speaking of classes… a few years back we talked about having a car maintenance class but were told that working on cars was prohibited by insurance.
Could anyone confirm this? Because it sounds like a weird rumor and I can’t imagine they’d have an issue if the car class was limited to typical driveway stuff… changing windshield wipers or air filters, air up a tire, check fluid levels… stuff that 50% of the population seems to know how to do but other people are oddly afraid of it. I keep running into what I will call “empowerment issues” around car maintenance and I’m thinking of a remedy.
maybe we just didn’t do it on douglas because there was no space.
I would also be interested in this. No amount of asking to learn while growing up seemed to get anyone to want to teach me, so in order to not be inept, I’d prefer to know now
I’d be happy to demo basic, dry car maintenance for the average consumer - the trouble with a lot of the car stuff is the lack of facilities to do anything that has the potential to leak or spill all over the ground. This is the reason behind parking lots and hotels having signs prohibiting car maintenance. But we can definitely cover things like everything you can check at a gas station, changing a tire, cabin air filter, etc. We can also do a couple talks about some common car repairs - photos and videos on how brake maintenance, battery changes, etc.
The kinds of things so that people get some idea about what’s going on in the black box under the hood.
Speaking of, I just got a call from my stepmother telling me her battery was dead… I’m bringing her one of those booster batteries to keep in her car. Information on those and their usage might be helpful to some. It’s MUCH better than having cables and then trying desperately to find someone willing to give a jump in unfavorable weather.
I think the idea is to properly maintain your car battery and replace them at the end of their expected life span - then you’re extremely unlikely to have problems.
If it’s at the point where you need to put a second backup battery in your car - you should look at having your car’s electrical system tested and your primary battery replaced.
Good use cases for those jump starter are for people working on other people’s cars, the family ‘mechanic,’ and people that have infrequently used equipment like tractors, motorcycles, etc., that don’t get used frequently. Sometimes those jump starters also have some other nice features like a flashlight, road warning lights, USB plugs to charge your phone, etc, in which case it’s just a nice multi-tool.
One more use case. When you have family that keeps leaving interior lights or headlights on and needing jumps, then yeah, give them a jumpstarter so you don’t get as many calls.
She’s elderly, but handy and knows how to jumpstart, and is sometimes prone to forgetting to turn off her headlights and finding herself stranded and alone as she lives in a fairly remote location… a booster battery is useful for her even with a well maintained battery and working electrical system.
I’d happily recommend them for the same reasons that people keep jumper cables in their car. I’ve also had several occasions where I’ve been able strangers who couldn’t quite get a cold weather start and we’re parked face in in a snowed in driveway where cables wouldn’t have reached.
Additionally, they are inexpensive and I keep one in each of my cars, not only for emergencies, but also to bring along with me when I leave the vehicle for camping to keep my phone charged.
I also got her a AAA membership… for those times when the problem may be more severe than just leaving the lights on.
But yes, do also make an effort to remember to replace your battery and maintain your electrical system! Oh, and keeping assortment of fuses in your car.
I have one of those travel batteries, it’s awesome! It doubles as a phone charger. I got it when I had a fiesta with an extremely intermittent draining issue that I couldn’t chase down… but wouldn’t you know it, I saved more people in parking lots with that jump starter than I saved myself!
David thanks for offering to help, maybe car maintenance 102 could cover some topics we won’t get to but I want to teach the beginner class myself. 1 hour, super accessible, all ages, bring your own car, weather pending.
Tire pressure & condition
Oil level
Washer fluid
Windshield wipers
Air filter
Battery corrosion check
Jump starts
Light bulb identification
Scheduled maintenance awareness
Why red dashboard warning lights are worse than yellow dashboard warning lights
I’m open to suggestions for anything else but honestly - changing tires requires brute strength that not everybody has. It’s on my “screw it call roadside assistance” list. Changing oil is something I have done myself, but when I do a cost/benefit analysis on it, I go someplace. Anything that requires putting a car on ramps/jacks is something that must be done carefully and safely so I wouldn’t go there in a 1 hour class. I am going for really low hanging fruit here. Literally, how do I get more people to air up their tires, but somehow make it into a 1-hour class worth $10.
I may humbly suggest in the 101 class adding how to spot early warning signs based on fluid checks and levels.
And to my knowledge there isn’t a restriction from insurance, but i will say our parking lot surface is not really safe for jacking up a vehicle or safe for fluid spills.
I’d also love a list of how often certain maintenance needs to be done. Currently I just get my oil changed every year and hope nothing goes wrong, because I have no idea what else to do (Besides wipers when they stop working or wiper fluid when it’s clearly out). But other people seem to know to replace X every Y and I have no knowledge of that!
Preventative Maintenance frequency is a debated item but unless you’re running your vehicle 16hrs a day probably once every 3 months for an inspection, check belts and tires when you check your smoke alarm every month like i know everyone does, and check fluids at least once a week.
And of course if you notice a change in steering, acceleration, hesitation in shifting, or new sounds/smells that you cannot find a source for you should probably get an inspection sooner rather then later.
I do not check my fluids once a week, I only check them if I see something indicating that they’re not in there… like they’re pooled on my garage floor. but to each their own. like a lot of maintenance it’s a personal decision, a compromise between what the manufacturer recommends, and how much you love your car.
and every car is totally different just to complicate things so if I teach a class we’d reference the handy bit in the back of the manual that breaks down the schedules. like some cars have a timing belt that will ruin everything if not changed at 100K miles, some cars have a timing belt that lasts a lot longer, or some chain so there’s no timing belt at all! it’s just nice to know what to expect, so you don’t go to a mechanic for one thing and feel all piled on.
