etc.) and how a car works. Then it goes through each system and, with the aid of very effective diagrams, explains how to check and fix each one.

I have, thanks to this book, the knowledge and confidence to keep my new/old car in tune, running smooth, and at a fraction of the cost of taking it into the shop.

You don't need an older car to appreciate this wonderful resource, either. The author goes through modern cars and their systems, too, like fuel injection and rack-and-pinion steering and disc brakes. If you have always wanted to know more about cars, and want the confidence to do the basic maintenance yourself, this IS the book for you. Highly reccommended.

68 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not an Auto Repair Book - Very Basic, Maybe Too Basic, December 23, 2005

By	J. E. Robinson - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I put this book on my Wish List at Amazon.com. It is exactly what I need and the other reviewers give it a good rating. But HOLD THE PRESSES not so fast. I went over to the local book store and happened to see a copy, so I sat down for 10 minutes and quickly took in as much as I could.

First of all the title is misleading. It is not about car repair despite the size of the book's big 600 page thickness. It should be called

"Dummies Guide to Car Ownership".

It is like a large owners manual that comes with every new car. This book cannot be used to repair your car. You can use it to understand how the car works, when to change the oil, and what certain parts do but it is (definitely) not a car repair book. Maybe if you bought a used car and it has no manual buy this book, or you just bought your first car and you are clueless, then okay buy the book, but if you are that clueless - do not fix your car. Get help.

It is like a cartoon book on very basic things. For example one section is how to open the hood (I kid you not!). Another is how to change the tire. Another how to check your fluid levels. There are cartoons showing the suspension, the motor combustion cycle, etc. all the things that are basic. It is not a guide to repairing a serious problem or maybe even a not so serious problem in your car. There are a few interesting items in the book like PVC valves and cartoons showing how they bleed exhaust gases back into the input manifold, etc.

Okay so you want to repair your Chevy or your Honda or your VW or your Ford pickup. This is what you do. You go to a store like Autozone or similar (this is not an endorsement) and you buy a shop manual for your exact car - say a 1999 Chevy Lumina V6 3.8 L, that is for the make, the model, with the year and exact engine or the equivalent book for $25-$50. bucks. Maybe you can get it for less. Then you use the shop manual as a guide to determine what to change and how to do it, and buy the parts at an auto supply place. If that manual is too complicated, just go to a garage, or get help from a friend that has some experience.

If you know the basics about a car, skip the book.

56 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get this book with other things., May 31, 2004

By A Customer

While in CA I had a bad experience getting an oil change. The jiffy lube guy forgot to put the oil filler cap back on. I noticed the engine sound difference right away but since I didn't consider myself an expert in any way I didn't do anything. Well, for 2 weeks I drove my car. After driving for 10 minutes everytime the car would fill up with a oil burning smell and after I parked the car there would be the oil puddle on the road.

Finally I forced myself to open the hood and found the problem immediately. The oil cap was still wedged between the hoses where the JL guy left it. Luckily it hadn't fallen off, otherwise I would've never found the problem with my lack of car skills.

I went back to JL and told them what happenned. There appeared to be a discussion in the inside office. I peeked inside and saw the supervisor was laughing his head off. The guy who worked on my car came out and apologized. The manager appeared apologetic and offered to clean up the splattered oil mess under my hood if I would leave the car for a couple of days. Yeah right, like I would...after what happenned.

After this experience I looked if I could change the oil myself. I'd bought this dummies book a couple years eralier and it was gathering dust on my shelf. I'd never seriously read the book and like most people I thought dummies were just a quick brush thru of car concepts...not for the real hands-on person. So I went and bought the Haynes repair manual for my corolla (about $20).

I did an oil change and realised 2 things: One, it was incredibly simple. Two, it takes about 30 minutes for the oil to drain out (actually even after 30 minutes there is a slow drip coming out). That made me think of the 10-minute oil change you see advertized in some shops. The mechanics probably let it drain for 2-minutes max. That means there's still a half-liter of old oil still in the crankcase.

Since then I have always change my own oil except when there's snow on the ground since I live in an Apt (don't have my own garage).

The Haynes manual has a vareity of other stuff to do on your car and I realised that I needed some hands-on instruction. So I took a 14-class night course at the local community college ($250) which has really taught me a lot. The book followed there was Jack Erjavec's Automotive Technology which is an expensive but 'utltimate' book for automobiles.

While studying for the exam, I came upon this dummies book on my shelf and I was struck by the clear, consise explanation and neat drawings which rivalled those in Erjavec's. I mentally kicked myself for not reading this dummies book that I had with me all the time. The Haynes manual had all the right steps needed for any job, but little or no explanation or not easy to understand, about the system or basic concepts and the photographs are pathetic.

Since then, apart from oil changes, I have flushed the cooling system, cleaned and reinstalled the battery, changed the air filter and other simple stuff. I would try more stuff if I had a garage.

To cut it short, if you're like me (you aren't a auto-maniac, but you can fix afew things around the house) you need three things:
This book by Scalar for very good system concepts, drawings and reasonably detailed repair steps. A fully detailed repair book like haynes or Chilton's for your particular car. Finally a small evening course in a local communnity college on auto fundamentals would make you really comfortable with your car. (Off course you need to buy some tools too). Good luck.