Automotive Troubleshooting

Before you start you need to have some tools.

You should have a minimum of a basic mechanics tool set as well as any specialty tools that you might need to figure out your problem. Many auto parts stores will let you borrow or rent any tools that you don’t have.

Subscribe to an online auto repair manual.

You might be thinking “waste of time”, but I hope you will take this advice. I have tried automotive troubleshooting without a manual and I have done many years worth of repairs with access to the best online auto repair manuals out there. I can say that using auto repair software really helped me cut down on the time, frustration and wasted money from just throwing parts at the vehicle. A good auto repair manual is the single most underrated thing you can buy to help diagnose your car. Not only will you have access to dealer level trouble trees and diagnostic information you will also be able to pull up any wiring diagram or torque specification (or anything else you might need to know) for your car. If you are automotive troubleshooting it would be a good idea to buy an online repair manual.

If you don’t know where to find one, I have reviewed the best one on this page.

Get all the details about your car problem

Some questions you might need to be asking yourself are; when does this problem happen? Is my car hot or cold? Does it only happen when I’m going around a corner? Is my check engine light on and if so, what is the code? When did it start? Has anything about the car or my driving changed between when the car was acting normal and when the problem started? Have I had any auto repairs done recently? Has anything like this happened before?

Test drive your car and be very intentional about listening for the problem and when it starts and when it stops. This is one of the keys to automotive troubleshooting. If your car simply won’t start then there are some other questions you need to ask; Has the car been acting funny recently (taking longer to start than normal)? What happened right before it stalled? Does it seem to “turn over” normally?

The more detail you have about the problem the better. If you can’t figure out the problem yourself and have to take it to an auto repair shop then you want to have as much information about the problem as possible. Write it down if needed. You want to remember eveything.

Check it out online

There are pages and pages of content written about auto repair problems from JustAnswer to yahoo answers to personal websites. You have a wealth of information at your fingertips. Many automotive troubleshooting tips are posted in forums as well. Check these all out. Look past the first couple of search results pages to make sure you have exhausted every resource. This should give you some good ideas as to what my be causing your car problems. If you are a member of any automotive forums post the problem there to see if anyone can help. Just remember that most of these people are not automotive mechanics and not experts at automotive troubleshooting, they are just average car owners, but they can still have some good advice.

Ask your car repair question online.

If you have checked everywhere you can online and can’t find the answer to your car repair question you should consider paying for an online mechanic to answer your car question. Be careful which site you use as some mechanics are not actually qualified to answer your car repair question. The best site for asking automotive questions is called justanswer.All of their experts are verified automotive mechanics. They are some of the same automotive technicians as work in the dealerships and they have access to dealer level information about your car.

Asking your car question online is one of the easiest and cheapest ways you can get your car question answered. They charge virtually nothing compared to taking your car in to an auto repair shop (as much as $120 per hour) and can tell you exactly what you need to test to figure out your auto repair problem. I highly recommend this as a great way to do automotive troubleshooting.

Another good way to get your problem diagnosed online is to check out this service. It’s basically an online mechanic service, online repair manual and online repair shop all in one. If you need some in-depth automotive repair diagnosis ”Automotive troubleshooting secrets” is the company to turn to. It is also highly recommended.

It might seem obvious but KEEP YOUR CAR MAINTAINTED!

I could never understand how people would come into my shop all confused and upset that their car broke down when it was clear that they hadn’t done any maintenance in years. Of course your car is going to break down if you don’t take care of it! In ever owners manual there is a schedule of factory required maintenance. This keeps your car in good shape and it is extremely important to keep up with. It will save you from having to deal with automotive repairs later.

If none of this helps then you need to take your car to a repair shop.

Yes, taking your car to a mechanic will cost more, but at this point you have spent lots of time and probably some amount of money and you still don’t have a working car. It is worth it to take it to an automotive technician. The key is to take it to a good one that won’t rip you off. You should have already been building a relationship with a repair shop that you trust so that when your car breaks down you will have someone to turn to that you don’t have to worry about ripping you off. When it comes to automotive troubleshooting you can lose a lot of money so be sure to have someone that you trust who can work on your car.

The last things is to always use your head. Use common sense when thinking about your car repair problems and use common sense when picking out an online auto repair website or taking your car to a repair shop.

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